Maya
💬: "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]
💬: "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]
💬: "Kiss her? “I shouldn’t. I can’t.” Though gods, Geryon wanted to, desperately, and found his gaze straying to her lips. They were lush and red. Glistening. His mouth watered for a taste of them. His horns, sensitive to his emotions as they were, throbbed."
Showalter, Gena. The Darkest Fire (Lords of the Underworld) (p. 41). HQN Books. Kindle Edition.
📖Genres: romance, paranormal romance, paranormal, mythology, demons, novella, supernatural, urban fantasy
📚Page Count: 82
🎧Audiobook Length: 01h 54min
👩🏾🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️.5 - 2.5/5
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TW - <spoiler>Death, Confinement, Murder, Grief, Sexual content, War, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail</spoiler>
The Darkest Fire is a novella and the first story in the Lords of the Underworld series by Gena Showalter (it's considered to be chronologically book 0.5.) Geryon, Guardian of Hell is the guardian of hell and he meets Kadence, Goddess of Oppression at the gates of hell regularly but this time Kadence notices a crack in the gates of hell, and demons start pouring out. Geryon and Kadence decide to fight back and escape hell together. Will they make it to the surface?
This was honestly a bit below average. I couldn't tell if the two main characters were fated mates and because of that their romance and intimacy really felt rushed and like it was instant love/instant lust. By the end of the novella I understood what the point of the story was, which is <spoiler>to tell how Pandora's Box was created in this universe.</spoiler> This was not interesting in the slightest and the dialogue was really corny. I only finished this because it's a novella and very short and because I want give this series another chance by reading the next book and I wanted to have this read before I started the first novel in the "Lords of the Underworld" series.
The spicy scene in this novella was uninteresting. The whole act of them being intimate felt rushed, to be honest. It was definitely an instalove/instalust situation. I don't even remember if the story clarified if they're fated mates or not. I'm giving the spicy scenes two point five chilies 🌶️🌶️.5 out of five chilies
Overall, this was a below average introduction to the Lords of the Underworld series, though I will be continuing the series with book 1, "The Darkest Night", in hopes that it's better than this novella. I'm giving this 3 out of 5 stars.
⭐️⭐️.5 - 2.5/5 Stars
I listened to this audiobook for free on [Libbyapp.com]
💬: "Kiss her? “I shouldn’t. I can’t.” Though gods, Geryon wanted to, desperately, and found his gaze straying to her lips. They were lush and red. Glistening. His mouth watered for a taste of them. His horns, sensitive to his emotions as they were, throbbed."
Showalter, Gena. The Darkest Fire (Lords of the Underworld) (p. 41). HQN Books. Kindle Edition.
📖Genres: romance, paranormal romance, paranormal, mythology, demons, novella, supernatural, urban fantasy
📚Page Count: 82
🎧Audiobook Length: 01h 54min
👩🏾🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️.5 - 2.5/5
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TW - <spoiler>Death, Confinement, Murder, Grief, Sexual content, War, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail</spoiler>
The Darkest Fire is a novella and the first story in the Lords of the Underworld series by Gena Showalter (it's considered to be chronologically book 0.5.) Geryon, Guardian of Hell is the guardian of hell and he meets Kadence, Goddess of Oppression at the gates of hell regularly but this time Kadence notices a crack in the gates of hell, and demons start pouring out. Geryon and Kadence decide to fight back and escape hell together. Will they make it to the surface?
This was honestly a bit below average. I couldn't tell if the two main characters were fated mates and because of that their romance and intimacy really felt rushed and like it was instant love/instant lust. By the end of the novella I understood what the point of the story was, which is <spoiler>to tell how Pandora's Box was created in this universe.</spoiler> This was not interesting in the slightest and the dialogue was really corny. I only finished this because it's a novella and very short and because I want give this series another chance by reading the next book and I wanted to have this read before I started the first novel in the "Lords of the Underworld" series.
The spicy scene in this novella was uninteresting. The whole act of them being intimate felt rushed, to be honest. It was definitely an instalove/instalust situation. I don't even remember if the story clarified if they're fated mates or not. I'm giving the spicy scenes two point five chilies 🌶️🌶️.5 out of five chilies
Overall, this was a below average introduction to the Lords of the Underworld series, though I will be continuing the series with book 1, "The Darkest Night", in hopes that it's better than this novella. I'm giving this 3 out of 5 stars.
