Maya
💬:Suddenly the page changed before her eyes, the ink bleeding together and reforming into new pictures, faster than she could register. Words appeared and disappeared in languages she couldn’t read. A ringing filled her ears, and she could hear her blood rushing in time with her heartbeat.
Sbrana, Analeigh. Lore of the Wilds: A Novel (pp. 165-166). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
📖Genres: fantasy, romance, fae, romantasy, adult, magic,
📚Page Count: 339
🎧Audiobook Length: 10:51
👩🏾🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️.5 - 2.5/5
Lore of the Wilds is the first in the series of the same title by Analeigh Sbrana. This story is about Lore, a human who lives in a society of fae. Her village falls on disaster and she has no choice but to surrenders herself to the dark fae Syrelle. Syrelle instructs her to tend to his library in the castle they're in. It's not long before Lore runs away with one of the castle guards, a fae named Asher. Later on Lore ends up meeting and becoming enthralled with another fae named Finn.
This book has so much potential but the pacing is off, there's little character development, there's close to no romance and very little chemistry between the romantic interests and the main character even though there are TWO romantic interests, and this fantasy crosses over from being a fantasy drama to being a cozy fantasy to wanting to be high fantasy, and the spicy scene at the end wasn't gotten to with build up or banter or any sort of romantic development.
Overall, the pacing felt off and there was very little character development when it came to Lore, herself. There was also very little romantic development despite this being marketed as a "romantasy" or romance fantasy. I'm giving this 2.5 stars out of 5.
⭐️⭐️.5 - 2.5/5 Stars
Thank you [NetGalley.com], Analeigh Sbrana (the author), and Harper Voyager (publisher) for the arc (advanced reader's copy.)
💬:Suddenly the page changed before her eyes, the ink bleeding together and reforming into new pictures, faster than she could register. Words appeared and disappeared in languages she couldn’t read. A ringing filled her ears, and she could hear her blood rushing in time with her heartbeat.
Sbrana, Analeigh. Lore of the Wilds: A Novel (pp. 165-166). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
📖Genres: fantasy, romance, fae, romantasy, adult, magic,
📚Page Count: 339
🎧Audiobook Length: 10:51
👩🏾🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️.5 - 2.5/5
Lore of the Wilds is the first in the series of the same title by Analeigh Sbrana. This story is about Lore, a human who lives in a society of fae. Her village falls on disaster and she has no choice but to surrenders herself to the dark fae Syrelle. Syrelle instructs her to tend to his library in the castle they're in. It's not long before Lore runs away with one of the castle guards, a fae named Asher. Later on Lore ends up meeting and becoming enthralled with another fae named Finn.
This book has so much potential but the pacing is off, there's little character development, there's close to no romance and very little chemistry between the romantic interests and the main character even though there are TWO romantic interests, and this fantasy crosses over from being a fantasy drama to being a cozy fantasy to wanting to be high fantasy, and the spicy scene at the end wasn't gotten to with build up or banter or any sort of romantic development.
Overall, the pacing felt off and there was very little character development when it came to Lore, herself. There was also very little romantic development despite this being marketed as a "romantasy" or romance fantasy. I'm giving this 2.5 stars out of 5.
⭐️⭐️.5 - 2.5/5 Stars
Thank you [NetGalley.com], Analeigh Sbrana (the author), and Harper Voyager (publisher) for the arc (advanced reader's copy.)
💬: Nik released a ragged breath and squeezed his eyes shut, his brows drawing together. “Aria…” “Open your eyes, love. I thought you wanted to watch?” When he looked at her again, the need in his gaze was almost enough to make her cave. Especially when he combined it with words, those filthy fucking words she loved so much, tumbling desperately from his mouth. “Let me in. Let me touch you, eali mou. You don’t want that. You want me.”
Hibbert, Talia. The Fake Boyfriend Fiasco (p. 148). Nixon House. Kindle Edition.
