Katherine

The Maiden & The Unseen is Book 1 in the Love & Fate series, and so good!!

I am a sucker for a spicy Hades x Persephone retelling, and this did not disappoint.

We meet Persephone living in New York away from her oppressive mother (Demeter) and having become an independent and strong woman. She is sexy, smart, has a job, and is trying to live life as best she can in the Mortal Realm.

Hades is our typical tall, dark, handsome, rich, broody benefactor and head of Plutus Industries. He has a lot of responsibility on his shoulders and is quite the cranky broody man.... until Persephone walks into his life - or rather his apartment unannounced and uproots everything.

The chemistry and building tension between the 2 of them throughout the book is INSANE and so good! I was on the edge of my seat the whole time, praying for a bit of relief and for them to stop being so stubborn and admit they like each other.

I really enjoyed their banter, back and forth, push and pull - it was so sweet and wonderfully painful to watch. And dealing with the fact that Persephone had a mortal boyfriend?? Sweet Jackson never stood a chance against Hades.

If you are looking for a plot heavy book, this isn't it. If you are looking for a Hades x Persephone erotica, you have come to the right place. I think this is very important to keep in mind. If I had to judge on plot my review would be very different, but knowing what this is, I can say it is literally so good and spicy, steamy, boiling hot! I could not put it down.

Overall, I really enjoyed The Maiden & the Unseen by Alexis Rune and Jeannette Rose. It was the perfect Hades x Persephone erotica retelling set in the modern day.

Secrets Evergreen is a YA fantasy following Ivy Rune, a wonderful girl in a difficult position. I loved following her throughout the story, and had so much empathy for her. Her development and growth in the story was well done, and I can't wait to see more in book 2. There is so much more development she can have and I can't wait! I really enjoyed her anxiety and dread about her profession. It was so relatable and was giving off imposter syndrome vibes which is something a lot of people struggle with, including myself. It was nice to see it written in a character!

I loved the relationship/friendship between her and York. Are they friends, are they more? Will they stay in each others lives? It was cute. They clearly care for each other a lot and want to stay in each other's lives. I am also excited to see what is in store for him in book 2!

The side characters were all well done, and I liked the differences they brought to the story. The mean girl, the selfish friend, the mysterious benefactor, the scary leader, the kind of strange teacher, the wonderful and kind smart friend, etc.

The main plot following her father's clues and the magic forest was great! I loved the magic element, and the notes her father left behind were so interesting and intriguing. All the world building was wonderful and I felt like I could really envision being in the forest with Ivy, and experiencing what she experienced.

We had a heck of a cliffhanger and a few tense chapters at the end, and it left me excited for the next installment of this series.

Overall, Secrets Ever Green by Sara Knightly was a wonderful coming of age story full of magic, mystery, character development, and following your instincts. I will definitely read book 2 when it comes out.

Legacy of Temptation by Larissa Ione was so good! I love that this series is going the way of the children of the four horsemen of the apocolypse, it is such a good angle!

I really loved the characters in this book – the 2 main characters as well as most of the supporting characters. Eva is beautiful, strong, intelligent, capable, and ready to get this project over with so she can keep working towards her promotion. Logan is handsome, dangerous, strong, and a loyal DART worker.

When their worlds collide, the attraction is insanely strong, almost too strong to resist. While both of them want nothing to do with each other, they can’t help but simultaneously want everything to do with each other, and that sexual tension is so good!

I enjoyed the 2 organizations swapping people and the experience we get to see of the Aegis team in the DART homebase. It gives a lot of themes of racism/species-ism? and prejudice, and general close mindedness from the Aegis team. It was really interesting to see how these feelings and interactions played out, and then how the organizations dealt with everything as it happened.

The plot was great, the stakes were high, and it held my interest the whole time! I read this book on a 5 hour flight and did literally nothing else the entire time except read.

It was giving political government espionage + monsters + racism and I was here for it! Then we had the spice with Logan and Eva and I really enjoyed that. I am interested to see where the series goes from here! While this was my first dip into this world, it is only the beginning… I am so ready to fully dive into the universe and read everything else there is!

Overall, Legacy of Temptation by Larissa Ione is fantastic and I can’t wait to read more! I highly recommend.

Leo Cesari can come into my life and solve all my problems any time he wants! I love a good age gap + grumpy x sunshine + arranged marriage romance, and to tie it all up into a mafia romance? Yes please!

I really enjoyed The Fixer by Tara Crescent. It was spicy and sweet, heart breaking and heart warming, and overall captivating! I really liked both main characters, Leo was perfect for his role, and Rosa was so sweet but also strong. The ideal coupling for a grumpy x sunshine.

