The Rousing by Paula Black and Jess Raven Review

This review contains spoilers! The Rousing is currently available for free on iBooks and Kindle.

A big shout out once again to the free romance section on iBooks -- you may let me down sometimes, but man do you deliver on occasion. Darcy lives in a coastal village in Ireland with her twin brother, Liam, and when stranger Jack comes to town on inheritance business, Darcy is not prepared for what is to come. Thrust together after a number of unfortunate circumstances, they must both begin to face reality and the supernatural together.

We only get Darcy's point of view in this story, and I wish we got a glimpse of what it was like in Jack's mind as they continued to get to know each other as the story unfolded. Based on the summary for the novella, I was expecting the story to go in a different direction, and once I realized we were not headed where I thought we were, I was a little disappointed. I was expecting some form of modern day Sanditon meets Dark Shadows, but was left a tad unsatisfied. 

If you are expecting Jack to saunter in as a dark and brooding vampire, you will be disappointed -- but not for longer. Darcy does have common sense (yay!) and her character is enjoyable to follow as she learns more about Jack and the supernatural lore surrounding their village. The pacing of the book definitely allows you to read it quickly -- it does not drag on and the plot moves fast, and so do the smut scenes. We get a pretty decent scene between Darcy and Jack after only a few chapters, and I loved the way that they incorporated the lore of the town and what Jack does for business. The foreplay was fun and overall it was a great scene that definitely leaves the reader wanting more.

Darcy basically feels this insta-love for Jack, and honestly, who can blame her. He's tall and handsome, and a long-lost childhood friend who has finally returned after his mother's death. Just my type. They both have this banter going on between them before the tension really picks up, and you find yourself rooting for their relationship even though they have only just "met" a few hours prior.

For some reason, this is yet another book where the relationship between twin siblings is very much on the edge of incestuous infatuation, and I cannot go on any longer if this keeps happening. Liam and Darcy are way too involved in each other's lives, and yes, their mother passed away and their father is slowing disappearing before their eyes, but surely they have got to have some friends to get support from.

I found myself really enjoying Jack's character, and once again wish that we were able to have at least one chapter in his perspective. If you are looking for a quick and mildly steamy read, this is definitely the book for you, and will make you want to read even more of Black and Raven's works.

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King of Scars (King of Scars, #1) by Leigh Bardugo Review

This is a spoiler-free review! You can read my reviews of other publications from Leigh Bardugo here: The Grisha Trilogy, Six of Crows, Crooked Kingdom, Little Knife, The Tailor, The Witch of Duva, The Too-Clever Fox, and Ninth House.

After binging the entire season two of Shadow and Bone on the day it released, I knew that I had to read King of Scars as soon as I could. It has been years since I read the Six of Crows duology and Shadow and Bone trilogy, so I was a little rusty on some of the events that took place, and with the show straying a little from the books, I was not too sure what I was remembering was book accurate. But alas, I am a sucker for a blonde male lead, even more so when he has got a demon inside him.

This book had so much potential, and I was hoping to like it just as much as I enjoyed the Six of Crows duology -- I was expecting action and lots of demon Nikolai, and what I got... was not that. I am always a fan of world building, but throughout the entire book, it felt like we were given the same information over and over again, along with constant reminders of how Ruin and Rising ended. I was surprised to see how heavily Nina was involved in this book -- I did not expect to see her at all, and when she is basically the first character of importance we encounter, it threw me off and had me imagining that I picked up Six of Crows again by mistake.

For the sixth book in the Grishaverse, it just felt like there was actually too much backstory to have it drag on through the whole book, especially when the pacing was less than ideal. The first day I began to read this book, my eyes were drooping and I was barely on page seventy. The pacing is honestly the hardest thing to deal with while reading, because the lack of major battles or really any major conflicts besides Nikolai and the demon, are not present. In all honestly, it felt as if this entire book was just being used as a set up for Rule of Wolves instead of developing the plot and characters in the moment.

I wish Nikolai was more heavily involved in this book. I understand that it is an ensemble cast, and while I did enjoy reading some of the other perspectives, it was Nikolai's chapters that had me the most invested in finishing the book. His perspective was so interesting to read, whether he was confronting his life with this demon inside of him, or thinking about how his life has been affected by Alina, Zoya, and so many others. Nikolai had so many funny moments and serious ones as well, but I felt like we barely got to explore his personality or really dive deep into his feelings and how he was handling the demon within him.