📖Genres: romance, contemporary, contemporary romance,
📚Page Count: 210
🎧Audiobook Length: 07h 50min
👩🏾🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 4.5/5
----
TW - <spoiler> Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Body horror, Cursing, Gun violence, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Grief </spoiler>
The Fake Boyfriend Fiasco by Talia Hibbert is a contemporary romance and the third book in The Midnight Heat Collection, by the same author. This story is about Aria, a tattoo artist, and Nik, a professional football player. Nik and Aria meet at a party that's taking place at a hotel, when Aria kisses Nik to help him chase off an over zealous past hook up. Nik comes up with the idea that Aria can pretend to be his new girlfriend so his past ex's don't try to give him unwanted attention. Aria is hesitant until Nik offers her a very large amount of money to do the job, she accepts because she wants to use the money to open her own tattoo shop. Will this arrangement end in disaster?
Hibbert seems to use the <spoiler>third act break up</spoiler> trope in The Midnight Heat Collection more than I anticipated. That's the only thing I tend to not like about these books, but it makes sense in this instance because of the <spoiler>lie that Nik told.</spoiler> I think in comparison to The Roommate Risk, <spoiler>Nik and Aria got back together way quicker so I didn't have to wait long for them to reconcile. </spoiler>
The audio book narrators were great, I like how much life they gave to the characters. Audiobook narration is the main way I consume books because I have dyslexia. It's always wonderful when a book I've been waiting to listen to finally gets an audiobook version and this was no exception. This was a great listening experience.
I really loved the spicy scenes in this, especially the one at the very end of the book, wow. <spoiler>the pegging scene was great!</spoiler> I'm giving the spicy scenes four chilies 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️out of five chilies
I really enjoyed this story and the spicy scenes were really good. Not only was this spicy but it was also romantic and funny. I'm giving this 4.5 out of 5 stars.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 4.5/5 Stars
Thank you [NetGalley.com], Talia Hibbert (the author), and Dreamscape Media (publisher) for the arc (advanced reader's copy) of the audiobook.
💬: Nik released a ragged breath and squeezed his eyes shut, his brows drawing together. “Aria…” “Open your eyes, love. I thought you wanted to watch?” When he looked at her again, the need in his gaze was almost enough to make her cave. Especially when he combined it with words, those filthy fucking words she loved so much, tumbling desperately from his mouth. “Let me in. Let me touch you, eali mou. You don’t want that. You want me.”
Hibbert, Talia. The Fake Boyfriend Fiasco (p. 148). Nixon House. Kindle Edition.
📖Genres: romance, contemporary, contemporary romance,
📚Page Count: 210
🎧Audiobook Length: 07h 50min
👩🏾🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 4.5/5
----
TW - <spoiler> Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Body horror, Cursing, Gun violence, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Grief </spoiler>
The Fake Boyfriend Fiasco by Talia Hibbert is a contemporary romance and the third book in The Midnight Heat Collection, by the same author. This story is about Aria, a tattoo artist, and Nik, a professional football player. Nik and Aria meet at a party that's taking place at a hotel, when Aria kisses Nik to help him chase off an over zealous past hook up. Nik comes up with the idea that Aria can pretend to be his new girlfriend so his past ex's don't try to give him unwanted attention. Aria is hesitant until Nik offers her a very large amount of money to do the job, she accepts because she wants to use the money to open her own tattoo shop. Will this arrangement end in disaster?
Hibbert seems to use the <spoiler>third act break up</spoiler> trope in The Midnight Heat Collection more than I anticipated. That's the only thing I tend to not like about these books, but it makes sense in this instance because of the <spoiler>lie that Nik told.</spoiler> I think in comparison to The Roommate Risk, <spoiler>Nik and Aria got back together way quicker so I didn't have to wait long for them to reconcile. </spoiler>
The audio book narrators were great, I like how much life they gave to the characters. Audiobook narration is the main way I consume books because I have dyslexia. It's always wonderful when a book I've been waiting to listen to finally gets an audiobook version and this was no exception. This was a great listening experience.
I really loved the spicy scenes in this, especially the one at the very end of the book, wow. <spoiler>the pegging scene was great!</spoiler> I'm giving the spicy scenes four chilies 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️out of five chilies
I really enjoyed this story and the spicy scenes were really good. Not only was this spicy but it was also romantic and funny. I'm giving this 4.5 out of 5 stars.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 4.5/5 Stars
Thank you [NetGalley.com], Talia Hibbert (the author), and Dreamscape Media (publisher) for the arc (advanced reader's copy) of the audiobook.
💬: "It was exhausting to realise that everyone in the world knew he was an absolute fool for Jasmine Allen. He straightened his spine and ran a hand through his hair, suddenly realising that he must look a state—must look as out of control as he felt. And that wouldn’t do."