Leo was grief stricken from his previous marriage, and no matter how attracted to Rosa he was, he tried to remain distant from her. Obviously, that fails miserably and I am here for it! Rosa is the ultimate family player and agrees to marry him to save her brother and family with no reservations. She is so sweet and strong, and while I cannot relate to the arranged marriage, mafia, age gap or anything, I still relate to her as the oldest child and the non-golden child.

This book poked at my deep feelings on older children taking responsibility for the younger children, and the family dynamics when you are not the golden child and watch the golden child do whatever the hell they want and it still be praised, while you work so hard and are constantly criticized. Genuinely I wanted to smack her mom on the head several times! I am glad Leo started standing up for Rosa, it showed his loving nature.

I also loved seeing how the trauma and anxiety Leo had from his past manifested. He definitely was overbearing and overstepping, and it was interesting to see how he dealt with everything.

The spice: YES!!! Okay the spice was so good, from the nip slip all the way to the sex club and everything in-between. It was so steamy and good, I loved it! I also enjoy a willing/wanting virgin trope, and that scene was great too. when a virgin is wanting to make that leap, I think those scenes can be so sexy!

Overall, I loved The Fixer by Tara Crescent and thought it was a unique look at a Mafia Romance! I would definitely give this one a try.

Daughter of Sherwood was a great twist on the story of Robin Hood! I really enjoyed it, and will definitely pick up book 2 when it comes out. It is a darker, steamier twist to the original story, complete with a female portrayed as Robin Hood instead of a male.

I liked Robin as our FMC, she had to be tough to survive her life and even tougher to survive with the Merry Men. Her father was horrible to her, her mother was sick, and she didn't have many people in her life to care for her and keep her safe. When she was thrown in with the Merry Men, she had to adjust to their way of living and learn the in's and outs of being in a nomadic group who steal for a living.

This book was very spicy and I loved that aspect. There were solo scenes, couple scenes, and group scenes, and all of them were super hot! I loved the reverse harem trope of the story, it makes sense for a group setting to take place in a group like this, and from the way Robin was thinking, she was the perfect candidate to have multiple partners.

The plot was good, I liked it a lot and felt like the story moved along well. The only thing that felt rushed for me was the contest. there was like 1 hour left in the book and we hadn't started the archery contest yet. It felt rushed for me and I spent most of the book thinking the contest would be book 2. It ended up being fine, just I think could have been expanded on.

I enjoyed the ending and 100% am excited to see where book 2 takes us!

Overall Daughter of Sherwood by KC Kingmaker was an enjoyable read and I would recommend it! I will absolutely be reading book 2 when it comes out.

I expect this will be an unpopular opinion, and for that I am sorry, but not sorry for my opinion in itself.

Honestly? I am disappointed.

Crescent City has always been my least favorite of Sarah J Maas’ series, but I still liked it. Books 1 and 2 were good; I liked the plot (aside from how often Danika came up), the characters, the world building, and the Bryce/Hunt relationship. However, House of Flame and Shadow almost felt like it was a completely different set of characters.

Tharion, no longer the snarky sexy confident guy – now the defeated moping depressed guy.

Bryce, kind of a b*tch? In general she was extremely unlikable for most of the story. I was not rooting for her, in fact it was quite the opposite. Uncaring for Hunt in a way that made their relationship seem toxic, and a selfish asshole for several other parts that would be considered a spoiler. Their interactions made me cringe at times, and I was underwhelmed by their spice, reunion, and supposed power couple nature. I hated how she acted with everyone else, and I didn’t like her issues with her ancestry and how it became almost her whole personality.

Several other characters were different as well, and it was just not my favorite.

This review is really hard to write because I want to air my grievances with it (and there’s quite the list) but I don’t want to spoil anything since it is still a new book. I’ll outline some high level things, and maybe do a spoiler heavy part 2 where I really get into it.

The plot: horrible. Things that were easy should have been harder by a long shot, The story line did not make sense to me, the teased out combo of worlds was not what I imagined it at all to be. There were so many bad plot points and things that were stupid or just did not make sense. If you’ve read it, you can probably think of several pretty quickly.

It felt like someone else entirely wrote this book and decided to throw a bunch of things that didn’t make sense at all. The giant teaser we got at the end of book 2 had my hopes up high for the combo section, but it fell so so so flat. In my personal opinion, it was pointless, useless, and could have not happened at all. I do not believe it added any value.

