Fruit of the Dead by Rachel Lyon Review

This is a spoiler-free review!

I was in desperate need of a lit fic to push me out of my romance-induced binge, and what better way to do a 180 and throw myself into a modern day Persephone and Demeter retelling. As a sucker for anything involving Greek mythology and a girl in her twenties who is drawn to literary fiction like a moth to a flame, this book has been on my TBR for a hot minute. When camp counselor Cory catches the eye of pharmaceutical mogul Rolo, a single father of one of her campers, she is whisked away to a private island to be his private nanny. As she continues to butt heads with her mother, the book switches perspectives between the mother daughter duo as they embark on separate journeys and explores varying degrees of consumerism, desire, and control.

It is so intriguing - and often disorienting - to see Cory slowly succumb to the draw of Rolo's charm and enticing nature as she becomes more integrated into the luxurious island. As her time there progresses and her use of Rolo's pharmaceuticals steadily increases, Cory begins to question the intentions of her charming host while convincing herself that she remains in control of her decisions and actions. Surrounded by Rolo's workers and influenced by their clique-like behavior, Cory seemingly begins to want to repair her relationship with her mother with the simple step of reaching out to her.

Cory's mother, Emer, is an ambitious head of an agricultural NGO and desperate to locate her teenage daughter that has seemingly disappeared from her camp counselor job into thin air. As she attempts to contact her, she is bombarded with questions regarding the status of rice growth and inquiries on how much longer investors will have to wait. Torn between her business and her child, Emer's life is disrupted as she abandons all and embarks on a search for Cory, no matter the cost to her reputation.

It was incredibly intriguing to see Rolo's characterization develop as Cory spent more time on the island and taking Fruit of the Dead - he becomes more alluring while also showing increasing signs of agitation and sporadic decision making. When he first appears to Cory, he is showcased as a god-like man with incredible draw, and yet we see this persona slip and form into a controlling man with tunnel vision. Cory's presence on the island continues to influence her own decision making and she becomes part of Rolo and his children's lives. Those around Rolo, including a mildly disgruntled ex-wife, seem to send warning signals to Cory every chance they get, but with infatuation blinding her and Fruit of the Dead muddling her mind, she stuck in island set on keeping her unaware of her surrounding.

Lyon does an impeccable job at incorporating myth and modern together. Her writing style abandons quotation marks in conversation - not one of my favorite stylistic choices, but I do say it worked well as it causes confusion for both the reader and the characters. Your brain begins to feel muddled and you are going back to past paragraphs to confirm you did not miss anything. Readers are left spiraling down the rabbit hole along with Cory as she is entangled in some serious fixation with a life of luxury with Rolo. I had a great time reading this disorienting exploration of capitalistic greed, carnal desire, and familial bonds - as a lover of Greek mythology, Lyon hits the nail on the head with this vivid retelling.

You can add Fruit of the Dead 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 (X), and my Instagram in order to stay up-to-date with any reviews, blog tours, and more!

Dirty Little Promise (Forbidden Desires, #2) by Kendall Ryan Review

This is a spoiler-free review! You can read my reviews of Dirty Little Tease and Dirty Little Secret on my blog, now! Dirty Little Tease is available for free as a preview novella for Dirty Little Secret -- you do not need to read the novella in order to start the series, as it is an introduction/preview to the first 100 pages of Dirty Little Secret, accompanied by some exclusive content from the author.

Emma and Gavin's relationship faces a lot of obstacles in this second installment, and nothing short of dangerous is thrown into their lives. Considering I read Dirty Little Tease and Dirty Little Secret about two-and-a-half years ago and was able to quickly orient myself back into this series, I have to say that the author does a pretty good job at keeping readers up to speed. This book had a great combination of action, emotion, and spice - the book flowed very well and honestly kept me fully engaged the entire time.

Do I feel bad for Cooper? Absolutely. Do I think he needs to get a grip and move on? Sure thing! His friendship with Emma was so great, and unfortunately not everything is made to last and his own feelings seemed to get in the way of their friendship ever getting back to the way that it was before Gavin came into the picture. I think the relationship between Gavin and his brothers took more of a forefront in this book, and I was happy to see Gavin really start to work through his own feelings and past experiences. Given that in many romance books we do not see the male leads actually work towards being better and opening up to others, it was a pleasant surprise.

Gavin and Emma definitely had some things to work through - we get a much better picture of the horrors of Emma's last relationship and we see Gavin grabbling with a past that has come back to haunt him and linger over his relationship with Emma. Both have to tackle things on their own, but they were able to support one another once they each decided to reveal information about their pasts and allow themselves to be open with one another - in more ways than one.

