"We are fire and drought, destined to consume and ruin. His tongue writes secrets across the inside of my mouth, scripts of longing that have no pl"We are fire and drought, destined to consume and ruin. His tongue writes secrets across the inside of my mouth, scripts of longing that have no place in our world. And I read them all, insatiable for the narrative that could destroy us both."
Dallas is book 2 in the Light & Shadow duet by the fabulous N.N. Britt and whilst it is predominantly Dallas' book, it is written in dual POV with chapters shared between Dallas and Isaac. Natalia writes so beautifully, and creates such wonderfully complex, layered, broken characters you just lose yourself in the continuation of the story.
Again, watch out for those tough, dark themes BUT I promise there's a HEA!
What To Expect:
❥ MM mafia/cop romance ❥ dual POV ❥ opposites attract ❥ steamy ❥ angsty ❥ first times ❥ found family ❥ HEA
"When I swing the door open, Isaac stands there. Again. He's all dark hair and extra-rich chocolate eyes framed by long lashes. A storm dressed as "When I swing the door open, Isaac stands there. Again. He's all dark hair and extra-rich chocolate eyes framed by long lashes. A storm dressed as a man. Black slacks, white shirt, wrist wrapped with a Rolex."
Isaac is book 1 in the Light & Shadow duet by the fabulous N.N. Britt and whilst it is predominantly Isaac's book, it is written in dual POV chapters shared between Isaac and Dallas. Natalia writes so beautifully, and creates such wonderfully complex, layered, broken characters you just lose yourself in the story. Watch out for some tough, dark themes. Thankfully book 2 in the duet Dallas is out on 26 September, so you don't have long to wait for their conclusion!
What To Expect:
❥ MM mafia/cop romance ❥ dual POV ❥ opposites attract ❥ dark themes ❥ slow burn ❥ steamy ❥ angsty ❥ first times ❥ found family ❥ duet (cliff hanger)
"Somewhere, opposing forces raised weapons and unleashed bloodshed. And nearby, the rainforest watched us. And around us, the water flailed. This w"Somewhere, opposing forces raised weapons and unleashed bloodshed. And nearby, the rainforest watched us. And around us, the water flailed. This was how it felt to surrender and conquer. This was how it felt to kiss a villain."
Well, where to start?! I first read Dare by the sublime Natalia Jaster back in 2020 when it was the second book in the Foolish Kingdoms series and I adored it. Now 4 years later, the author is re-writing the series, making it way longer, expanding and developing all the amazing story lines, character arcs and world-building, and upping the spice rating ten-fold!
The first book Trick is now told across three books, the other two being Ruin and Burn, and all books in the series do need to be read in order, because whilst they are about different couples (Poet and Briar are across the first three books) they are all interlinked and there is one overarching story.
So back to Dare, which is Jeryn and Flare's story. Prince Jeryn is heir to the Winter Kingdom (Poet and Briar are from the Autumn court) and Flare is a 'born soul', considered 'less than' because of her inability to speak and her tendency for the dramatic; she has been imprisoned for most of her life.
They hate each other and they are obsessed with each other. Flare escapes from Summer's prison and Jeryn hunts her down. All the way to a tropical island undiscovered for centuries. Where things slowly start to change between them, as misunderstandings and revelations and life and death situations lead to lines being crossed, and the longing for things that can never be starts taking root in both of them....
What To Expect:
❣️MF fantasy romance ❣️Enemies to lovers ❣️Dark themes ❣️Forced proximity ❣️Forbidden ❣️Found family ❣️"Touch her and die" ❣️ALL THE STEAM! ❣️HFN
On the topic of steam, these are probably some of the longest spicy scenes, so be prepared!
As always, with Natalia's work, we have wonderfully diverse characters and fabulous representation. The writing is beautiful, such amazing prose, flowery and descriptive and divine. The world building is stunning and the characters sublime.