Hibbert, Talia. The Roommate Risk (p. 279). Nixon House. Kindle Edition.
📖Genres: romance, contemporary, contemporary romance,
📚Page Count: 333
🎧Audiobook Length: 09h 36min
👩🏾🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 4.5/5
----
The Roommate Risk by Talia Hibbert is a contemporary romance and the second book in The Midnight Heat Collection, by the same author. The Roommate Risk is about two best friends, Jasmine and Rahul. Jasmine lives with a roommate but she soon finds out that her room and everything in it has been damaged if not destroyed because there was a major water leak in her bedroom. With nowhere to go, Jasmine contacts her best friend Rahul because she knows that his apartment has an open room and she hopes that she can rent it for a while. Little does Jasmine know that Rahul has been in love with her for the last 7 years of their lives together as best friends. Will Jasmine moving in complicate everything in the best or worst way?
I really enjoyed this story, it was romantic, sweet, and angsty. I love the chemistry between Rahul and Jasmine, I think they're cute together. They both have their own stuff that they're dealing with and the author does an okay job of depicting that with Rahul and an even better job depicting it with Jasmine. There was this really cute scene where Rahul takes Jasmine on a date and I couldn't stop smiling during that scene, it was just adorable and a little spicy. I think the only issue that I had with the story was a trope that takes place in the last part of the book, and it was basically <spoiler>a third act break up but to continue to spoil things I will say that there IS an happily every after at the end so it all ends up working out. I understand why there was a break up near the end, because Jasmine had a lot of stuff she needed to sort through. I think it was a good choice to write in that she got a therapist and started working through her emotional and insecurity issues as well as her drinking problem.</spoiler>
The spicy scenes were really enjoyable. I might have really liked them because I dated someone in college with the same name and look as the main male character and memories were doin' their thing, but wow these spicy scenes were great. I'm giving the spicy scenes four chilies 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️out of five chilies
I really enjoyed this novel, it made me smile and I definitely swooned over the main male character. I'm giving this 5 out of 5 stars.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 4.5/5 Stars
Thank you [NetGalley.com], Talia Hibbert (the author), and Dreamscape Media (publisher) for the arc (advanced reader's copy) of the audiobook.
💬: "It was exhausting to realise that everyone in the world knew he was an absolute fool for Jasmine Allen. He straightened his spine and ran a hand through his hair, suddenly realising that he must look a state—must look as out of control as he felt. And that wouldn’t do."
Hibbert, Talia. The Roommate Risk (p. 279). Nixon House. Kindle Edition.
📖Genres: romance, contemporary, contemporary romance,
📚Page Count: 333
🎧Audiobook Length: 09h 36min
👩🏾🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 4.5/5
----
The Roommate Risk by Talia Hibbert is a contemporary romance and the second book in The Midnight Heat Collection, by the same author. The Roommate Risk is about two best friends, Jasmine and Rahul. Jasmine lives with a roommate but she soon finds out that her room and everything in it has been damaged if not destroyed because there was a major water leak in her bedroom. With nowhere to go, Jasmine contacts her best friend Rahul because she knows that his apartment has an open room and she hopes that she can rent it for a while. Little does Jasmine know that Rahul has been in love with her for the last 7 years of their lives together as best friends. Will Jasmine moving in complicate everything in the best or worst way?
I really enjoyed this story, it was romantic, sweet, and angsty. I love the chemistry between Rahul and Jasmine, I think they're cute together. They both have their own stuff that they're dealing with and the author does an okay job of depicting that with Rahul and an even better job depicting it with Jasmine. There was this really cute scene where Rahul takes Jasmine on a date and I couldn't stop smiling during that scene, it was just adorable and a little spicy. I think the only issue that I had with the story was a trope that takes place in the last part of the book, and it was basically <spoiler>a third act break up but to continue to spoil things I will say that there IS an happily every after at the end so it all ends up working out. I understand why there was a break up near the end, because Jasmine had a lot of stuff she needed to sort through. I think it was a good choice to write in that she got a therapist and started working through her emotional and insecurity issues as well as her drinking problem.</spoiler>
The spicy scenes were really enjoyable. I might have really liked them because I dated someone in college with the same name and look as the main male character and memories were doin' their thing, but wow these spicy scenes were great. I'm giving the spicy scenes four chilies 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️out of five chilies
I really enjoyed this novel, it made me smile and I definitely swooned over the main male character. I'm giving this 5 out of 5 stars.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 4.5/5 Stars
Thank you [NetGalley.com], Talia Hibbert (the author), and Dreamscape Media (publisher) for the arc (advanced reader's copy) of the audiobook.
