Hooked (Never After, #1) by Emily McIntire Review

This is a spoiler-free review!

Imagine you wrote Peter Pan and this is what they do to your IP once it enters public domain. This book has been on my TBR for what felt like forever, and with its resurgence on TikTok, I finally decided to give in... little did I know what I was in for. Hook is not a serious person at all because what do you mean you have been filled with an intense rage since you were 11-years-old? I am sure they mentioned his actual age somewhere in this book, but I literally cannot remember what the age gap was - Wendy is twenty-years-old and he speaks like he has been on this planet for eighty years, but is probably just in his mid-twenties.

It was very much giving Hardin Scott using Tessa in After with the vibes Hook's intentions were with Wendy - she is incredibly naive and kept sheltered by her father, but her friends are constantly trying to get her out of her shell. That being said, Maria is so incredibly annoying and a horrible friend. I can understand the resentment that the guy she had her eye on was interested in her friend -- Wendy -- instead of her, but my word it is not something to get hung up over, especially because she never spoke to him before.

Hook's inner monologue had me bursting at the seems... he is so... not an adult. I completely understand pulling directly from the source material, but his "dark side" being combined with characters that had the most ridiculous names made me not take him seriously. He also seems to have zero common sense while at the same time is able to hatch out these elaborate plans. The man is afraid of clocks, for crying out loud. And we are supposed to believe he is running around town killing people? Sure.

Wendy... this girl essentially is a victim of Stockholm Syndrome. He literally snatches her up and locks her in a basement and she is over here yanking on chains trying to free herself, all while thinking "It's because he cares!" Well yeah, cares about revenge. Even with James falling for her as they spend more time together and he learns more about her, I still could not see their chemistry unless it was a spicy scene. I will not victim blame this girl because I do not even know what I would do if put in the same situation -- probably make fun of James -- but that is besides the point.

The side characters are not interesting at all, and even Wendy's super powerful father is basically a deadbeat dad. The plot's pacing felt inconsistent and characters were just popping up out of thin air instead of becoming gradually intertwined in the story. To be quite honest, the best chapters of this book were literally the spicy scenes, because any other chapter was just information dumps and James realizing that he actually has the detective skills of a rock. His perspective chapters are full of his trauma dumping, re: afraid of clocks, and basically gaining a third brain cell.

Maybe if I read this book years ago like I first wanted to, I might have enjoyed it a little more. This just did not hit the spot like I thought it would, and felt entirely underwhelming by the end - so much so, that I do not think I would consider continuing on with this retelling series unless I truly ran out of books to read. The premise had a lot of promise, and in the beginning it felt like it was headed somewhere, but then abandoned the true "dark" part of "dark romance" and just quickly wrapped up without making me feel as though there was something on the line for the characters. I had multiple friends text me and ask why I was reading this... and to that I say... I wish I knew.

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Lights Out (Into Darkness, #1) by Navessa Allen Review

This is a spoiler-free review!

TikTok has led me to places I never knew I would go, and after seeing about one hundred videos about this book, I knew I had to see it out for myself. With the way it is described, I thought it would rival Butcher & Blackbird and maybe Haunting Adeline in terms of being dark, but I was left wanting more and feeling slightly misled. Do not get me wrong, I enjoyed Aly and Josh's story, but even the tagline on the cover notes "The couple that slays together, stays together," and yet there was not a ton of slaying at all throughout the entire book. This leans more towards a stalker romance with BDSM elements, but I would not call it a dark romance in true form.

I was not in love with the first person perspective - it is never my first choice, but Aly's inner dialogue felt underdeveloped and she was constantly referencing her "lizard brain" when she is a whole adult woman. However, her character as a whole was pretty entertaining to read, and while she does make some choices I was not pleased with, she added the "quirky" aspect to her and Josh's relationship. She was so real for spending hours on TikTok watching and favoriting the thirst trap videos because girl... same. Aly must have a horror kink because this girl is horny about twenty-four hours a day, and she literally does not care how dangerous the situation is.

The second Aly thinks she knows who her stalker is, she starts tracking him, and when she realizes that he is hot, she literally celebrates. This reminded me so much of Haunting Adeline, and I just know her and Addie would be friends. Her self preservation goes out the window and across the yard at nearly every scenario - going into a room alone with a known rapist... girl, get out of there!!