The main thing getting me through this book was Nikolai. I won't even lie about it. He is hot and kept getting hotter each chapter... what's a girl to do? Half of the time things were moving so slow I had convinced myself that I was reading the same page over and over again, but it was just repetitive writing. I basically forced myself to speed read the end of the book because I did not know how much longer I could take it, which was so surprising to me because I really enjoy Bardugo's books and writing. 

Isaak's chapters were also a personal favorite, providing a lot of comedic relief in between Nina and Zoya's -- to be honest -- solemn chapters. Both girls were going through a lot after the events of Crooked Kingdom and Ruin and Rising, but their perspectives were at times so sad or lacking good pacing that it felt like more of a chore to read than actually enjoying it.

After finishing the book, I really hope that Rule of Wolves picks up the pace -- and the action -- by at least 50% and makes the characters have more exciting journeys than what took place in this first installment.

You can add King of Scars and the rest of the Grishaverse books on Goodreads now, and follow the author to stay up to date on releases and publications.

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Debt Inheritance (Indebted, #1) by Pepper Winters Review

This is a spoiler-free review! Debt Inheritance is currently available for free on iBooks and Kindle.

Once again, the free romance section on iBooks has me in its clutches, and that is how I ended up here. I was trying to get into another book, but I kept looking back for a quick romance before diving back into a fantasy novel. I honestly did not know what to expect from this book, and I have to say that every turn of the page had me surprised. Twenty-four-year-old Nila Weaver is given to Jethro Hawk as an inheritance gift for his twenty-ninth birthday, ensuring her almost certain death as she is taken to serve him, as all first-born daughters of the Weaver family are.

I will be the first to admit that this book had me going crazy the second that Nila and Jethro became acquainted with one another. You could literally feel the tension and uneasiness coming off the page as she is handed off to Jethro, and the story immediately picks up into her unknown future. As an erotic dark romance, this book definitely delivers on that front -- Jethro is not playing around for one second, and Nila is thrust into this insane situation that will only end horribly for her, as the Hawk family embraces family tradition.

Just to mention because I absolutely could not ignore what I was reading -- but Nila and her brother are way too close. A set of twins who basically flirt every time they speak, had me literally rooting for Jethro to take her away, because anything is better than incest. The way they speak to each other and the way that Nila thinks about him after she leaves with Jethro had me more disturbed than what was going on in the Hawk family home. Even Jethro notices how eerily close they are, and I could not shake it from my mind the entire time I was reading this book.

So many of the men in this book are slimy and downright disgusting, and yet we are set up to believe that somehow Jethro is the best choice for her survival at her new home. Nila is basically being thrown around like a rag doll throughout the book, and has to take whatever this family deals her in order to live another day and avoid any treatment worse than she is already getting from them. Jethro has a number of brothers that are arguably worse than him, and a father that is his match when it comes to the way he treats Nila.

I could not put this book down -- any time that I even attempted to stop reading, I was picking it back up not even five minutes later to keep on going. The plot moves very well and is paced to the point where you just want to read it in one sitting. The themes in this book are not for everyone, and I encourage readers to look at trigger warnings if you are concerned about the content. I would have loved to see a little more character building for Nila and Jethro, and a little less text messages between Nila and Kite007 -- I felt that the text messages were beginning to take away from the story that was currently happening.

Fans of Savage Royals by Ana West and Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton will definitely enjoy this first installment of the Indebted series. A very quick read that will leave the reader wanting the second book immediately after reaching the end -- Winters gives readers a suspenseful dark romance that is only the beginning for Nila and Jethro.

You can add Debt Inheritance and the rest of the series on Goodreads now, and follow the author to stay up to date on releases and publications.

You can catch up with me and my current reads by friending me on Goodreads and following this blog, my Twitter, and my Instagram in order to stay up-to-date with any reviews, blog tours, and more!

Wicked Fall (Wicked Horse, #1) by Sawyer Bennett Review

This is a spoiler-free review! Wicked Fall is currently available for free on iBooks and Kindle.

Callie Hayes returns home to Wyoming after a shocking discovery about her fiancé, and ends up in the presence of Woolf Jennings -- her late brother's best friend and CEO of his family's company. But little does she know that what made her run away from her fiancé may be the same thing that leads her to Woolf.