💬:
📖Genres: historical fiction, vampires, romance, historical
📚Page Count: 368
🎧Audiobook Length: 11:06
👩🏾🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️ - 2/5
TW - <spoiler>Confinement, Child death, Racism, War, Blood, Murder, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Animal death, Racial slurs, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Death, Body horror, Gore, and Slavery</spoiler>
The Dangerous Ones takes place during the civil war, where vampires are working with the confederates to continue enslaving Black folks. Jerusalem is a Saint and Satins have demi god strength and power and they use it to fight vampires. She is a former slave who fought against her slave master and killed him resulting in what she believes to be her whole family being slaughtered. Jerusalem gets word that her brother might be alive so now she's searching for the vampires from her past because they might have him. Alexi is a 300 year only vampire working with Jerusalem, a group of Saints, and the union to fight against the confederates. This definitely reminded me of Ring Shout but I don't think "The Dangerous Ones" reaches it's full potential.
There were a few problems with this story; including confusing time jumps and flashbacks, to misplaced romantic banter, little to no world building and character development, and one dimensional characters. The time jumps were continuously confusing, I don't think they were very helpful in terms of story telling, they actually seemed to detract from the main story. I know that love is supposed to be part of the plot but it really felt like it didn't fit right in the story. It felt like I was reading two different stories, one where the main characters were in an enemy to lovers romance and one where there's action and the civil war with death and vampires. The two genres didn't really mesh well.
Overall, the audiobook narration was okay but, the pacing felt off, the flashbacks were more confusing than anything, the characters were one dimensional, there was little to no character building, the romance didn't really work in this story, little to no world building, and the author used current and modern language instead of historical language from the times (seeing as this is a historical novel). I'm giving this 2 stars out of 5.
⭐️⭐️ - 2/5 Stars
Thank you [NetGalley.com], Lauren Blackwood (the author), and Macmillan Audio (the publisher) for the arc audiobook (advanced reader's copy.)
💬:
📖Genres: historical fiction, vampires, romance, historical
📚Page Count: 368
🎧Audiobook Length: 11:06
👩🏾🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️ - 2/5
TW - <spoiler>Confinement, Child death, Racism, War, Blood, Murder, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Animal death, Racial slurs, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Death, Body horror, Gore, and Slavery</spoiler>
The Dangerous Ones takes place during the civil war, where vampires are working with the confederates to continue enslaving Black folks. Jerusalem is a Saint and Satins have demi god strength and power and they use it to fight vampires. She is a former slave who fought against her slave master and killed him resulting in what she believes to be her whole family being slaughtered. Jerusalem gets word that her brother might be alive so now she's searching for the vampires from her past because they might have him. Alexi is a 300 year only vampire working with Jerusalem, a group of Saints, and the union to fight against the confederates. This definitely reminded me of Ring Shout but I don't think "The Dangerous Ones" reaches it's full potential.
There were a few problems with this story; including confusing time jumps and flashbacks, to misplaced romantic banter, little to no world building and character development, and one dimensional characters. The time jumps were continuously confusing, I don't think they were very helpful in terms of story telling, they actually seemed to detract from the main story. I know that love is supposed to be part of the plot but it really felt like it didn't fit right in the story. It felt like I was reading two different stories, one where the main characters were in an enemy to lovers romance and one where there's action and the civil war with death and vampires. The two genres didn't really mesh well.
Overall, the audiobook narration was okay but, the pacing felt off, the flashbacks were more confusing than anything, the characters were one dimensional, there was little to no character building, the romance didn't really work in this story, little to no world building, and the author used current and modern language instead of historical language from the times (seeing as this is a historical novel). I'm giving this 2 stars out of 5.
⭐️⭐️ - 2/5 Stars
Thank you [NetGalley.com], Lauren Blackwood (the author), and Macmillan Audio (the publisher) for the arc audiobook (advanced reader's copy.)