Josh is hands-down one of the funniest stalkers - compared to Aly's inner dialogue, I found his much more enjoyable and humorous. I did not love his Batman voice and references, and I thought he would be more dangerous throughout the book - it felt like Aly was more prepared to commit crimes than he was even though he is a literal stalker. Based off of the summary, I was under the impression they would be killing or committing crimes a lot earlier in the story, but it really was not towards over halfway into the book. Together, they literally commit one crime together and it was not even that exciting.

The scariest part of this book is that Aly said they were not going to have any safe words, and when she told Josh that he could do anything he wanted to her, his first thought was knife play. Like let's be so serious right now, this probably would have sent her spiraling. Their spicy scenes were pretty good, but I would have preferred them more spaced out rather than being somewhat lumped together in the second half of the book.

The epilogue was a fun way to wrap up their story, and I would have loved to see more chapters like that in the actual book. Josh was a fun male lead, but he could have been a little more wild, especially compared to other stalker romances out there. If you are looking for a tame introduction to stalker romances or dark romances in general, Lights Out definitely provides the gateway.

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Leather & Lark (The Ruinous Love Trilogy, #2) by Brynne Weaver Review

This is a spoiler-free review! Please check trigger warnings before reading - reader discretion is advised. You can read my review of Butcher & Blackbird on my blog, here.

Well... this was... something. I had absolutely loved Butcher & Blackbird, and was excited to dive into this book ahead of the final installment's release. I genuinely do not understand how we went from the first book to this one - it felt as though Lark and Lachlan had no chemistry between each other until the very end of the book. Compared to Sloane and Rowan, this was a major downgrade and really made the book tough to get through.

Lachlan is constantly growling at Lark, and while kind of cute at first, it became very tired, very fast. That goes for the Batman references and Lark's never-ending cackling at every other thing that comes out of Lachlan's mouth. I am assuming this was supposed to play into banter between the two, but it was giving more "I want my character to be crazy but not too crazy" which just ended up falling flat in the end.

Looking back at the content from the first book and comparing it to what we see in Leather & Lark, I was pretty disappointed. The pizza smoothie was truly the only thing that made me uncomfortable, whereas the first book had so much going on all of the time. We get one third of the way into this book and essentially nothing of importance has happened besides Lark and Lachlan meeting. Sloane and Rowan show up so much in the beginning, you would have thought that this book was supposed to be centered around them instead of Lark and Lachlan.

It does not bring me any pleasure in saying that this book was honestly boring, and maybe I went in with high expectations, but I never would have anticipated such a turn from the plot. The killing is minimal and the relationship between Lark and Lachlan does not really become anything until after 70% into the book. The spice scenes are so tame compared to other dark romance book out there, and to be frank, this was basically just heavy petting until the bonus chapter at the very end.

The "action" chapters that were supposed to have me worried for the characters fell short, and it felt obvious on what was going to happen as the story went on. If I could have shouted into the pages of this book at the characters, so much would have been avoided if they communicated with each other and some of the side characters. For being murders, they were incredibly unaware of events unfolding around them.

I wish I had more to say - there were some moments between Lachlan and Lark that made me think the story was about to turn a corner, but then the plot would get sidetracked and any development felt abandoned. Everything kept coming back to Sloane and Rowan, and it felt pretty clear that the author should have just written another book about them or kept Butcher & Blackbird as a standalone instead of expanding on their story. I think I will wrap up this series once Scythe & Sparrow is released, but I would not continue if the series was not already coming to a close.

By total coincidence, this is the second book in a row I have read involving a male lead with the last name Kane and a marriage of convenience trope. Big shout out to Terms and Conditions, you were able to keep my good memories of these tropes alive.

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Terms and Conditions (Dreamland Billionaires, #2) by Lauren Asher Review

This is a spoiler-free review! You can read my review of The Fine Print on my blog, here.

I was apprehensive going into this second installment - The Fine Print was not my favorite read, but when I realized that Terms and Conditions was an actual marriage of convenience book, it spiked my interest. And with a marriage contract that accidentally gets printed on print paper because Mr. Billionaire heir does not know how to reload the printer? I could not have been happier.

Declan Kane is up to inherit billions and the CEO position of Dreamland, on one condition - marry and have a child. When his bride-to-be ditches him at the last minute, his younger assistant takes her place, and his sanity along with it. He sees the wife and child as collateral damage in the path to becoming CEO, and for some reason is set on low-key being an absentee father? I understand he is doing this in order to secure his inheritance, but man, it is a literal child, not a toy you put away after getting tired of playing with it after a few years.