I am really disappointed because as far as SJM’s 3 FMC’s, it seems like Bryce now is the most powerful, but she also didn’t have to work to master her powers at all?? How does that make sense? There is no character building with her, she just magically can wield a ton of power and it makes her so much less relatable.

Overall I am super underwhelmed and honestly really sad and disappointed. I kept having to put it down and come back to it, which is something I never thought I would say about an SJM novel. I read that she threw away draft 1 and completely started over, and I wish I could read that instead. My guess is I would like it more than this. I think in general I just did not like the story. I wished it would have gone so many different ways and wished the characters would have acted differently.

To be honest, I am not sure if I would read the next one in the series. I am not interested in hearing more about Tharion or Ithan, and that is the only realistic next step I see?

*insert sad face here*

The Veil of Violence by Marilyn Marks is book 2 in the Fae of the Roaring Age series. The first thing I have to say is just WOW. This book was so so so good. It continued closely to where we left off in the first book, and picked right back up and continued the story. We left The Prince of Prohibition with Adeline being immortal, being something but not knowing what she is, just that she isn't a druid or fae. We know the Morrigan is after her. She feels betrayed by Jack based on what the Morrigan said to her in the field.

We start The Veil of Violence with the crystal Estheria gave Adeline containing Jack's memories. Getting the dual POV of Adeline and Jack in current time, and then Jaevidan and Annwyl in the past was so powerful. I loved loved loved this. It gives us insight into him as a character and how he was made into the man he is today. It was heart warming, horrifying, devastating, beautiful, charming, rage-inducing and so many other emotions, and it was all written perfectly. As we got through the memories, it was a great addition to the story to break up what was happening real time and also to ponder his past with how it affects the decisions he is making now.

Truly the Veil of Violence is a masterpiece. I enjoyed this book so much.

The continuation of the plot and the higher stakes we now have are incredibly interesting and suck you right into the story. I read the entire book in 2 days because I was so invested in what was happening that I could not put it down. Racing around trying to figure out what Adeline is, repairing her and Jack's relationship, dealing with the Morrigan and the Knights. Then, dealing with all the other stuff once we learn about it....SO GOOD.

We went from enemies to friends to lovers now back to enemies sort-of? You'll have to read to find out where we leave them at the end. The relationships Adeline cultivated and continue to cultivate with her found family are just so special. I love seeing them all interact in their own special ways, whether they be arguing, fooling around, scheming and plotting, or just sitting together feeling defeated. They continue to be there for each other time and time again, and that was such a wonderful image to see portrayed in the book.

I continue to love Violet and Lillian and Will and the rest of them, and continue to dislike Tommy even though I know he means well. He is an ass and I hate how he treats Adeline like she isn't capable of handling herself now. Violet was weird this book - still amazing but weird and when we find out why, it is INSANE!! total twist I did not anticipate at all.

The tension of Jack and Adeline is incredible in this book. I was so upset at how their relationship took a turn, but I was living for how it panned out throughout the book. I was living for how everything panned out in this book honestly.

Overall, The Veil of Violence by Marilyn Marks as book 2 in the Fae of the Roaring Age is a Must-Read in 2024. It will make you feel as though you are right there in the 1920's with them, dealing with normal human issues and fae issues all wrapped up together. Run don't walk to buy and read this book!

The Prince of Prohibition by Marilyn Marks is book 1 in the Fae of the Roaring Age series. It immediately rose to my top read of 2024 so far this year. I loved this book so much. I was captivated throughout the story and couldn’t wait to find out what happened next.

Adeline is a great character to follow. She starts off as a child who people think is crazy, with a father who teaches her to never interact with the ‘devil-folk’ and a brother who came back from war a changed man. We right away get this vision of Adeline as weak, submissive, taught to do what the man says and never argue. We see her starve herself, go crazy, and feel tormented by what only she can see.

Jack is handsome, successful, wicked, and utterly obsessed with Adeline. She was plucked from rural Georgia and relocated to downtown New York in the height of the prohibition, where everyone drinks behind closed doors.

I truly loved the setting of this book. the roaring twenties? Fae in the roaring twenties? It was beautiful and quite honestly a masterpiece. The premise of prohibition is an interesting one, as well as everyone's involvement in their rag tag group of friends. The way Marilyn Marks wove fae live into bustling New York City was perfect. I felt like there was a perfect blend of it being a fantasy while also being set in the city.

The plot was magnificent. Weak woman, strong man. Incredible pulsing attraction warring with the knowledge that this would be a terrible idea. Woman having to pick herself up and become strong on her own. Massive character development. The dark and light sides of each main character.

I really grew to love the characters and was invested in them and their well being. At first I was sad for Adeline but a little annoyed by her, but as we watch her grow, she grew on me too.