The spice in this book was crazyyyy. I do not know how Emma came out of this book without having her limbs dislocated with the way that Gavin was throwing this girl around. The author really upped the game from the prequel novella and first installment - compared to the minimal presence it had in the first book, this truly upped the game and honestly showed how much Gavin and Emma trusted one another. Their chemistry literally feels like it is coming off the page and the author truly makes readers invested in the development of their relationship. I truly ate this book up and honestly look forward to seeing where we are taken next with Cooper's story.

You can add Dirty Little Promise 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 (X), and my Instagram in order to stay up-to-date with any reviews, blog tours, and more!

Puck Drop (Dusk Bay Demons, #1) by Maggie Alabaster and Jo Bradley Review

This is a spoiler-free review!

Guys... my kindle privileges need to be revoked. I cannot believe Stuff Your Kindle Day has lead me down this path. Hockey romance plus crime plus why choose... none of these words have ever been uttered in the same sentence before, and yet here we are. Why do I continue to put myself through this? I do not even know what I was thinking when I downloaded it, but it was free and I love to see what random books have in store for me. I was, however, utterly confused when this hockey team seemed to be full of murdering gang members?? Can someone explain this to me? I feel like I came out of this book with a concussion.

The author literally throws you into the strangest predicament known to man and expects readers to simply accept the fact that the leading lady and, for some reason, the majority of this hockey team are involved in some form of gang that are straight up killing people. Because apparently that is a normal thing for hockey players to be involved in, but I digress. Elenna is constantly in the pick-me girl scenario and finds herself being a mediator instead of a wife - Aidan is controlling when it comes to their outside relationships, but it makes sense as he is her husband. As for the other ones, they become oddly possessive after being involved for approximately two seconds and think they are just as important as Aidan.

Elenna was annoying - I have no idea why basically the entire hockey team thought she was the greatest gift to be brought to Earth, but good grief every single time we switched to her perspective a part of me died inside. I wanted her to be likable so bad, but I could just not warm up to her. Finley and Orion had such different personalities than Aidan, but they cared about Elenna just as much as he did. However, I still think their characterization and the way they immediately felt that they had just as much say in the relationship was presumptuous considering they were new.

The spice was wild and whacky but nothing that I had not seen before. A lot of the scenes felt as though they were thrown into the story at random, and we were going back and forth between smut and randomly killing people with no clear transition. This book put me in such a spin that I started to think I got hit in the head with a hockey puck halfway through. The overall tone of this book was so random and the goal was clearly to try to add some action into Elenna, Aidan, Orion, and Finley's lives, but it fell flat to the lack of consistency and ability to smoothly transition between perspectives and plot points. In my opinion, this would have worked much better if the author made this series only focus on this group, instead of making it interconnected stand alones where each book focuses on a different group.

You can add Puck Drop 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 (X), and my Instagram in order to stay up-to-date with any reviews, blog tours, and more!

Tease Me Once (Shame on You, #1) by Willow Winters Review

This is a spoiler-free review! You can read my reviews for other works by Willow Winters on my blog, now - Do You Want Me?, It's Our Secret, and A Single Glance.

I am no stranger to W. Winters, and with a number of their works available for free on iBooks and Kindle, it makes an easy choice to continue to dive into yet another series. Maybe one day I will actually finish one instead of only reading the first installment as a filler book - this book certainly makes a case for that hope. Declan and Braelynn share a history that is seemingly glossed over a number of times throughout this book - Braelynn mentions through her internal dialogue and to her close friend that she knows Declan from "before" but we never see how they were actually connected, unless I somehow managed to miss that. I would have loved some more explanation or even flashback chapters from Declan or Braelynn's perspective to understand how entangled they are and what the tension they share is from.

Braelynn is too easily convinced of, well, everything - she trusts easily, which I found odd, considering her past, and seemingly falls into a number of inopportune scenarios that would have been completely avoidable had she either paid attention or minded her business. I wanted her to use common sense so bad throughout this book that I was willing to donate some of my brain cells to the cause. She eventually smarted up at one point, but I still wish she was aware of what was going on around her - she needed to lock in and realize that she cannot trust everyone in her life, especially when it seems too good to be true.

Declan... good lord. The author should have given us some background on him - clearly we get the face value details of him and his brothers, but still no exploration into why he is the way he is or why he is into the things he is. I will say that he is an effective communicator and actually sits down with Braelynn explaining to her that she needs to be very clear with him about what she wants and what she does or does not like - he is not good at reading people and needs her confirmation before moving on with more delicate matters.

The spice was going wild in this book - definitely on the more extreme end of dark romance and juicy, I ate it up. Some of it was a little out of pocket considering Declan basically threw Braelynn into the relationship and only asked her if she was willing to do whatever he said - she basically nodded her head and then was in the middle of an intense BDSM relationship without even knowing what she signed up for. And I say "signed up for" in the lightest of terms given they did not even talk about anything before launching into this relationship. Declan is a wild man and Braelynn just does not know what to do, so she seems to go along with anything that anyone tells her to do.