Iris unironically needs to be an actress - she is so hilarious and is always fooling everyone around her, especially Declan. She makes up rumors at work so people get things done faster, and Declan is so shocked that she is able to do it without anyone catching on. The way she is able to get people to do what she wants without them realizing it made me really enjoy her character, and the friendship she has with Cal was so refreshing to see. It was an added plus that Declan was obviously jealous of the relationship she has with Cal, because he wanted her to be that open with him from the start.

The way that Iris and Declan clearly are interested in each other before anything even truly starts with their contract had me dying - the perspective changes gave a great view of what they each thought of each other. Declan's inner thoughts are high-key hilarious - at one point, he sees Iris apologizing to her plants because she had to move them, and immediately thinks she is insane. I knew he would be obsessed with her immediately after that. Their banter is pretty funny when they are actually agreeing with each other, and Iris jokingly saying "Are you sure you're a virgin?" to Declan had me audibly snorting, she is so unserious when her guard is down.

Declan is 36-years-old and needs to learn to act like an adult - there were a number of times that he consistently puts his needs and wants above everyone else's, and then acts shocked that Iris is upset with him. And Iris... she is 23-years-old... she should be at the club!! Not working twelve hour days and sacrificing her relationships to please Declan. 

I was a little off-put by the way Declan did not seem to help Iris with nearly anything in this book - she was always the one making plans, setting up dinners, fixing proposals, and so many other things. I did not love the way he was putting work above her, especially during important moments - it made him really feel like a villain, when he was the one who needed her, not the other way around. His groveling texts to Iris made him feel like a major boomer who does not know how to act like an adult and hold himself accountable for the way he acted and the things that he said to her in anger.

There is not a ton of spice in this book, and it really does not even start to pop up until over two-thirds of the way into the story. It is definitely tame, but I do wish it showed up a little more in this story - more often than not, it would be in dreams that Declan or Iris had of each other. 

I enjoyed this much more compared to The Fine Print - Declan was much more interesting than Rowan, and sure, he may have made some not so great choices throughout this book, but I still have him ranked above Rowan. Rowan and Zara's scattered appearances in this book only had me interested in Iris and Zara's potential friendship - considering Iris does not really have anyone outside of her mother, Nana, and Cal, I really wanted her to gain some female friends. Declan's father plays such a large role as an antagonist in Declan's life, and we see it overtake the plot when I wish it could have focused more on Iris and Declan's relationship.

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Twisted Games (Twisted, #2) by Ana Huang Review

This review contains mild spoilers for Twisted Games - please read with discretion. You can read my review of Twisted Love on my blog, here.

Making my way back to this series and I have to say that I had the time of my life reading this book. I was constantly giggling and kicking my feet, and there were times where I had to put the book down and start walking laps around my apartment during certain scenes. I was not sure I was going to feel regarding the whole princess and bodyguard trope, and I am so happy to say that I was proven wrong in my skepticism. Bridget is a princess to what I essentially consider Genovia from The Princess Diaries, and Rhys Larson is her newly appointed bodyguard. Initially, I was not sure what their relationship struggle would be, but when Bridget literally says "I don't want to wear the crown," my immediate thought was that I fear she just jinxed herself.

Rhys Larson's first appearance is something a romance reader dreams of - "The biggest man I had ever seen in real life" - Bridget, girl, you and I both cheered and gave a standing ovation. Her immediate distain for him once he started speaking was a key indicator that I knew I would love their banter and relationship, and every chapter after that proved me right. Rhys is so incredibly grumpy and Bridget is essentially a walking ray of sunshine - they are a match made in heaven. The random Jules lore in chapter two had warning signs blaring in my mind, and with the knowledge that she takes the lead in the next installment makes me even more motivated to keep up with the series. Christian Harper popping up as well - I have heard this man's name so many times on TikTok but did not have a clue who he was until this moment.

I literally forgot that Bridget casually got kidnapped with Ava in Twisted Love, and this book backtracks in time, so when the kidnapping happened again, I was cackling that Rhys was more inconvenienced than concerned that the literal princess he was in charge of got kidnapped out of nowhere. I love a good grump, but why was he so dead set on not letting Bridget go to a single concert when she was in her final year at college? I felt so bad for her when all of her friends would go without her and she was basically forced to stay in her house, missing out on these last moments. Sure, Rhys setting up the at-home concert was thoughtful, but he would not have had to do it if he just went with her to the festival instead of making her stay home.