The attraction between Adeline and Jack is incredible! I loved the sexual tension they felt for each other and how much tensions we got throughout the book. The anticipation of them finally getting together and then getting to read that? Whew!! Worth every agonizing second waiting for it.

I also enjoyed the way the author flirted with a back and forth between attraction and obsession. It was a great theme through the book and I liked seeing it from the perspective of the Fae as well as the humans.

Finally, the characters in The Prince of Prohibition are all wonderful. Violet being a complete bitch made the book. She did not pity Adeline when she was fighting her past beliefs and accepting what was happening in front of her. Violet called her out and hung her out to dry, and that is something that really helped Adeline grow. It also helped me because while I love Adeline, she was a bit of a wet towel sometimes.

Overall, The Prince of Prohibition by Marilyn Marks is a fantastic start to the Fae of the Roaring Age series. I cannot wait for book 2, this was an immediate 5 stars for me! If you like the Great Gatsby, Fae fantasy, fated mates, found family and so much more, this is the read for you.

Hollywood Comes Home is another steamy, quick and enjoyable read by V.B. Emanuele as part of the Club Euphoria series. It is book 2, and focused on the story of Chance (aka Hollywood) and Amber.

I really liked this one! I wasn’t sure how I was going to like reading from Chance’s perspective based on his personality in the first book, but I was pleasantly surprised. I knew I would like Amber and her perspective, and that was exactly what happened.

Poor Amber, her chapters were so sad! She was heartbroken and mopey and wary of people… I wanted to wrap her up in a hug and tell her everything was alright. As far as Chance goes, as much as I want to tell him he brought it upon himself, it was really powerful to read his drinking struggles and and despair at the situation. I couldn’t help but feel bad for him.

The spice in Hollywood Comes Home was magnificent. I love that they were more kinky than Ian and Jenna, and I loved them playing rough. It was spicy and sexy and everything you want from a kinky scene.

I am really enjoying the Club Euphoria novels and can’t wait for book 3! The ending in Hollywood Comes Home was crazy and brought the mafia twist back in full force. Interested to see what comes next!

Overall, I really enjoyed Hollywood Comes Home by V.B. Emanuele as part of the Club Euphoria series. It was spicy, heart wrenching, anguishing to read, and a really great read!

If you are looking for a steamy mafia-meets-strip-club romance, look no further. Just Business and the Club Euphoria series has got you covered!

Just Business was so steamy, spicy, sexy, and hot! It pulled me in right away and kept me there through the bulk of the story. I picked it up on a Saturday afternoon and was 85% done by the time I went to bed; my entire afternoon/evening was me focused on Jenna and Ian.

I really enjoyed the Mafia angle as well as the strip club angle. It was great to read both parts of Ian’s business, and see them from both his and Jenna’s perspectives. I’m a sucker for a Dark Mafia Romance, and this was a perfect one!

Jenna is a very strong FMC, willing to do anything to keep herself afloat. She does not wallow in sadness for all the things she went through, but picks herself up and says ‘ okay world, I am going to take care of my self one way or another’. It just so happens that she ends up working at a strip club where she meets Ian Knight.

Ian is the perfect Mafia boss main love interest. He is sexy, broody, dark, serious, scary, and dominant… the perfect combination. His interest in Jenna is riveting, and the scenes between them in the beginning? WHEW! so SPICY.

The spice was incredible. It was VERY good, and I was very into it (lol). Even the non-sex spice, the initial teasing spice, the initial build up and sexual tension – it was so well written, I could not stop reading it. I loved the push-and-pull between them, and before they had sex it was full of so much sexual tension it was insane!

Overall, Just Business By V.B. Emanuele as book 1 in the Club Euphoria series was a great steamy mafia romance with a HAE – if this is your vibe, then definitely pick it and the rest of the series up!

*sigh*

I continue to be infatuated with Slade. I think he is solidly and forever in my top 5 book boyfriends. He is out of his mind trying to find Auren, and it broke my heart over and over reading his chapters. I really feel for him, and have so much respect for his dedication to finding her again and making sure she is safe. He is doing this all while dealing with his own struggles, which is literally insane.

The revenge Slade took for Auren’s trial was written so well, and I could feel every emotion he and everyone involved felt. It was like you were transported to the scene, and as horrifying as it was, I could not put the book down. If Gold was written purely from Slade’s perspective, I think it might just have been my favorite book of all time.