"Seconds ticked by . . . The kiss went on . . . Zee’s tail flicked. Victor rocked with the motion of their embrace. Erm. Maybe they should ge"Seconds ticked by . . . The kiss went on . . . Zee’s tail flicked. Victor rocked with the motion of their embrace. Erm. Maybe they should get a room? I shouldn’t watch, but also couldn’t look away. Zee and Victor, tongue-wrestling, hand-grabbing. There was even some hip action going on. Mercy, they were spicy hot."
Ariana Nash continues the craziness in book 5 of her SOS Hotel series. Adam's troubles continue in SOS Hotel: No Rest for the Wicked and in this instalment, we have gremlins. Gremlins and murdery pixies. Oh and did I mention the MMM action is going up a notch. Or three......
To be continued in book - SOS Hotel: Luxury to Die for- and I can't wait for more not-quite-so-human Adam Vex and his boys!
"Something about him drew me like a moth to a flame, which was only a problem because most of the time, he looked at me as if he couldn’t ever trus"Something about him drew me like a moth to a flame, which was only a problem because most of the time, he looked at me as if he couldn’t ever trust me, as if he didn’t even like me, when all I saw in him was safety. A place to lay down my head and rest, knowing that he’d have my back while I slept."
Kiss a Villain is book 1 in the No Mercy duet by debut author Mia Darling, and what a totally fabulous debut this was! I was sucked in from the very first chapter and inhaled the entire book over one (sleepless!) night. I totally adored our gorgeously innocent despite the horror, pining mafia prince Yarik, but my heart is still with that beautifully broken lonely Bratva boy, Kirill. So much angst!
"I leaned heavily against my desk and rubbed my face with both hands. As if I didn’t have enough to deal with already. Despite everything Hayden ha"I leaned heavily against my desk and rubbed my face with both hands. As if I didn’t have enough to deal with already. Despite everything Hayden had said about being independent, I had the intrinsic feeling that the biggest challenge and responsibility, and hopefully the biggest joy, of my life had just come thumping down on my shoulders."
His Captor is book two in the Omegas After Dark series by MM Farmer but can be read as a standalone. Despite the title, this isn't a dark romance and notwithstanding a short kidnapping, it's a quick and angst-less read.
"Luca glares at me for a moment longer, before his expression softens and his lips tilt up in a soft smile. And as I hold his gaze, I can’t help bu"Luca glares at me for a moment longer, before his expression softens and his lips tilt up in a soft smile. And as I hold his gaze, I can’t help but smile as well, and send him a silent thank you. As irritating as he can be, he’s also the only one that can really get me out of my head, and help me find my way home."
Choke Hold is the second and final book in the No Holds Barred duology by Eve Holmes and my love affair with Ty and Luca continues! Whilst I didn't lose myself in this one quite like I did with Hooks In, it was still a fabulous ending to their story.
Adam's troubles continue. Turns out the hotel definitely has a gremlin problem, Zodiac is becoming more and more irresistable, Gideon Cain is unrelenting and Reynard has a damn wife!
This is still just MM as far as the romance goes, with Adam falling for BOTH his business partners in book one, but you just know this is going to end up as MMM once the demon and the vampire sort out their differences - and who doesn't adore an enemies to lovers show-down?!
Adam's troubles continue. Turns out the hotel definitely has a gremlin problem, Zodiac is becoming more and more irresistable, Gideon Cain is unrelenting and Reynard has a damn wife!
This is still just MM as far as the romance goes, with Adam falling for BOTH his business partners in book one, but you just know this is going to end up as MMM once the demon and the vampire sort out their differences - and who doesn't adore an enemies to lovers show-down?!
"He was wrong. Wrong about everything. But mostly, wrong about me. He couldn’t enthrall me. It wasn’t possible. Because I wasn’t human, and never h"He was wrong. Wrong about everything. But mostly, wrong about me. He couldn’t enthrall me. It wasn’t possible. Because I wasn’t human, and never had been. And he could never know."