💬: Nik released a ragged breath and squeezed his eyes shut, his brows drawing together. “Aria…” “Open your eyes, love. I thought you wanted to watch?” When he looked at her again, the need in his gaze was almost enough to make her cave. Especially when he combined it with words, those filthy fucking words she loved so much, tumbling desperately from his mouth. “Let me in. Let me touch you, eali mou. You don’t want that. You want me.”
Hibbert, Talia. The Fake Boyfriend Fiasco (p. 148). Nixon House. Kindle Edition.
📖Genres: romance, contemporary, contemporary romance,
📚Page Count: 210
🎧Audiobook Length: 07h 50min
👩🏾🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 4.5/5
----
TW - <spoiler> Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Body horror, Cursing, Gun violence, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Grief </spoiler>
The Fake Boyfriend Fiasco by Talia Hibbert is a contemporary romance and the third book in The Midnight Heat Collection, by the same author. This story is about Aria, a tattoo artist, and Nik, a professional football player. Nik and Aria meet at a party that's taking place at a hotel, when Aria kisses Nik to help him chase off an over zealous past hook up. Nik comes up with the idea that Aria can pretend to be his new girlfriend so his past ex's don't try to give him unwanted attention. Aria is hesitant until Nik offers her a very large amount of money to do the job, she accepts because she wants to use the money to open her own tattoo shop. Will this arrangement end in disaster?
Hibbert seems to use the <spoiler>third act break up</spoiler> trope in The Midnight Heat Collection more than I anticipated. That's the only thing I tend to not like about these books, but it makes sense in this instance because of the <spoiler>lie that Nik told.</spoiler> I think in comparison to The Roommate Risk, <spoiler>Nik and Aria got back together way quicker so I didn't have to wait long for them to reconcile. </spoiler>
The audio book narrators were great, I like how much life they gave to the characters. Audiobook narration is the main way I consume books because I have dyslexia. It's always wonderful when a book I've been waiting to listen to finally gets an audiobook version and this was no exception. This was a great listening experience.
I really loved the spicy scenes in this, especially the one at the very end of the book, wow. <spoiler>the pegging scene was great!</spoiler> I'm giving the spicy scenes four chilies 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️out of five chilies
I really enjoyed this story and the spicy scenes were really good. Not only was this spicy but it was also romantic and funny. I'm giving this 4.5 out of 5 stars.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 4.5/5 Stars
Thank you [NetGalley.com], the author, and publisher for the arc (advanced reader's copy) of the audiobook.
💬: Nik released a ragged breath and squeezed his eyes shut, his brows drawing together. “Aria…” “Open your eyes, love. I thought you wanted to watch?” When he looked at her again, the need in his gaze was almost enough to make her cave. Especially when he combined it with words, those filthy fucking words she loved so much, tumbling desperately from his mouth. “Let me in. Let me touch you, eali mou. You don’t want that. You want me.”
Hibbert, Talia. The Fake Boyfriend Fiasco (p. 148). Nixon House. Kindle Edition.
📖Genres: romance, contemporary, contemporary romance,
📚Page Count: 210
🎧Audiobook Length: 07h 50min
👩🏾🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 4.5/5
----
TW - <spoiler> Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Body horror, Cursing, Gun violence, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Grief </spoiler>
The Fake Boyfriend Fiasco by Talia Hibbert is a contemporary romance and the third book in The Midnight Heat Collection, by the same author. This story is about Aria, a tattoo artist, and Nik, a professional football player. Nik and Aria meet at a party that's taking place at a hotel, when Aria kisses Nik to help him chase off an over zealous past hook up. Nik comes up with the idea that Aria can pretend to be his new girlfriend so his past ex's don't try to give him unwanted attention. Aria is hesitant until Nik offers her a very large amount of money to do the job, she accepts because she wants to use the money to open her own tattoo shop. Will this arrangement end in disaster?
Hibbert seems to use the <spoiler>third act break up</spoiler> trope in The Midnight Heat Collection more than I anticipated. That's the only thing I tend to not like about these books, but it makes sense in this instance because of the <spoiler>lie that Nik told.</spoiler> I think in comparison to The Roommate Risk, <spoiler>Nik and Aria got back together way quicker so I didn't have to wait long for them to reconcile. </spoiler>
The audio book narrators were great, I like how much life they gave to the characters. Audiobook narration is the main way I consume books because I have dyslexia. It's always wonderful when a book I've been waiting to listen to finally gets an audiobook version and this was no exception. This was a great listening experience.