Gold was written from the perspective of 4 people: Auren, Slade, Queen Malina, and Osrik. Osrik had a few chapters, but the rest was focused on the main 3. Auren, as she deals with falling through the rip to Anwyn. Queen Malina as she deals with the fallout of fixing the bridge to Annwyn. Slade, as he tears through Orea trying to figure out how to get back to Auren.

As much as I want to give Gold 5 stars because of how much I love the series, it unfortunately fell flat for me. Book 4 was a filler book in its own way, and for some reason Gold felt like even more of a filler book – but with less exciting filler content. I loved the content of book 4 with Auren learning her powers, being at Deadwell and the Brackhill, etc. Gold was filled with Auren in Annwyn doing things that didn’t make sense to me. It didn’t give me the angst of her missing Slade, the frantic desire to get back to him.

I didn’t have as much investment in Gold as I have in the other ones, and I think Auren in Annwyn was the main reason why. I just didn’t care about that part of the story, it didn’t fit, and it came out of left field. I understand why Raven Kennedy wrote this, because how else were we going to tie in the things that happened at the end of Gold with where we left off in book 4? I just didn’t personally love it.

Now what else did I love other than Slade’s perspective? Queen Malina’s story. She is a whiny, self-centered, annoying, horrible woman, and I am here for it. She gets knocked down a peg (or 20) throughout the story by the assassin, who doesn’t take any of her shit. This was a really great part of the story, and I was invested in her redemption arc. She is not 100% there yet, but she made a lot of progress. I can’t wait to see what role she plays in Goldfinch.

Overall, the Slade plot and the Queen Malina plot points were great, and I loved them! If Gold was only those 2, I think it would be 5 stars. Unfortunately, I just did not vibe with where Auren’s storyline went in Gold. I think it could have gone in several other directions, OR there should have been more of an emphasis on her desire to get back to Slade. He was frantic and out of his mind, while she what? Looked up at the sky occasionally?

I will say I did like her using her powers more confidently, and watching those grow while she fought with them. That was awesome!

Now, the ending? WOW. Wow, wow, wow, wow. SO MUCH stuff happened in the last 15% of the book, and it was a lot to process. You learn so many things, lots of twists are revealed, and we are set up for the last book. Who captured Auren and took her to Orea? Where did the people of Deadwell go? What are we going to do about Annwyn? There was one twist I did not like at all, and it has to do with Una. Once you read it, you will understand which one it is. I did not think it was necessary.

I think Gold by Raven Kennedy was a good addition to the Plated Prisoner series. I would read it again as part of the series re-read, though mainly for Slade and Queen Malina. Honestly, I would recommend it solely for the Slade chapters.

Cruel Seduction is book 5 in the Dark Olympus series by Katee Robert. It follows Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Adonis, and Pandora in their convoluted journey towards each other. I enjoyed Cruel Seduction and thought the mixed POV’s throughout the book was really well done. The transitions were always smooth, and I LOVED the perspective of different people throughout a situation.

A couple of my favorite things:

• The enemies to lovers thing Aphrodite (Eris) and Hephaestus (Theseus) had going on. Sexy and rough and then vulnerable!
• The spice scene with Aphrodite, Hephaestus, and Adonis.. S P I C Y ! ! ! !
• The polyamory. Finally a greek mythology retelling series has non-monogamy. It has been scattered through the series already, but in Cruel Seduction it becomes much more apparent and goes into detail on what it is and why the characters are defining themselves as poly. I really loved this, and it makes me wish our world was more accepting of all different kinds of sexuality.
• Pandora. I was convinced in the last book that Pandora was somehow going to be evil, but she is actually a gorgeous angel desiring to take care of Aphrodite (Eris) and help her take care of herself.
• The toying with Zeus (Perseus) going off the rails and potentially leading the city with fear like his father. If he gets a book in the future, I can’t wait!! I loved his and Hera’s short story about the wedding, and would love more about them.

A couple of things I didn’t love:

• The stakes never really felt very high to me, so I wasn’t as invested. We should have gotten more of the assassination attempts, but they were not described in much detail.
• Hephaestus and Adonis… IDK, it didn’t make a lot of sense to me.
• The ending… everyone just falls in love after 5 days and moves in together to be a cohesive poly quad? Now I know this is fiction, but that was a bit of a stretch. You can’t make me believe you can go from absolutely hating someone and wanting to kill them, to having them move in and potentially loving them. None of them spent very much time together, not a lot happened, and all the sudden they are ready to commit to this poly quad?
• Aphrodite – she wasn’t a bad character, and when she started to show a bit of vulnerability I liked her more, but the first half of the book I didn’t really like her whole insult/bitchy facade.