⭐️⭐️.5 - 2.5/5 Stars
I listened to this audiobook for free on [Libbyapp.com]
💬: “To see and listen to the wicked is already the beginning of wickedness. —Confucius
Abby, S.T.. Sidetracked (Mindf*ck Series Book 2) (p. 28). S.T. Abby. Kindle Edition.
📖Genres: romance, dark, thriller, mystery, crime, novella
📚Page Count: 115
🎧Audiobook Length: 03h 08min
👩🏾🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5
TW - <spoiler>Sexual harassment, Stalking, Child death, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Murder, Rape, Torture, Adult/minor relationship, Trafficking, Violence, Death, Gore, and Grief</spoiler>
Sidetracked is the second novella in The Mindf*ck Series by S. T. Abby. Lana is being questioned by member of Logan's team and now the serial killer known as "The Boogie Man" is after Lana because of she's dating Logan. While all this is happening, Lana is still going along with her plan of revenge. She's still risking everything to remove child abusers from the world. Will Logan find out about Lana hidden murder spree? Will The Boogie Man attack Lana to get at Logan?
Overall, this story was just as entertaining as the first novella. Part two was a little more complicated than part one because there is so much more information, story elements, and characters being added to the story. The story is beginning to get complicated with all the characters that have been added, and because the story is a novella it moves at a fast past. Maybe too fast? I'm worried that with the next installation of the story, I'll start to get lost with the names of the growing cast of characters within such a short book.
Like the first novella, or part one, there were a few spicy scenes. I think it's wonderful that Lana feels safe with Logan enough to trust him and be intimate with him. I still don't think spicy scenes fit in-between scenes of the ped0s and child abusers getting murdered. I'm giving it one chili 🌶️🌶️ out of five chilies
Overall, this novella was just as good as the first one, although the subject matter is a bit triggering. I'm giving this 4 stars out of 5
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4/5
I listened to this audiobook for free on [HooplaDigital.com]
💬: “To see and listen to the wicked is already the beginning of wickedness. —Confucius
Abby, S.T.. Sidetracked (Mindf*ck Series Book 2) (p. 28). S.T. Abby. Kindle Edition.
📖Genres: romance, dark, thriller, mystery, crime, novella
📚Page Count: 115
🎧Audiobook Length: 03h 08min
👩🏾🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5
TW - <spoiler>Sexual harassment, Stalking, Child death, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Murder, Rape, Torture, Adult/minor relationship, Trafficking, Violence, Death, Gore, and Grief</spoiler>
Sidetracked is the second novella in The Mindf*ck Series by S. T. Abby. Lana is being questioned by member of Logan's team and now the serial killer known as "The Boogie Man" is after Lana because of she's dating Logan. While all this is happening, Lana is still going along with her plan of revenge. She's still risking everything to remove child abusers from the world. Will Logan find out about Lana hidden murder spree? Will The Boogie Man attack Lana to get at Logan?
Overall, this story was just as entertaining as the first novella. Part two was a little more complicated than part one because there is so much more information, story elements, and characters being added to the story. The story is beginning to get complicated with all the characters that have been added, and because the story is a novella it moves at a fast past. Maybe too fast? I'm worried that with the next installation of the story, I'll start to get lost with the names of the growing cast of characters within such a short book.
Like the first novella, or part one, there were a few spicy scenes. I think it's wonderful that Lana feels safe with Logan enough to trust him and be intimate with him. I still don't think spicy scenes fit in-between scenes of the ped0s and child abusers getting murdered. I'm giving it one chili 🌶️🌶️ out of five chilies
Overall, this novella was just as good as the first one, although the subject matter is a bit triggering. I'm giving this 4 stars out of 5
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4/5
I listened to this audiobook for free on [HooplaDigital.com]
💬: “Einstein said, “The weak revenge. The strong forgive. The intelligent ignore.”
F*ck that. Einstein wasn’t always right."
Abby, S.T.. The Risk (Mindf*ck Series #1) (p. 6). Kindle Edition.