I really loved the spicy scenes in this, especially the one at the very end of the book, wow. <spoiler>the pegging scene was great!</spoiler> I'm giving the spicy scenes four chilies 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️out of five chilies
I really enjoyed this story and the spicy scenes were really good. Not only was this spicy but it was also romantic and funny. I'm giving this 4.5 out of 5 stars.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 4.5/5 Stars
Thank you [NetGalley.com], the author, and publisher for the arc (advanced reader's copy) of the audiobook.
💬: N/A
📖Genres: fantasy, romance, urban fantasy, paranormal, vampires
📚Page Count: N/A
🎧Audiobook Length: 06h 58min
👩🏾🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 3/5
----
TW - <spoiler> Cursing, Cancer, Murder, Sexual assault, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Gun violence, Blood, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, War, Grief, Violence, and Chronic illness</spoiler>
This Side of the Grave (Dramatized Edition) is a graphic audio published by the company Graphic Audio and written by Jeaniene Frost, based on the fifth book in her Night Huntress series, This Side of the Grave. Vampires are going missing in this installment of Night Huntress, and Bones and Cat make it their business to find out where the missing vampires have gone and what's happened to them. Bones and Cat find out that there is a ghoul trying to incite an interspecies war between vampires and ghouls. With no other choice, the couple seek help from the Queen of Ghouls and New Orleans, Marie Laveau (who is based on historical figure Marie Laveau, a Black herbalist and midwife practitioner of Voodoo from New Orleans.)
I love the dramatized editions of these books because this was action filled, emotional, and overall really entertaining! This was very good in terms of keeping my attention and being entertaining so that made this listening experience "mostly" enjoyable. There was a sexual assault in this book that was played off for laughs and I found that to be uncomfortable and disappointing. I detailed more below under spoilers, be warned that it vaguely talks about sexual assault.
TW - Sexual assault
There were spicy scenes in this but they were weird, and by that I mean for some reason <spoiler>Cat becomes sexually ravenous because of the blood she drank (if I remember correctly) and then she tried to sexually assault a human? I'm not sure why that was put in there but it seemed as if it were for laughs and sexually assault isn't funny.</spoiler> I'm giving the spicy scenes NEGATIVE 1 chilies -🌶️ out of five chilies.
Overall the story was interesting but I'm knocking points off for the sexual assault bit, it wasn't funny because sexual assault is never funny (and this would have been a 5 star review without that bit). I'm giving this 3 out of 5 stars.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 3/5 Stars
I listened to this for free on [Hoopladigital.com]
💬: N/A
📖Genres: fantasy, romance, urban fantasy, paranormal, vampires
📚Page Count: N/A
🎧Audiobook Length: 06h 58min
👩🏾🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 3/5
----
TW - <spoiler> Cursing, Cancer, Murder, Sexual assault, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Gun violence, Blood, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, War, Grief, Violence, and Chronic illness</spoiler>
This Side of the Grave (Dramatized Edition) is a graphic audio published by the company Graphic Audio and written by Jeaniene Frost, based on the fifth book in her Night Huntress series, This Side of the Grave. Vampires are going missing in this installment of Night Huntress, and Bones and Cat make it their business to find out where the missing vampires have gone and what's happened to them. Bones and Cat find out that there is a ghoul trying to incite an interspecies war between vampires and ghouls. With no other choice, the couple seek help from the Queen of Ghouls and New Orleans, Marie Laveau (who is based on historical figure Marie Laveau, a Black herbalist and midwife practitioner of Voodoo from New Orleans.)
I love the dramatized editions of these books because this was action filled, emotional, and overall really entertaining! This was very good in terms of keeping my attention and being entertaining so that made this listening experience "mostly" enjoyable. There was a sexual assault in this book that was played off for laughs and I found that to be uncomfortable and disappointing. I detailed more below under spoilers, be warned that it vaguely talks about sexual assault.