It was a good book, but I think it could have been better. I liked a lot of things about it, but it wasn’t nearly as good as the other ones in the series. 1-4 and 6 were all much better than this one in my opinion.

Overall, I enjoyed Cruel Seduction by Katee Robert and if you are reading the series through definitely give it a shot! It was entertaining, spicy, and full of hate and anger turned lust and maybe love?

Radiant Sin is the 4th installment in the Dark Olympus series, and this series continues to show up and provide a fantastic read. It felt like a twisted retelling of the game Clue, and for all the right reasons.

Once again, the stakes were high, the spice was spicy, the characters were well developed, and the emotions ran deep.

Cassandra is a feisty and feral FMC and I love her all the more for it. She is intelligent, sharp, prickly around the edges, gorgeous, plus size, fashion forward, and still interacting with the very people who would love to strike her down for what her parents did. Which by the way, was attempt to murder one of the Thirteen to take their seat. She holds her true emotions close and her trust even closer, and will do everything she can to get a 1 way ticket for herself and her sister out of Olympus for good.

Apollo is handsome, intelligent, and so professional around Cassandra it is painful. Reading his POV and realizing he fell for her so long ago is devastating and also so chivalrous of him for trying to keep the power imbalance out of play.

When the only way for them to try to get info on Midas involves posing as a happy couple, things get steamy quick and I was all here for it. Cassandra and Apollo can’t keep their feelings from each other and it quickly devolves into a wild passionate whirlwind behind closed doors – and in closets, sitting rooms, etc.

I loved Radiant Sin, and the POV from both Cassandra and Apollo was utter perfection. Katee Robert did a fantastic job describing the events from each perspective and I really felt like I was in each of their heads.

The plot of Radiant Sin was great! I love an unnervingly charming villain who plays with people like they are dolls. It was so creepy and interesting, even when nothing particularly bad was happening. The suspense was perfect.

I loved how it turned out at the end, and can’t wait to continue on in the series.

Overall, Radiant Sin by Katee Robert is an exercise in lust, affection, murder, spying, trust, and more, so get ready for a wild ride because it sure was one. Definitely would recommend this book and the whole series!

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.

Wicked Beauty is book 3 in the Dark Olympus series, and I swear this series is exactly what I was looking for recently. Interesting retellings set in a modern day Olympus, lots of spice, high stakes, romance, character development, and plenty of drama.

It was simply a masterpiece. I loved this retelling of Helen of Troy, Achilles and Patroclus. It was extremely well done and I loved the plot taking place in the form of a hunger games-style tournament for the rights to the title of Ares. Everyone loves a good FMC who is undervalued and overlooked coming in to kick some ass while dealing with the inner trauma of her life. Everyone also loves that same FMC meeting 2 smoking hot men and them inserting her into their relationship for some steamy action. I personally did.

Helen is a really wonderful and relatable FMC. She was taught to hide behind a mask of the playful rich princess girl and hide all her true feelings and vulnerabilities from everyone. She was betrayed by an ass of an ex boyfriend who emotionally abused her and cut her down so far inside her head she struggles to believe in herself, while also not being able to trust/open up to anyone else. Aside from all this, she is strong, intelligent, crafty, and a general bad-ass while looking sexy as hell. While I can’t relate to her struggles, I really truly felt for her and everything she went through. It was described really well, and make me feel strongly invested in her as a character.

Achilles and Patroclus were great together, and I definitely preferred Patroclus over Achilles, but I personally did not love the way things started off with Helen and their blooming jealousy and mistrust of one another. It was weird to use Helen, and then a little weird that they all the sudden were both fine with it? IDK, that doesn’t foster good relationship foundation vibes to me, even though they have been together for 10+ years.

The spice was great in Wicked Beauty. It was intense and seductive and hot and sexy and 10/10. I really liked how it was different between Achilles and Patroclus, Patroclus and Helen, Helen and Achilles, and the 3 of them together. Each coupling had a different vibe and energy to it and it was all fantastic while being totally different. We had the long term lovers, the passionate, the hate fuck, and the sexy triad.

I wished there was a little more of the challenges in the book, but what was there was written very well and added to the plot wonderfully. I just enjoyed the scenes and wish it drug out a bit more.

Overall, I really enjoyed Wicked Beauty by Katee Robert. It was empowering, sexy, tense, and I struggled to put it down until I was done. I would definitely recommend it and can’t wait to continue reading the rest of the Dark Olympus series.

Electric Idol is the 2nd book in the Dark Olympus series, and did not disappoint! Psyche is amazing and I love her so much! I was surprised how much I enjoyed this book and the FMC. Normally I am not interested in books where the FMC or any characters are influencers in the modern day, but Psyche won me over with her charm and intelligence.

