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.

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Do You Want Me? (This Love Hurts, #0.5) by W. Winters Review

This is a spoiler-free review! Do You Want Me? is currently available for free on Kindle. You can read my reviews of It's Our Secret and A Single Glance on my blog.

Stuff Your Kindle Day strikes again with this final read of 2023 for me -- honestly, I did not even read the description before downloading -- I saw W. Winters and immediately hit download. As a prequel novella to a series, I was hoping to learn a little background on our main characters before deciding to continue on with the series. For the other books I have read by this author, I have been a one and done reader, with the possibility of returning to the series once I tackle more of my physical TBR pile.

Delilah has a lot of stressors in her life, not to mention the man she parted ways with finally coming back into her life years later. This novella takes us two years prior to the prologue, exploring Delilah's complicated life, along with perspectives from Cody, a detective, and Marcus, the man that just will not stop from making Delilah his own, but only in the future books.

We spend most of the time in Delilah's perspective, with the occasional appearance by Cody and just a dash of Marcus to add to the mix. I wish we spent more time with Marcus in his perspective -- he is so important to the story, yet we barely had two chapters of his thoughts, most of which focused on Cody rather than Delilah. Winters does provide readers with a decent amount of background information considering this is a prequel novella, but I do believe it could have been fifty pages longer, just to really seal the deal with how Delilah and Marcus are connected.

If the author included just a touch more bit of action or suspense in the prequel, it would have really engaged readers to keep moving forward. I took a few breaks while reading this short installment, only because I was not itching to finish it in one sitting, and the way that the plot was moving, I could tell there was not going to be a wild third act or final chapter. Looking back at how the novella started with the prologue, I would have loved to circle back to that moment at the end of the story.

The multiple perspectives did give the story a more well-rounded sense, especially when readers are able to get a wisp of how Delilah, Cody, and Marcus are connected. It was refreshing to see a main character that has some semblance of self preservation and a decent amount of common sense. Delilah is definitely one of the more structured adult female characters that I have encountered when reading romantic suspense novels.

I would not go far enough to say that this was suspenseful, or even wavering on the edge of dark romance, but that just may be due to the fact that the story is just getting started. Winters alludes to Delilah having some big secret or terrible past a number of times in the novella, but never goes further than having it as a lingering thought from Delilah -- I wish we could have gotten just a crumb of what happened. I am interested enough in this story to continue on, but I would not consider it one of my top priorities.

You can add Do You Want Me? 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!