TW - Sexual assault
There were spicy scenes in this but they were weird, and by that I mean for some reason <spoiler>Cat becomes sexually ravenous because of the blood she drank (if I remember correctly) and then she tried to sexually assault a human? I'm not sure why that was put in there but it seemed as if it were for laughs and sexually assault isn't funny.</spoiler> I'm giving the spicy scenes NEGATIVE 1 chilies -🌶️ out of five chilies.
Overall the story was interesting but I'm knocking points off for the sexual assault bit, it wasn't funny because sexual assault is never funny (and this would have been a 5 star review without that bit). I'm giving this 3 out of 5 stars.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 3/5 Stars
I listened to this for free on [Hoopladigital.com]
💬: "It was exhausting to realise that everyone in the world knew he was an absolute fool for Jasmine Allen. He straightened his spine and ran a hand through his hair, suddenly realising that he must look a state—must look as out of control as he felt. And that wouldn’t do."
Hibbert, Talia. The Roommate Risk (p. 279). Nixon House. Kindle Edition.
📖Genres: romance, contemporary, contemporary romance,
📚Page Count: 333
🎧Audiobook Length: 09h 36min
👩🏾🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 4.5/5
----
The Roommate Risk by Talia Hibbert is a contemporary romance and the second book in The Midnight Heat Collection, by the same author. The Roommate Risk is about two best friends, Jasmine and Rahul. Jasmine lives with a roommate but she soon finds out that her room and everything in it has been damaged if not destroyed because there was a major water leak in her bedroom. With nowhere to go, Jasmine contacts her best friend Rahul because she knows that his apartment has an open room and she hopes that she can rent it for a while. Little does Jasmine know that Rahul has been in love with her for the last 7 years of their lives together as best friends. Will Jasmine moving in complicate everything in the best or worst way?
I really enjoyed this story, it was romantic, sweet, and angsty. I love the chemistry between Rahul and Jasmine, I think they're cute together. They both have their own stuff that they're dealing with and the author does an okay job of depicting that with Rahul and an even better job depicting it with Jasmine. There was this really cute scene where Rahul takes Jasmine on a date and I couldn't stop smiling during that scene, it was just adorable and a little spicy. I think the only issue that I had with the story was a trope that takes place in the last part of the book, and it was basically <spoiler>a third act break up but to continue to spoil things I will say that there IS an happily every after at the end so it all ends up working out. I understand why there was a break up near the end, because Jasmine had a lot of stuff she needed to sort through. I think it was a good choice to write in that she got a therapist and started working through her emotional and insecurity issues as well as her drinking problem.</spoiler>
The spicy scenes were really enjoyable. I might have really liked them because I dated someone in college with the same name and look as the main male character and memories were doin' their thing, but wow these spicy scenes were great. I'm giving the spicy scenes four chilies 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️out of five chilies
I really enjoyed this novel, it made me smile and I definitely swooned over the main male character. I'm giving this 5 out of 5 stars.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 4.5/5 Stars
Thank you [NetGalley.com], the author, and publisher for the arc (advanced reader's copy) of the audiobook.
💬: "It was exhausting to realise that everyone in the world knew he was an absolute fool for Jasmine Allen. He straightened his spine and ran a hand through his hair, suddenly realising that he must look a state—must look as out of control as he felt. And that wouldn’t do."
Hibbert, Talia. The Roommate Risk (p. 279). Nixon House. Kindle Edition.
📖Genres: romance, contemporary, contemporary romance,
📚Page Count: 333
🎧Audiobook Length: 09h 36min
👩🏾🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 4.5/5
----
The Roommate Risk by Talia Hibbert is a contemporary romance and the second book in The Midnight Heat Collection, by the same author. The Roommate Risk is about two best friends, Jasmine and Rahul. Jasmine lives with a roommate but she soon finds out that her room and everything in it has been damaged if not destroyed because there was a major water leak in her bedroom. With nowhere to go, Jasmine contacts her best friend Rahul because she knows that his apartment has an open room and she hopes that she can rent it for a while. Little does Jasmine know that Rahul has been in love with her for the last 7 years of their lives together as best friends. Will Jasmine moving in complicate everything in the best or worst way?