When I first started reading this book, in my mind I thought Woolf would be more focused on his family's company and have more of a cowboy demeanor, and that was definitely not the case. We know right off the bat -- and the summary -- that he owns and operates a private sex club, The Silo, in order to indulge his and his members deepest fantasies. This book is considered an erotic romance, but I felt as though the erotica fell a little short. There were about two or three scenes that were really well done and actually went into that category, but the rest of the scenes were short lived and did not convey an erotic romance.

I really liked the friendship between Woolf and Bridger, his business partner/best friend. Their relationship was very nuanced and added a lot of depth to both of the characters, which made Woolf's point of view more interesting to read, when he was not so focused on Callie. Bennett did a great job on developing Woolf and Bridger's backstories and incorporating their bond into both of their personalities. 

Comparing Callie's point of view to Woolf's, I have to say that I enjoyed Woolf's chapters a little bit more. His character had more dimensions than Callie, and her chapters felt a little repetitive and riddled with the same issues over and over again. She was definitely an interesting character and willing to change her own views on Woolf's sex club and fantasies, but her character hit somewhat of a wall a little over halfway through the book and I could not get past it.

Based off of the summary, I was expecting an explosive relationship between Woolf and Callie, and while that was true for some scenes, the story was progressing slowly for me and I personally felt that it fell a little flat in the end. I wanted the characters to end up in a specific way that I felt was the ending the book was pushing for, and then it simply went in a different direction. I expected a lot more scenes at The Silo, and we were only given a few minor ones and one relatively long one that was actually the best smut scene in the book.

The secondary characters -- besides Bridger -- really did not play into the book as much as I had hoped. We see Callie's dad so briefly, I thought I imagined that he was actually there -- and as for the other man that was interested in Callie, I really thought that he was going to play a much bigger role in the book, and then he just kind of vanished from the story. After everything was said and done, I was hoping to see Bridger as the star of the next book in the series, but the epilogue proved me otherwise and focuses on another secondary character that showed up in about two scenes throughout this book.

If you are looking for a more low-key erotic romance, this is the book for you. It focuses a lot of character and relationship development instead of smut scenes, so the plot is definitely there.

You can add Wicked Fall and the rest of the series on Goodreads now, and follow the author to stay up to date on releases and publications.

You can catch up with me and my current reads by friending me on Goodreads and following this blog, my Twitter, and my Instagram in order to stay up-to-date with any reviews, blog tours, and more!

My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh Review

This review contains spoilers for My Year of Rest and Relaxation.

I have been trying to get back into contemporary books and I figured that one of the most talked about books on the internet should be the way to get back into the genre. The only things I knew about this book before going into it was that a twenty-something woman was seeking to hibernate for a year through medications, to make it as though she was sleeping through life. Both of her parents passed away within weeks of each other, and with the inheritance from them, our narrator is able to continue to live a lavish life while on her hibernation journey.

This is certainly not an upbeat novel, and the narrator is anything but enjoyable -- she is insufferable and infuriating, yet I could not stop turning the pages. Moshfegh will have you captivated by her eccentric way of thinking and outlook on life as she navigates her year of sleep aided by pharmaceutics and designer jean hauls. We constantly see her blacking out for days on end when trying new medications, and she comes back to consciousness with receipts and packages of designer clothes and Victoria's Secret lingerie that she has no intention of wearing.

While we never learn the name of our blonde female lead, we certainly learn the most intimate details of her life, whether it be the death of her parents, the way she sleeps in the closet at her art gallery job, the on-again-off-again sex life she has with Trevor, or her one-sided friendship with Reva. For crying out loud, after she is fired from the art gallery, we have to read about her defecating on the floor in front of an art installation. 

She knows that Reva needs her more than she needs Reva, yet she cannot seem to detach herself from the girl who buys fake designer handbags and compares herself to the narrator in what appears to be a never-ending cycle of Reva being vulnerable, the narrator gobbling down pills, watching discount movies on VCR, and experiencing the most bizarre interactions someone can have.

We are exposed to every minute detail of her existence, except of course, when she begins to lose days at a time thanks to the world's worst psychiatrist, Dr. Tuttle. She was the only psychiatrist to answer the phone at nearly midnight, and seems to have a supply of sample pills that never runs out. As our narrator is on her journey to sleep, Dr. Tuttle seems to be on a journey to to simply hand out the strangest advice known to man.

I do wish that we got to see more of Dr. Tuttle towards the end of the book and prior to the narrator's "art installation" project with Ping Xi. Her initial distain for him after seeing his first show at the art gallery soon proved to be useful to her in order to complete her year of sleep. I found myself constantly wondering on what Dr. Tuttle was thinking regarding her treatment and all of the medications that she was on. We know that this psychiatrist should basically have her license revoked, yet every scene with her had me more intrigued on her thought process, and I can only imagine what she would have thought of the narrator's approach to sleeping for a year.