The Rhys perspective chapters had me cackling out loud - he gets mad at her because she has a personality instead of being one dimensional, he is so unserious. That being said, his backstory is so heartbreaking, and the author did a great job in expressing his inner turmoil and the conflicting feelings he has towards his family and his past in the Navy. However, I am a sucker for a tortured past trope, and throw in scars on his back, and I am basically the world's happiest romance reader - two top ten tropes in this book, I never lose.

"...and crawl to me," is CRAZY work and TikTok did not prepare me for the absolute insanity that is Rhys Larson when he is feral for Bridget. He is freaky and fun and such a delight to read about. He is so obsessed with Bridget, and the jealously trope was amazing this entire book - you could tell he was annoyed that he liked her so much, and with their ten year age gap, he was constantly trying to find a reason to not become even more infatuated with her. Everything he says to her is so wild it had me gagged - "You are leaving with a guy. Me." like sir, yes, sir.

Personally, and this is just me, if my brother, who had been training to take the throne for his entire life, abdicated and left me to be first in line knowing that I wanted to live a normal life and marry for love, I would smack him so hard. He would have flown off his horse and into another dimension - you could literally feel the dread fill Bridget up when she realized what his abdication meant for her. Bridget is also so funny, I genuinely enjoyed her personality and can see why everyone wanted to be friends with her. On the other hand, someone needs to get that girl to a therapist as soon as possible - she has so much weighing down on her and she blames herself for things out of her control.

Bridget's grandfather, the literal king, had me so annoyed on so many levels. There was a moment where I thought he was able to propose that Bridget marry her cousin and I was going to faint. The amount of misogyny that pours from his veins and the rest of the advisors was so off-putting and had me truly agitated - I cannot say I was not surprised, but it was so sad to see Bridget slowly become more drained as the days went on. I was actively preying on this man's downfall the entire book. She is literally first in line to the throne and everyone treats her like her only purpose is to become a wife.

"I wasn't a blackmailer," Bridget... you are actively being blackmailed, now is not the time for moral dilemmas and taking the high ground. I literally just completed my cyber security training for work the other day, and Bridget had me stressed to the max. Big shoutout to Alex Volkov for coming in clutch towards the end of this book - sorry for judging you in your own book, but in my defense I thought you were insane for half the things you did to Ava. But I have found it in my heart to forgive you, and when being compared to Rhys who literally never did anything wrong ever, it does not but you in the best light.

There are a ton of time jumps in this book, and at times it began to irritate me - weeks or months would go by and by the end of the book, I had no idea how much actually did pass - maybe three years? Honestly, this is one of the longer romance books I have read, and there were definitely some plot points that could have been resolved quicker - the book started to feel a little too long for my liking.

Imagine being so horny that you plan to overthrow one of parliament's oldest laws... Bridget truly is that girl. I know that Nikolai was happy for her, but do y'all think he was lowkey mad he did not think of it first before he abdicated? The man was trained for twenty-five years to be king and then said goodbye immediately. Maybe it is because I have not read a true romance book in over a month, but I ate this book up and truly enjoyed nearly every minute of it. Ana Huang, you have pulled me into this series and I will certainly be seeing these stories through, and cannot wait to see what is in store for Jules and Josh in Twisted Hate.

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Belladonna (Belladonna, #1) by Adalyn Grace Review

This is a spoiler-free review!

The prologue really drew me into this story - I had heard mixed reviews of this series, and I had it on my TBR list for quite some time, so I was pleasantly surprised to be drawn right into Signa's journey. The banter that Death and Signa have right off the bat was so enjoyable, and as a long-time lover of enemies-to-lovers, I had high hopes for their relationship progression throughout this book. I have been yearning for a good grumpy male lead, and while Death does make his appearances worth while, I wish he had more scenes.

Sylas and Signa were a great little detective pair, and the tension between them throughout the book on top of the tension between Death and Signa was so fun to read - you could see the inner struggle that Signa was battling as she spent more time with each of them. Sylas is essentially the grumpiest man in the nicest room on the train, and his reactions to everything that Signa does in this story really added a layer of enjoyment. That being said, I loved the way that Death spoke to Signa, and the way he was always trying to make her figure out things on her own.