I really enjoyed this story, it was romantic, sweet, and angsty. I love the chemistry between Rahul and Jasmine, I think they're cute together. They both have their own stuff that they're dealing with and the author does an okay job of depicting that with Rahul and an even better job depicting it with Jasmine. There was this really cute scene where Rahul takes Jasmine on a date and I couldn't stop smiling during that scene, it was just adorable and a little spicy. I think the only issue that I had with the story was a trope that takes place in the last part of the book, and it was basically <spoiler>a third act break up but to continue to spoil things I will say that there IS an happily every after at the end so it all ends up working out. I understand why there was a break up near the end, because Jasmine had a lot of stuff she needed to sort through. I think it was a good choice to write in that she got a therapist and started working through her emotional and insecurity issues as well as her drinking problem.</spoiler>
The spicy scenes were really enjoyable. I might have really liked them because I dated someone in college with the same name and look as the main male character and memories were doin' their thing, but wow these spicy scenes were great. I'm giving the spicy scenes four chilies 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️out of five chilies
I really enjoyed this novel, it made me smile and I definitely swooned over the main male character. I'm giving this 5 out of 5 stars.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 4.5/5 Stars
Thank you [NetGalley.com], the author, and publisher for the arc (advanced reader's copy) of the audiobook.
💬:Suddenly the page changed before her eyes, the ink bleeding together and reforming into new pictures, faster than she could register. Words appeared and disappeared in languages she couldn’t read. A ringing filled her ears, and she could hear her blood rushing in time with her heartbeat.
Sbrana, Analeigh. Lore of the Wilds: A Novel (pp. 165-166). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
📖Genres: fantasy, romance, fae, romantasy, adult, magic,
📚Page Count: 339
🎧Audiobook Length: 10:51
👩🏾🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️.5 - 2.5/5
Lore of the Wilds is the first in the series of the same title by Analeigh Sbrana. This story is about Lore, a human who lives in a society of fae. Her village falls on disaster and she has no choice but to surrenders herself to the dark fae Syrelle. Syrelle instructs her to tend to his library in the castle they're in. It's not long before Lore runs away with one of the castle guards, a fae named Asher. Later on Lore ends up meeting and becoming enthralled with another fae named Finn.
This book has so much potential but the pacing is off, there's little character development, there's close to no romance and very little chemistry between the romantic interests and the main character even though there are TWO romantic interests, and this fantasy crosses over from being a fantasy drama to being a cozy fantasy to wanting to be high fantasy, and the spicy scene at the end wasn't gotten to with build up or banter or any sort of romantic development.
Overall, the pacing felt off and there was very little character development when it came to Lore, herself. There was also very little romantic development despite this being marketed as a "romantasy" or romance fantasy. I'm giving this 2.5 stars out of 5.
⭐️⭐️.5 - 2.5/5 Stars
Thank you [NetGalley.com], the author, and publisher for the arc (advanced reader's copy.)
💬:Suddenly the page changed before her eyes, the ink bleeding together and reforming into new pictures, faster than she could register. Words appeared and disappeared in languages she couldn’t read. A ringing filled her ears, and she could hear her blood rushing in time with her heartbeat.
Sbrana, Analeigh. Lore of the Wilds: A Novel (pp. 165-166). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
📖Genres: fantasy, romance, fae, romantasy, adult, magic,
📚Page Count: 339
🎧Audiobook Length: 10:51
👩🏾🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️.5 - 2.5/5
Lore of the Wilds is the first in the series of the same title by Analeigh Sbrana. This story is about Lore, a human who lives in a society of fae. Her village falls on disaster and she has no choice but to surrenders herself to the dark fae Syrelle. Syrelle instructs her to tend to his library in the castle they're in. It's not long before Lore runs away with one of the castle guards, a fae named Asher. Later on Lore ends up meeting and becoming enthralled with another fae named Finn.
This book has so much potential but the pacing is off, there's little character development, there's close to no romance and very little chemistry between the romantic interests and the main character even though there are TWO romantic interests, and this fantasy crosses over from being a fantasy drama to being a cozy fantasy to wanting to be high fantasy, and the spicy scene at the end wasn't gotten to with build up or banter or any sort of romantic development.
Overall, the pacing felt off and there was very little character development when it came to Lore, herself. There was also very little romantic development despite this being marketed as a "romantasy" or romance fantasy. I'm giving this 2.5 stars out of 5.
⭐️⭐️.5 - 2.5/5 Stars
Thank you [NetGalley.com], the author, and publisher for the arc (advanced reader's copy.)