I enjoyed that she was a successful influencer, daughter to one of the most powerful women, incredibly intelligent, and also plus size. As someone who is plus size myself, I feel like Katee Robert did a really great job handling this trope. Psyche was confident and beautiful, but not without her insecurities. It was very relatable to see her nervousness getting naked in front of Eros, giving her measurements to him at one point, and for him to pick her up and carry her. These are all things I can very easily relate to.

What I loved the most about this was that it was the go to insult for Aphrodite, and it was seen as a weak insult to Psyche. She isn’t surprised she is fat, she knows she is and makes the best of it and wishes people would come up with a better insult.

Eros was our dark, dangerous, beautiful love interest we never knew we needed. Traumatic childhood, dark and bloody past, in desperate need of any sort of love or kindness… I would have fallen for him just as quickly as Psyche. I loved the chapters from his point of view, they were *chefs kiss* perfect. is descriptions of his budding feelings and emotions, the cracking of his cold calculated mask, his absolute desire and amazement and lust for Psyche…. whew! If those chapters don’t make you fall for him, I don’t know what you are doing.

I liked the high stakes in the first book more, but I LOVED the marriage of convenience trope in Electric Idol. It was oh so good to watch them both resist and struggle and still end up happy in each others arms.

My favorite part of the entire book (aside from the spice) was the epilogue. MY HEART!! It was so sweet and happy and I loved it so much.

Overall, Electric Idol by Katee Robert is the epitome of the marriage of convenience trope, and a fantastic read if you want to feel the ache of their growing love and resistance alongside them. And the spice is pretty damn good too!

Neon Gods is the first book in the Dark Olympus series and so good! It is a perfect broody x sunshine trope, filled with lots of banter, sexual tension, sexual release, and ultimately lots of caring for one another. A Persephone/Hades retelling is my favorite type of retelling and I was not disappointed.

Hades was dark, broody, handsome, mysterious and serious, but ultimately not a bad person. He opened up to Persephone and showed vulnerability as they went on and he honestly made me swoon. Persephone appears as the sunshine happy girl but underneath the facade lies a woman waiting for a chance to be her own strong person. Together they bring out the best in one another and show each other snippets of happiness each did not believe they would achieve.

I enjoyed the plot of Neon Gods, it made sense and was interesting. The stakes were high, the tensions were high, and the lust was high. What more could you want? The king of the city and Persephone’s mother hunting her down and starving out a city to bring her back to an arranged marriage to a known wife-murderer?? It was insane and also made so believable through the runaway scene and the messages sent by Zeus.

Katee Robert did a fantastic job describing everything from the surroundings, characters, emotions, thoughts. and anything else you could think of. Hermes and Dionysus were a fun addition, with Hermes being one of my favorites.

I LOVED the kink club angle. Of course that is perfect for Hades, and I loved that underneath the sunshine act, Persephone was just as into it. In general I think the kink club was super sexy and I really enjoyed those scenes.

Overall, Neon Gods by Katee Robert was a spicy, sexy, broody x sunshine trope wonderful book and I am so glad I read it. It is one of those books I would pick back up on a rainy cozy day and plow through in an afternoon because I enjoyed it. I would definitely recommend it!

I really enjoyed the Stone Heart prequel novella of the Dark Olympus series! It was quick and captivating, and I loved learning more about Medusa and Calypso. I really liked the angle of Medusa not being able to go through with assassinating Calypso and them seeing the beauty in each other, even in a situation like this.

The way Medusa and Calpyso were described was great, and I loved how it panned out.

Overall, I really enjoyed the Stone Heart Novella by Katee Robert and am excited to continue on in the Dark Olympus series!

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.*

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.*

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.*

Me, finishing Iron Flame & texting my book bff “oh my god oh my god oh my god I finished Iron Flame. I have passed away, I am in utter shock.”

Well done Rebecca Yarros, well done. There was so much hype around the release of Iron Flame the month leading up to it that I was a bit skeptical of its greatness and chalked it up to tiktok hype. I am pleased to say it was a fantastic novel and I cannot wait for the rest of the series. Rebecca, I have so many questions!!

Let’s get into it, because there is a lot to unpack here. This review will be spoiler heavy, so heed my warning.

DO NOT READ THIS REVIEW UNLESS YOU WANT THE BOOK TO BE SPOILED.

I really really liked Iron Flame. The character development, themes, plot, spice, and everything else came together to create an immersive world and pull you into the story. Violet continues to be a bad ass while also continuing to learn how to deal with her lesser strength, her relationship with Xaden, and now some huge secrets she has to keep – even when being tortured for the information.