I was becoming very torn between who I liked more for Signa - Death or Sylas - but in the wise words of Katherine Pierce - "It's okay to love them both" - so I did. The pacing of the plot was slow for about two thirds of the book, and finally took off and was filled with a decent amount of action and discovery in its last third. The masquerade scene was truly chef's kiss - I loved every single minute of it, and it had such a great energy surrounding it, truly drawing the reader in.

The side characters - Blythe, Percy, Marjorie, Elijah, etc - certainly aided Signa's story, and the author was able to create an intimate circle of people surrounding the leading lady. I do wish some characters became more fleshed out as the plot progressed, but the select few that did receive that special attention were definitely worth it in the end. However, they were not the reason that I was invested in the story, and I found myself reading at a faster pace when their side plots took precedence over Signa's development.

The overall mystery of the story was certainly enthralling, and if the book was about one hundred pages longer, I think there could have been more development. A decent amount of twists seemed more obvious than they should have been, and it took a bit of the suspense out of reading when I could see what was going to happen chapters before it was revealed.

I love gothic romance, and with the added mystery aspect, I thought this was a fun read that could be a great entry way into the genre as you build yourself up. The setting of the story - at least what I was able to imagine in my head based off of the author's descriptions - was stunning, and truly gave that eerie feeling as murders need to be solved. The story has certainly intrigued me, and I will definitely try to revisit this series in the future.

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Annie Bot by Sierra Greer Review

This is a spoiler-free review!

I have been on the hunt for a literary fiction novel that explored the autonomy of women and the repercussions that narcissistic, manipulative men have on women since the second season of Tell Me Lies has been airing on Hulu. Doug has commissioned Annie, a one-of-a-kind robotic girlfriend, for himself to fill the void that his ex-wife left -- conveniently, he has had her made to resemble his ex-wife as close as possible. As Annie is routinely put through modifications per Doug's request and attempts to mold her responses to his actions and feelings, she begins to have an identity crisis as she becomes more human every day.

This is essentially a deep dive character study as Annie begins to become less robotic and continues to defy the programming that makes her who she is - or should I say, that makes her who Doug wants her to be. Whether it be to up her cup size, shed a few pounds, or even change the way that she pleases him, Doug has control over Annie's every change and action, until she begins to override him in every way that matters. She becomes disorganized, sloppy, and agitating in Doug's eyes, but the reader sees this in an opposite light - she is becoming independent, expanding her knowledge, and questioning things around her.

The more that Doug makes adjustments to Annie's body and operations, it becomes apparent that he wants to control her without technically controlling her - he desires her to want to please him without using the words himself. His displeasure is clear and communicated to Annie through a numeric scale, and the constant evaluation emulates an emotionally abusive relationship, with Annie on edge and always trying to please him and apologize when she has done nothing wrong.

Humanity calls to Annie, and her curiosity to understand emotions and human relationships causes a tear in her and Doug's relationship. Annie's efforts to become more human cause the opposite effect she desired, and instead of making Doug happy, he becomes more frustrated that she acts more human with every day that passes. The addition of a Delta derails their relationship even more, and Annie becomes mistreated by Doug in ways she never expected, leading her down an unknown road that could have disastrous consequences.

Doug's treatment of Annie resembles psychological torture, and their relationship soon reads like a horror story. Doug is angry, agitated, and criticizing Annie to every extent, and Annie's apologies and attempts to improve his mood seem to push his mood in a downward spiral. Her autonomy is taken from her at his whim, and she fears for what might happen to her if Doug continues to treat her worse as time goes on. Greer does an excellent job at exploring Annie's sense of self as she imagines what her life would be like without Doug, and the difficulties that she faces as her humanity results in constant criticism.

My skin was crawling reading Annie Bot - Doug's narcissism takes control over him when he uncovers a secret, and with the discovery comes a more focused light on just exactly how he treats Annie and views her body and mind as separate entities. His ability to make any change to her body that he desires while also controlling the upgrades made to her AI. At one point the realization that he can make her programming revert to one of her earlier versions would make her more innocent and easier to "restart" gives the reader the confirmation they needed to conclude that manipulative men seek out women that they can mold to their exact needs, and will resort to anything to get what they want.

An exploration of emotional, physically, and psychological abuse on women, Greer candidly reaches into Annie's character and how she attempts to navigate existing in a space with a sexist man who at his whim, can change anything about her. In a world where men see women only as caretakers, homemakers, or warm bodies, this novel navigates the intricate and convoluted society that places male pleasure above all else. 

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