The ending of this book really felt like you got hit in the face with a brick -- I could tell that this event was going to take place, based on the fact that it was New York in 2000 to 2001, but I have to say I did not expect Reva to meet such a cruel fate. I felt as though Reva's death opened the narrator's eyes in the sense that you could be living as much as could every day and suddenly have it taken away. Compared to Reva's vibrant way of living, the narrator would be hoping that pills would keep her consciousness at bay long enough that she barely had to live.

My Year of Rest and Relaxation is a blunt and eccentric dive into a woman’s desire to sleep for a year, riddled with a number of characters that not only drive her further into sleep, but finally awaken her.

You can add My Year of Rest and Relaxation on Goodreads now, and follow the author to stay up to date on releases and publications.

You can catch up with me and my current reads by friending me on Goodreads and following this blog, my Twitter, and my Instagram in order to stay up-to-date with any reviews, blog tours, and more!

Falling for Them (Cinderella's Daddies, #1) by Calista Jayne Review

This is a spoiler-free review! Falling for Them is currently available for free on iBooks and Kindle.

I honestly did not know what to expect from this book -- the taboo age gap definitely peaked my interest, since I have not read too many books with that trope before, unless we are counting Credence by Penelope Douglas. If you did not have the chance to look at the name of the series like I did before I started reading, you will be pleasantly surprised to find out that this is a Cinderella-inspired erotic MFM romance. I have to say that it exceeded my expectations and had me so entertained that I nearly finished it in one sitting. It is a great taboo romance that just skims the surface of Ella, Kingston, and Sebastian’s story.

The author does a great job at developing the characters and their background as the story moves forward, and you find that you know a lot about each individual character before you see them start to really interact with one another. We see Ella, our female lead, start off in this rocky situationship that she thinks is much bigger than it actually is -- being involved with one of the company's higher ups, you can only imagine the difficulties it will bring. But when he breaks off their barely-there relationship, she falls into the lap of his father -- and his father's best friend.

We get POVs from everyone, which was absolutely fantastic. I loved getting into Ella's mind, but even more so with Kingston and Sebastian. It is not too often that we get male leads in romance novels that are given both in depth character develop and well-versed POVs that show how much they care for the female lead. Yes, there are 100% books out there that have it, but I would say that it is hard to come by in taboo romance, only because we are exposed to a ton of insta-love relationships that tend to skip development and go straight into the relationship.

There are definitely a lot of obstacles that Ella, Kingston, and Sebastian have to overcome in order to get to the point in their relationship where they feel comfortable around each other and are comfortable with the prospect of having multiple people in a relationship. Ella certainly struggles a lot as she tries to come to terms with how she exactly ended up in this kinkier-than-expected relationship, when Kingston's son could only screw her in a broom closet and leave her without any real pleasure.

The author definitely incorporates the main aspects of Cinderella's story into Falling for Them, and you can certainly try to guess what twists and turns that their story will take. The smut scenes are really well done and the plot moves at a pace that leaves you turning the page until you are at the very end. I would definitely recommend this to fans of modern retellings with just enough spice for a quick read that will leave you wanting more.

You can add Falling for Them and the rest of the series on Goodreads now, and follow the author to stay up to date on releases and publications.

You can catch up with me and my current reads by friending me on Goodreads and following this blog, my Twitter, and my Instagram in order to stay up-to-date with any reviews, blog tours, and more!

The Beast (Fixer-Uppers, #3) by Denise Daye Review + BLOG TOUR

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the THE BEAST by Denise Daye Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

ABOUT THE BOOK

He's a cold-blooded killer, devilishly hot and wildly dangerous.
 
Most people would tell me I'm crazy. Most people would call him a monster and tell me to run. But in the broken world I live in, that's the only sort of man I want.
 
When he found me in a puddle of blood, at the mercy of my mobster husband's thugs, I was ready to die. I just looked at him with empty eyes, giving him permission to keep walking and never glance back. But instead, he told me to look away and then took care of business. My nails dug into his steel-hard arms as he carried me to his car and declared I was now his.
 
Of course I knew who my dark knight was.
 
Andrei f$$$ing Kowtisch.
 
Feared assassin. Merciless beast. A man who fights fire with fire.
 