I am absolutely loving these shorter, funnier yet still spicy, character and story-driven books, from the fabulous Ariana Nash (no offence to Adam Vex!) SOS Hotel: For a Supernaturally Safe Stay! is book one of (at least!) three books in her latest PNR urban fantasy series, SOS Hotel.
Adam Vex is the human (or is he?!) hotelier narrator of the books. He runs a sanctuary for supernatural Lost Ones, the SOS Hotel, with the help of his business partners, the gorgeous lust demon Zodiac and the sophisticated billionaire vampire Lord Reynard, who may or may not be up to something untoward.
Throw in an AI bartender called Tom Collins who's intent on poisoning half the guests, a vicious demon called Sebastien who has a secret hold over Zodiac, a murder (or two) on the hotel's opening night, an interfering detective and a psychotic real-estate mogul called Gideon Cain who wants to see Adam exposed in all the ways, and you have the recipe for a perfect storm!
This is a MM PNR, with Adam falling for both his business partners in book one. But you just know this is going to end up MMM once the demon and the vampire sort out their differences - and who doesn't adore an enemies to lovers show-down?!
"He was wrong. Wrong about everything. But mostly, wrong about me. He couldn’t enthrall me. It wasn’t possible. Because I wasn’t human, and never had been. And he could never know."
I am absolutely loving these shorter, funnier yet still spicy, character and story-driven books, from the fabulous Ariana Nash (no offence to Adam Vex!) SOS Hotel: For a Supernaturally Safe Stay! is book one of (at least!) three books in her latest PNR urban fantasy series, SOS Hotel.
Adam Vex is the human (or is he?!) hotelier narrator of the books. He runs a sanctuary for supernatural Lost Ones, the SOS Hotel, with the help of his business partners, the gorgeous lust demon Zodiac and the sophisticated billionaire vampire Lord Reynard, who may or may not be up to something untoward.
Throw in an AI bartender called Tom Collins who's intent on poisoning half the guests, a vicious demon called Sebastien who has a secret hold over Zodiac, a murder (or two) on the hotel's opening night, an interfering detective and a psychotic real-estate mogul called Gideon Cain who wants to see Adam exposed in all the ways, and you have the recipe for a perfect storm!
This is a MM PNR, with Adam falling for both his business partners in book one. But you just know this is going to end up MMM once the demon and the vampire sort out their differences - and who doesn't adore an enemies to lovers show-down?!
"It was the first time I met Caspien Deveraux, and I loathed him with a passion I didn’t know I was capable of. And though I didn’t know it then, I"It was the first time I met Caspien Deveraux, and I loathed him with a passion I didn’t know I was capable of. And though I didn’t know it then, I’d soon come to love him with the very same ferocity."
You know sometimes you read a book and you know it's going to stay with you long after you finish the last page? Well Oleander: A Great Expectations Reimagining is THAT book. I'm also making an early call that Oleander: A Great Expectations Reimagining is going to be my favourite book of the year. Everything about it is completely and utterly divine and I have used way more of the author's own words than usual in my reviews to try and capture its essence.
Jude and Caspien are beyond precious, beyond broken. I totally adore Jude and his ability to love unconditionally, but there's something about Caspien's hardness and fragility and ruthlessness and vulnerability, that makes him one of my favourite MCs ever - he is an absolute paradox, so conflicted and complex and fractured. Bravo Scarlett Drake!
"It came from nowhere, but I felt it everywhere. The need to kiss him. I imagined the soft, wet pink inside of his mouth, the taste of his lips, the shape of his tongue. It was an onslaught of want. Loud and hot and violent."
Don't get me wrong - this book literally broke my heart. Scarlett Drake has the most exquisite command of the English language and she writes with a sublime poetry and cadence that just sucks you in, until you're almost drowning in the emotion of the story. I'm fairly sure I only just managed to keep my head above water through some of the most excrutiating moments. But hang in there, it's totally and completely worth it.