Looking at the mafia plot - I will be honest, it felt like a little bit of a mess. Declan and his brothers are clearly involved in some super shady stuff, and readers are exposed to much more than Braelynn ever saw. However, it did not feel finished and Declan's involvement felt unpolished to me - it would have been interesting to see more of his leadership and what he has done to get to this position. I know there are more books to get through, but considering this is our introduction to the character, it would have been helpful information in case it influenced his character.

With an ending like that, I will be continuing on with this series in order to see what in the word Braelynn has gotten herself into. I can only imagine the tomfoolery that she allowed to happen right under her nose, and considering Declan is not a forgiving man, I know she has a world of punishment in her future. You can read this series in its three installments, or in its complete work, Only for Him.

You can add Tease Me Once 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 (X), and my Instagram in order to stay up-to-date with any reviews, blog tours, and more!

The Devil's Bargain (Deal with the Devil, #1) by Carin Hart Review

This is a spoiler-free review! A list of content warnings is available at the beginning of the book.

Man... I do not even know what this book was. As soon as I started reading it, I realized I had seen little blurbs of this book all over TikTok a long time ago, and since this was a Stuff Your Kindle download, I can only imagine it had its moment with BookTok. That being said, the blurbs and summaries of this book definitely will draw the reader in, but unfortunately they will be drawn into a trap that they cannot escape. I felt very disoriented while reading this book, mostly because there is a preface explaining that the male lead has been obsessed with the female lead for fifteen years, and then we are just thrown right into the story. A touch of background information would have been greatly appreciated, but with how quickly this book moves, it feels like a drop in the bucket when it comes to the issues I had with this book.

Every single time that Ava would think about her and Link's past when they were teenagers/early twenties, I felt as though my eyes were going to roll to the back of my head and out of my ears. Girl, what were you thinking!! Not a single brain cell graced her head when she was younger, and unfortunately it seems she never gained any new ones as an adult. Ava was so quick to accept the fact that Link basically demanded that she become his bride and simply did not question it. Please remember that they have not seen each other in years - I needed her to get a grip. On Link's end... boy, you have got to let a girl go, especially with thirteen years of not speaking to her. But sure, stalk and keep track of her, I am sure that will get her on your side.

I literally read 276 pages of this book in an hour - it goes by so fast and you are felt as if this book could have been an email. I quite literally had one chapter left before the book ended and I could not bring myself to read this in a single sitting solely because I could not believe I was putting myself through this. Link and Ava's relationship feels like he is literally holding her hostage and she literally does not care at all. The "spice" in this book - if you could even call it that - was tame at best, but it felt like Link was constantly putting Ava in precarious situations and I did not love that one bit. Every single time he went to do something crazy with her, it would be justified with "she let me do this to her when we were teenagers" - okay, so y'all were dumb then and y'all are dumb now.

All I wanted to do was sit in the sun and read a book after work - this book made me feel like I should have gone to a Barry's bootcamp class instead, as that would have been less painful than reading this book. And to be quite honest, even though I clearly did not enjoy myself while reading this, I will probably read the other books solely to see if any improvement is ever made with this series. I typically find it so incredibly hard to give one star reviews - so much so that I have only given one other book such a distinction - but this rating was unfortunately far too easy to give.

You can add The Devil's Bargain 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 (X), and my Instagram in order to stay up-to-date with any reviews, blog tours, and more!

The Devil's Vice (The Dark Triad, #1) by Mindy Paige Review

This is a spoiler-free review! A list of content warnings can be found here.

I downloaded this book forever ago during a Stuff Your Kindle Day, and considering I have decided that I am now on a romance kick, I knew I had to make way through my electronic TBR and put a dent in books that have been sitting around for while. I have definitely read books with a similar trope to a doctor or nurse saving the head of a gang or mafia leader, so I knew this would be up my alley - it was the execution that needed to deliver, and oh boy it certainly did. I read through this book so fast I could not believe it and I was literally eating this up - I have not read a dark romance in a hot minute, and this was just the hit I needed to remind myself why I love the genre. This book definitely is not for the faint of heart, and I would recommend it to more established dark romance readers.

When Lillith saves the life of one of the most notorious members of the Hellfyre Motorcycle club, she has no idea what effect her presence will have on him - and how her life will be forever changed. Kain's fascination of Lillith quickly turns to obsession and readers bear witness to the quick-festering mild stalking to lady-napping pipeline. With pacing that moves quickly and maintains the attention of its readers, the book seems to fly by and mimics the way that Lillith's life changes in an instant. 