I guess that means it's payback time, because nobody touches Andrei's property. Unless you're the most dangerous mobster on the East Coast who swore to get me back no matter the cost . . .

Goodreads | books2read

REVIEW

This is a spoiler-free review! I have received a review copy in exchange for my honest review.

For anyone that knows me, I love a good dark mafia romance book. The tension, the taboo, and the high stakes catch that always causes some trouble. The Beast is no different, and delivers a suspenseful story about Elise, a mobster's wife on the run, and Andrei, the deadliest assassin being hunted by the CIA. The synopsis had me hooked from the start, and I could not wait to get into their story. While this is the third installment in the Fixer-Uppers series, it can be read as a standalone.

The smut is definitely present, but it does not overpower the plot of the story -- we have a pretty solid combination of the two, which made the progression of the book work smoothly, as well as giving Elise and Andrei time to get to know one another. Angst can usually go south if not done correctly, by Daye was able to add the element into her book effortlessly as she transitions the story from will-they-won't-they to that they cannot live without one another.

Elise's story influences Andrei's, in the sense that without her, he would not have ended up with the ending that he received. Her very presence is a catalyst for him really discovering who he is and what he wants from the world. In the very same sense, Andrei's introduction into Elise's life is the saving grace she needed to get away from her abusive husband, and if not for a chance meeting in South Africa, both Elise and Andrei may be living very different lives.

Both characters are given their own stories that allow them to grow individually and together. The author does an excellent job showing that while when they are together, they thrive, but also when they are apart, they are able to work on themselves and reflect. I do wish that we would have had a little more time in between Elise and Andrei meeting each other and them advancing their relationship, but the pacing was on spot and did not make the reader feel as if they were pushed right into their story.

I loved the settings of this book -- since they were moving around a lot, we get to see a few different cultures and learn more about the areas compared to being set in only one location. Both Elise and Andrei get in depth backstories and character development as their story goes on, and it was nice to see that our main characters were not just thrust together randomly, but rather fell into place with one another at the perfect time for both of them.

If you are looking for a fast-paced, suspenseful mafia romance, then The Beast is the book for you. Daye provides a quick read filled with twists that will keep you on the edge of your seat and turning the pages until you've reached the end of the book.

You can catch up with me and my current reads by friending me on Goodreads and following this blog, my Twitter, and my Instagram in order to stay up-to-date with any reviews, blog tours, and more!

ABOUT DENISE DAYE

Denise is an Amazon best-selling author who graduated with a master’s in Social Work from an ivy league school, the University of Pennsylvania. She has spent many years of her life supporting families and individuals in need of assistance. She has always had a passion for reading and writing, especially steamy romance, but it wasn't until her own baby boy was born that Denise turned her passion into her profession. Whenever Denise is not typing away on one of her books, you can find her caring for her son (a.k.a. one of the toughest jobs in the world), binging Netflix with her beloved husband, or chasing after her puppy (who should technically be an adult dog by now).

Join Denise’s newsletter for romantic FREE books and exclusive material: https://www.timelesspapers.com/newsletter.html 

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BLOG TOUR SCHEDULE

Week One:

2/27/2023	Mythical Books	Excerpt/IG Post
2/27/2023	@dreaminginpages	IG Spotlight
2/28/2023	The Reading Devil	Excerpt
2/28/2023	Writer of Wrongs	Excerpt
2/28/2023	Two Chicks on Books	Excerpt/IG Post
3/1/2023	@reemsreadingspace	TikTok Review/IG Post
3/1/2023	forthenovellovers	Review
3/2/2023	thepaperworlds	Review/IG Post
3/2/2023	@autismreading_mom	IG Review
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Week Two:

3/6/2023	The Book Countess Tours	Excerpt/IG Post
3/6/2023	Books with a Chance	Review/IG Post
3/6/2023	The Momma Spot	Review
3/7/2023	A Bookish Dream	Review/IG Post
3/7/2023	More Books Please blog	Review/IG Post
3/7/2023	One More Exclamation	Review/IG Post
3/8/2023	Review Thick And Thin	Review/IG Post
3/8/2023	@jypsylynn	IG Review
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3/9/2023	Brandi Danielle Davis	IG Review/TikTok Post
3/9/2023	@enjoyingbooksagain	IG Review
3/9/2023	Beersbooksandboos	Review/IG Post
3/10/2023	Fall Between the Pages	IG Review/TikTok Post
3/10/2023	Country Mamas With Kids	Review/IG Post