📖Genres: romance, dark, thriller, mystery, crime, novella
📚Page Count: 132
🎧Audiobook Length: 03h 28min
👩🏾🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5
TW - <spoiler>Sexual harassment, Trafficking, Violence, Cursing, Death, Sexual assault, Body horror, Blood, Gore, Sexual violence, Torture, Confinement, Grief, Rape, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Murder</spoiler>
The Risk is the first novella in The Mindf*ck Series by S. T. Abby. The Risk is about Lana, a victim of sex trafficking, who decides to get revenge on the men who harmed her and left her for dead. To make things complicated, Lana has started dating Logan who happens to be an FBI agent. Will Lana be able to finish her revenge mission or will she get caught by her new boyfriend, the FBI agent?
I think overall this story was entertaining, I'm not a fan of how short it is and how it ends on a cliff hanger. The novella ends at just over 130 pages and that's why it ended on a cliff hanger. I think the story is good for what it is so far, I can feel the thriller element in the book. I do like how the story is literally a mix of the shows "Criminal Minds" and "Dexter" and that mix itself is interesting.
There were a few spicy scenes, they were just okay. I feel like because there's multiple murders going around and there's gore in the book that sex wouldn't really fit and I maintain that idea. This is my first dark romance and I just can't get into the spicy scenes when someone was graphically murdered a few pages beforehand. I'm giving it two chilies 🌶️🌶️ out of five chilies
Overall, this novella was interesting. I'm giving this 4 stars out of 5
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4/5
I listened to this audiobook for free on [HooplaDigital.com]
💬: “Einstein said, “The weak revenge. The strong forgive. The intelligent ignore.”
F*ck that. Einstein wasn’t always right."
Abby, S.T.. The Risk (Mindf*ck Series #1) (p. 6). Kindle Edition.
📖Genres: romance, dark, thriller, mystery, crime, novella
📚Page Count: 132
🎧Audiobook Length: 03h 28min
👩🏾🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5
TW - <spoiler>Sexual harassment, Trafficking, Violence, Cursing, Death, Sexual assault, Body horror, Blood, Gore, Sexual violence, Torture, Confinement, Grief, Rape, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Murder</spoiler>
The Risk is the first novella in The Mindf*ck Series by S. T. Abby. The Risk is about Lana, a victim of sex trafficking, who decides to get revenge on the men who harmed her and left her for dead. To make things complicated, Lana has started dating Logan who happens to be an FBI agent. Will Lana be able to finish her revenge mission or will she get caught by her new boyfriend, the FBI agent?
I think overall this story was entertaining, I'm not a fan of how short it is and how it ends on a cliff hanger. The novella ends at just over 130 pages and that's why it ended on a cliff hanger. I think the story is good for what it is so far, I can feel the thriller element in the book. I do like how the story is literally a mix of the shows "Criminal Minds" and "Dexter" and that mix itself is interesting.
There were a few spicy scenes, they were just okay. I feel like because there's multiple murders going around and there's gore in the book that sex wouldn't really fit and I maintain that idea. This is my first dark romance and I just can't get into the spicy scenes when someone was graphically murdered a few pages beforehand. I'm giving it two chilies 🌶️🌶️ out of five chilies
Overall, this novella was interesting. I'm giving this 4 stars out of 5
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4/5
I listened to this audiobook for free on [HooplaDigital.com]
Updated a reading goal:
Read 100 books by December 31, 2024
Progress so far: 75 / 100 75%
💬: “That was the biggest problem with getting used to someone, she thought. You were lonely when they weren’t there."
Robb, J.D.. Naked in Death (In Death, Book 1) (p. 347). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
📖Genres: romance, dark, thriller, mystery, crime, suspense
📚Page Count: 373
🎧Audiobook Length: 10h 17min
👩🏾🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️ 2/5
TW - <spoiler>Incest, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Blood, Cursing, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Violence, Abandonment, Death, Grief, Hate crime, Child abuse, and Gore</spoiler>
Naked in Death is the first book in the "In Death" series by J.D Robb (who is actually romance writer, Nora Roberts). In the year 2058 Detective Eve Dallas is residing in New York when she gets a case where a senator's daughter is murdered and it's discovered that the vicitim was a full service sex worker. The case then becomes a high profile case and Dallas enters a world of politics in order to track down the killer. While the case is taking place, Dallas becomes enthralled with Roarke, one of the leading suspects. Is Dallas' attraction to Roarke leading her to disaster or will she find the murderer and close the case?