A quick little lady-napping and Lillith is plucked from her everyday life and thrown into an erotic and unexpected relationship with Kain, much to her initial annoyance. I did spend the entire time wondering what all of Lillith's coworkers thought about where she disappeared to and why she had not shown up to work - it would be suspicious to me! I would not be surprised if there was an off-page moment where Kain had an explanation in place for her sudden departure.

The author included a number of flashback scenes that allowed us to see what past trauma impacted both Kain and Lillith, and how their pasts are connected. This made both their journeys more impactful, as well as making their development and bond all the more intriguing. The side characters in this book were nothing short of diabolical, and it seemed that everywhere Lillith turned, she was in danger, either before she truly knew Kain, or constantly after the fact once they were intwined.

I wish the motorcycle club was actually incorporated into this book - we started out strong, but fell flat quickly and the plot was lost in efforts to have Lillith and Kain's relationship develop. However, when it is marketed as an organized crime dark romance book and the organized crime aspect gets thrown out the window, it is disappointing. Additionally, while the flashbacks were helpful, there never was an explanation on why exactly all of these events occurred, and it left me confused on what the motive was in causing these tragedies. I wish that Kain was more forthcoming to Lillith and did not hide so much from her, considering she was constantly in danger. That being said, she literally did not seem to care at all that she was kidnapped? She did not even pretend for a few days that she was upset about it - she immediately was like wait why am I enjoying this? Girl, get it together!

The main villains of this book did not seem to have a clear motive at all as far as I could tell, and it made the climax of this book not as exhilarating - I did not feel as though Kain was up against much. I was honestly here for the vibes and the vibes only - I did not expect the plot to be super solid considering I was reading it for the romance aspect, but I did enjoy reading this a lot. The dark romance... could have been a lot darker - it was dark for about three chapters and then seemingly abandoned in place of the slight crime plot, but it should have stuck true to its genre. It moves quickly, and while there are a few things I would have changed or added to the book, I had a great time reading it.

You can add The Devil's Vice 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 (X), and my Instagram in order to stay up-to-date with any reviews, blog tours, and more!

Not in Love (Not in Love, #1) by Ali Hazelwood Review

This is a spoiler-free review!

I have gone back and forth over the years deciding if I should dive into Ali Hazelwood's books, and I am honestly glad that this one was my first read of her work. I love a good forbidden romance, and throwing the workplace in there? Even better. Rue and Eli meet before they are thrown into a diverging working environment, as Eli and his business partners actively work to acquire the company that Rue works for - the very company her friend created. Hazelwood provided us with a dual perspective in this book, which is very much appreciated from me - I love to see the male lead's perspective, and Eli's chapters certainly clear the air for so many obstacles that come their way.

Rue has set boundaries when it comes to sex and hook ups - never the same man twice. Amongst her other preferences, she is very clear on what she likes and what she is willing to try. When Eli and her match on a dating app, it provides an opportune moment for her to continue her non-committal endeavors. However, Eli's presence soon becomes much more than a one-and-done situation when Rue's personal life is thrust out into the open during their meet-up, and becomes even more entangled when he is part of the group seeking to take ownership of the biotech company. You can literally feel their sexual tension on every page, and with Eli giving off major lover-boy vibes and Rue giving grumpy vibes, they are an opposite match made in heaven - at least in Eli's eyes; in his mind, Rue will eventually get there.

I loved how involved Rue's friends were with her - they were concerned for her when they thought she was entering dangerous territory with her situationship with Eli, and supportive towards her when it came to her familial struggles with her brother. On the other hand, Eli's friends and business partners were just as involved in his life as Rue's friends were in hers - they checked in on him, and almost always tried to talk some sense into him, even when it was not the best advice or uncalled for commentary. His friends were definitely focused on the business acquisition when it came to their conversations, so they fall slightly lower on the supportive scale when comparing friend groups.

Eli and Rue's backgrounds were heartbreaking and intriguing at the same time - they both went through so much at young ages, and seeing how that impacted their current lives created much more fleshed-out characters than what I had expected from this book. Eli was so incredibly obsessed with Rue throughout this entire book, and it was low-key so funny to see her ignore him - we love women in male-dominated fields! In all seriousness, it was fun to see the female lead be the grump in the relationship, and to have such a gold retriever male lead follow her around no matter what was refreshing. Their spicy scenes were also top tier, and good lord Eli had my jaw on the floor.

This was a fun read that unexpectedly got very deep at times, while still maintaining an air of comedic relief. You will breeze right through this book and experience a whirlwind of science, secrets, and a touch of spice. I definitely would have loved to see Eli and Rue's relationship develop a little bit more before the epilogue, but it became a satisfying ending. I would definitely recommend this romance if you are looking for something fun and not afraid to lean towards erotic romance rather than the typical contemporary romances Hazelwood appears to have leaned towards.

You can add Not in Love 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 (X), and my Instagram in order to stay up-to-date with any reviews, blog tours, and more!