"My emotions were not as easy to define then. I knew them only as loud, chaotic things which burned a path straight through me without clarity or warning."
Oleander: A Great Expectations Reimagining is a coming of age love story, but it's not for the faint-hearted; be prepared for dark themes, dark behaviour and broken hearts covering a ten year period. It's brutal at times and Scarlett Drake is the queen of twisting the knife.
"If I counted all the little ways he broke my heart, totalled them up, and set them on a scale, I doubt they would even come close to that first, deep break. The one that felt like a crack tearing through stone and earth, through things that had existed since the beginning of a life, to alter it irrevocably."
That said, every twist along the way leads us to the hard won and so well-deserved epilogue. Honestly, if you only read one book this year, you need to make it Oleander: A Great Expectations Reimagining.
"I’d love him in spite of everything he was and everything I knew he could be. No matter what he did, no matter how much he hurt me, in this I would be constant. As long as Caspien Deveraux breathed, I would love him.
If you read one book this year, make it this one. ❤️...more
"His kiss swept me out to sea and drowned me, the world fading into nothingness and my body and mind going pliant."
The Captive's Curse is another "His kiss swept me out to sea and drowned me, the world fading into nothingness and my body and mind going pliant."
The Captive's Curse is another really enjoyable read in Eliot Grayson's Twilight Mages series. This is book 2 and it's Cyril and Enzo's story. Whilst it follows The Royal Curse and we do meet the MCs from that book briefly again in this one, The Captive's Curse can definitely be read as standalone.
Again, Eliot Grayson provides some great world-building, hilarious (and hot!) MCs, sinister side-characters, top of the range snark, a mad as hell ghost, laugh out loud moments and off the chart steam all at the same time! The world of the Twilight Mages is definitely one I can recommend.
"I take it all in, committing every sharp edge and curved line to memory, not wanting to forget a single part of him. And the heat he radiates…Ashe"I take it all in, committing every sharp edge and curved line to memory, not wanting to forget a single part of him. And the heat he radiates…Asher is the sun and I’m helpless to do anything but be sucked into his orbit."
Well, what a debut from new author J.D. Frost! Anyone But Me is an angsty, enemies-to-lovers, MM bully romance, with several dark themes, so do check out the aurthor's warnings. Whilst it does take place in a high school setting, all MCs are of age and this is definitely not YA!
Although the story does follow a similar pattern to other MM bully romances I've read, this one does have a nice little twist and Asher's redemption arc comes reasonably quickly in the first half of the book. I loved both MCs, but Oakley in particular was a total sweetheart - with a dominant streak in the bedroom!
What To Expect:
❥ MM bully romance ❥ Dual POV ❥ High school 18+ ❥ Enemies to lovers ❥ First times ❥ Hurt/comfort ❥ Steamy times ❥ Dark themes ❥ HEA
"The realisation had me gasping, ripping myself away from Killian. We stared at one another, chests heaving, the music echoing around us while flas"The realisation had me gasping, ripping myself away from Killian. We stared at one another, chests heaving, the music echoing around us while flashes of light alternated between illuminating us and throwing us into shadow. Killian’s pupils were wide and dark, but I noticed the same alarm flaring in his gaze."
I have enjoyed all the books so far in Becca Steele's LSU series and Ignited is another good read. Although this trope is not my favourite (age gap/student x teacher), I love the way Becca weaves together the story within the LSU universe and it was fun to finally meet JJ (and his grumpy Killian) properly.
❣️age gap ❣️student/teacher ❣️grumpy/sunshine ❣️one night stand to more ❣️found family ❣️steamy times ❣️HEA
4 stars
Merged review:
"The realisation had me gasping, ripping myself away from Killian. We stared at one another, chests heaving, the music echoing around us while flashes of light alternated between illuminating us and throwing us into shadow. Killian’s pupils were wide and dark, but I noticed the same alarm flaring in his gaze."