I think overall this story was okay, there were things I liked and things I didn't like. I really have issues with Roarke because <spoiler>he's very controlling and seems to not take "no" for an answer.</spoiler> I found it a bit disturbing how the sex workers in the book were talked about but I keep trying to remind myself that this was written in 1995 and there are going to be some characters who are against sex workers because of prejudice so their dialogue about the sex workers reflects that. I did like how this takes place in the future, and all the futuristic and scientific advancements and inventions in the story were clever and very interesting. I also like how I didn't guess what the ending was going to be until it was already in motion and being explained to the reader.
The spicy scenes in here were either the beginning of murder scenes or they were intended to be sexy but were lacking consent, and in these instances it was evident that this novel was written in the 90s. The love interest has the idea that he knows what the main character wants more than she does, and so he's not respecting her boundaries. In fact, the love interest keeps pushing up against Eve's boundaries in the hopes that he can bend them. I'm giving it zero chilies 🌶️🌶️ out of five chilies.
Overall, this novel had it's issues but it also had some interesting elements. I think the lack of consent when it came to the love interest was a big issue with the story. I really enjoyed the ending, it was action packed and even though I still had questions at the end I definitely didn't guess that it was going to end the way it did. Instead of giving this novel 1 stars for the lack of consent all throughout, I'm giving this 2 stars out of 5.
⭐️⭐️
2/5
I listened to this audiobook for free on [Libbyapp.com]
💬: “That was the biggest problem with getting used to someone, she thought. You were lonely when they weren’t there."
Robb, J.D.. Naked in Death (In Death, Book 1) (p. 347). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
📖Genres: romance, dark, thriller, mystery, crime, suspense
📚Page Count: 373
🎧Audiobook Length: 10h 17min
👩🏾🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️ 2/5
TW - <spoiler>Incest, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Blood, Cursing, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Violence, Abandonment, Death, Grief, Hate crime, Child abuse, and Gore</spoiler>
Naked in Death is the first book in the "In Death" series by J.D Robb (who is actually romance writer, Nora Roberts). In the year 2058 Detective Eve Dallas is residing in New York when she gets a case where a senator's daughter is murdered and it's discovered that the vicitim was a full service sex worker. The case then becomes a high profile case and Dallas enters a world of politics in order to track down the killer. While the case is taking place, Dallas becomes enthralled with Roarke, one of the leading suspects. Is Dallas' attraction to Roarke leading her to disaster or will she find the murderer and close the case?
I think overall this story was okay, there were things I liked and things I didn't like. I really have issues with Roarke because <spoiler>he's very controlling and seems to not take "no" for an answer.</spoiler> I found it a bit disturbing how the sex workers in the book were talked about but I keep trying to remind myself that this was written in 1995 and there are going to be some characters who are against sex workers because of prejudice so their dialogue about the sex workers reflects that. I did like how this takes place in the future, and all the futuristic and scientific advancements and inventions in the story were clever and very interesting. I also like how I didn't guess what the ending was going to be until it was already in motion and being explained to the reader.
The spicy scenes in here were either the beginning of murder scenes or they were intended to be sexy but were lacking consent, and in these instances it was evident that this novel was written in the 90s. The love interest has the idea that he knows what the main character wants more than she does, and so he's not respecting her boundaries. In fact, the love interest keeps pushing up against Eve's boundaries in the hopes that he can bend them. I'm giving it zero chilies 🌶️🌶️ out of five chilies.
Overall, this novel had it's issues but it also had some interesting elements. I think the lack of consent when it came to the love interest was a big issue with the story. I really enjoyed the ending, it was action packed and even though I still had questions at the end I definitely didn't guess that it was going to end the way it did. Instead of giving this novel 1 stars for the lack of consent all throughout, I'm giving this 2 stars out of 5.
⭐️⭐️
2/5
I listened to this audiobook for free on [Libbyapp.com]