Xaden continues to be sexy, strong, and secretive – much to Violet’s dismay. The progression of their relationship was super good and with that ending??? I CANNOT WAIT FOR BOOK 3.

The Iron Squad continues to be friend-group goals, Jesinia comes more into play, and we even meet some new characters that offer an interesting twist into everything (I’m looking at you, Catriona).

I want to dive into a few different themes in the book because I have so much to say that I could write a novella about my thoughts. Instead, I will try to limit myself here.

The big theme we start off with is trust. We start off Iron Flame with Brennan being alive after having been presumed dead for the last 6 years. Not only did he fake his death, but Xaden and the rest of the resistance crew all knew and kept it a secret from Violet. We left off Fourth Wing with Violet realizing Tairn and Andarna kept the resistance a secret from her. Now back at Basgiath War College, Violet has to keep Rhi and the rest of the Iron Squad in the dark about what happened at Athebyne, and Xaden has to work to regain Violets trust. That is a lot of dishonesty, secrets, and strained relationships from all sides. This was such a good theme not only in the beginning of Iron Flame, but through the whole novel. I loved seeing the evolution of the trust worked on and regained between all these different groups, it was interesting and heart wrenching and oh so good.

The evolution of Xaden and Violet’s relationship. This was a really great theme throughout the entire book. Their chemistry is incredible, and it is heart wrenching to see them not be together but want to be. Xaden and Violet are great together, but they really needed to work on their trust and and openness if they were ever going to make it work. “How can I love you when I don’t even know you” was one of the most powerful quotes from Violet related to this, and just really shows how deep both their trust issues and affection for each other went.

Seeing Xaden try so hard to prove himself to Violet time and time again was honestly sexy and I can’t believe she didn’t cave sooner; I would have! As Iron Flame went on, they continued to work on their honesty and openness and their chemistry continued to flame, it was almost unbearable. When Varrish kept preventing them from seeing each other, ughhhhh! It was a great plot point but I was so sad for them each time. When Xaden was fighting to have the night free to see Violet while Sgaeyl and Tairn got to be together? OMG.

There were a lot of great themes and plot lines in this book, too many to break down individually. There was a ton of introspection, relationship issues, communication work, secrets, character development and so much more that went on in Iron Flame that you really can tell Rebecca is setting us up for one hell of a series going forward.

I loved the addition of Cat, her special power, and her history with Xaden and subsequent hatred of Violet. There is nothing like a scorned lover and man she feels scorned hard. I love that her power is to amplify emotions, and she makes Violet super jealous and self conscious. It was a good plot point and great avenue for continued character development of Violet. I even liked that they had to begrudgingly work together as the book went on.

Other themes and things I want to mention/ point out but not get into… maybe I’ll have to do a review post part 2 once I re-read it.

Other themes

• Secrets and the damage/protection they do, and the fine balance
• Insecurity and inner thoughts/emotions you don’t let yourself think about until they are right in your face
• Right and wrong, the choices we make, and why
• Sacrifices for love and the safety of the people

Things I loved – SPOILERS BELOW

• Violet vs Codagh scene
• The relationship and work Rhi and Violet have to do to salvage their friendship and the trust Violet puts into them? UGH YES
• The torture scenes? SO GOOD, it was described really well and I thought Rebecca Yarros did a fantastic job. Varrish is so cruel and terrible, and to have Nolan be there too? NOOOOO
• When Dain comes into the picture….. just wow holy shit, great development.
• THE SPICE SCENE on the throne of Tyrrendor, WHEW.
• I love that almost everyone knows how to speak sign language with Jesinia, that is so awesome. I love Jesinia’s character development too!

The continued world building and history was great, I love that you thought you knew so much in book 1 and then in Iron Flame you realize you actually know nothing and were very sheltered inside the Basgiath War College. You learn about the whole other part of the continent out there, the fliers, the other people, and more about the dreaded venin. There are people being left alone to die without support or saving from Navarre. The venin are running rampant while leadership continues to lead Navarre to believe that they don’t even exist. Then, to top it all off, you learn that the scribes 400 years ago rewrote all of history and hid everything away to keep the people in the dark. It all continued to build to the story and start to set up the rest of the series, and it really drew me in. I hope we continue to learn more, especially about the empyrean.

Also I need to know more about the 7th type of dragon??? Andarna girl can’t wait to learn more about you.

There are SO many other things I want to mention and talk about, but overall I LOVED Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros. It was so good and I definitely will be rereading it in the next 30 days.

Worthy of a million re-reads.

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.