I have enjoyed all the books so far in Becca Steele's LSU series and Ignited is another good read. Although this trope is not my favourite (age gap/student x teacher), I love the way Becca weaves together the story within the LSU universe and it was fun to finally meet JJ (and his grumpy Killian) properly.
"But Levi was… He was something different. I still couldn’t figure out what I felt about him, other than that I wanted. Usually wanting equated to "But Levi was… He was something different. I still couldn’t figure out what I felt about him, other than that I wanted. Usually wanting equated to killing, but that wasn’t right with him. The emotion didn’t fit, and the desire to satisfy that need wasn’t there. Which meant I wanted for another reason, and that had never happened before."
I really enjoyed Lee McCormick's previous MM dark romance books in the Beyond series and was really excited at the concept of their standalone serial killer/mortician dark romance Under Your Skin.
Under Your Skin had great potential and I enjoyed a lot of the book, but there were several plot holes that bothered me and the MCs weren't always consistent in their behaviours - which I guess you'd perhaps expect from a young mortician with horrific past trauma and a psychopath who kills because he can!
"Zee was a lot to take in up close, and so was Reynard, but in a very different way. Zee was loud, rambunctious, and physical. Reynard was restrain"Zee was a lot to take in up close, and so was Reynard, but in a very different way. Zee was loud, rambunctious, and physical. Reynard was restrained power. He could snap me in half, but at the same time, his touch was as delicate as butterfly wings. He could move faster than I could track, but right now, he barely moved at all."
Ariana Nash continues the craziness in book 4 of her SOS Hotel series. Adam's troubles continue in SOS Hotel: Great Service from Top to Bottom and in this instalment, whatever is happening with the (usually) hilariously murdery AI bartender Tom Collins does not bode well and needs fixing. As a priority.
SOS Hotel: Great Service from Top to Bottom is still MM on the romance front, and whilst Adam has fallen for both his paranormal business partners, he's currently just scratching that itch with Zee. When he can pin him down. And sort of a bit with Vampire Daddy (it's a Zee thing). And then there's the whole watching thing. With the three of them.....
"I’d never considered arson before I found myself living in a motorhome with Harper James. Right now, sending the whole thing up in flames so I can"I’d never considered arson before I found myself living in a motorhome with Harper James. Right now, sending the whole thing up in flames so I can return to my quiet hotel room sounds like a really good idea."
Pole Position by new-to-me author Rebecca J. Caffery was a fun, rivals-to-lovers, MM romance read, set around the sport of F1 motor racing.
Our MCs are Kian Walker and Harper James, rivals on the track although they race for the same team, with Harper being the 25 year old 'rookie' and Kian the 34 year old 'veteran' world champion and golden boy of the sport.
Whilst there were a few angsty moments and themes, this was essentially a light-hearted read and who doesn't love it when the player realises he's fallen hard?!
What To Expect:
❣️MM romance ❣️F1 racing ❣️rivals to lovers ❣️opposites attract ❣️age gap ❣️found family ❣️steamy moments ❣️HEA
"And now I’m starting to wonder if it’s not so much a guy thing but a Bowie thing, and that thought terrifies me. Because if he found out that’s wh"And now I’m starting to wonder if it’s not so much a guy thing but a Bowie thing, and that thought terrifies me. Because if he found out that’s what this is, would he still be willing to do this with me? He’d said no feelings, but I’m not so sure I can keep that promise."
Shutter Bug is a steamy MM romance and the second book in the Not Suitable For Work series by new-to-me author Vari Scott. The books are interconnected standalones and for the best experience should be read in order, as some of the characters cross-over between the books. That said, I hadn't read book 1 Grease Monkey, which is a MF romance, beforehand and it didn't spoil my enjoyment of Shutter Bug.
This is Mason and Bowie's story.
What to Expect:
❣️sexual awakening ❣️first times ❣️all the steam ❣️age gap ❣️friends with benefits ❣️"teach me" ❣️billionaire MC ❣️grumpy/sunshine vibes ❣️HEA
Julia (bookish.jka)
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