Emily

Erotica with a Whole Collection of Red Flags

Reviewed: 02-12-24

Let's be clear, this isn't really a romance. It's erotica with a whole collection of red flags. Greyson is intolerably jealous and borderline aggressive before they even started dating and it really just got worse from there. He says and does some things that would instantly be grounds for breaking up in my book. He basically uses Hannah as an emotional punching bag and even I got emotional whiplash from his nonsense.

There's very little emotional building on page which I suppose is meant to take place during the time jumps that occurs. I just didn't understand why Hannah even wanted to keep him around after their first blow-up, besides the apparently mind-blowing sex. She forgives every terrible thing Greyson says or does because he has childhood trauma. He never really has to atone for anything. Even after he leaves her hanging for a week and shows up drunk in the middle of the night at her door, they just have sex and all is pretty much forgiven. Really at a certain point I wanted them to just break up already. As a side note, hated that Hannah's friends and family decided on her behalf that she forgave Greyson and was going to move into him. It's sickening to read about Hannah's nearest and dearest encouraging and even forcing her to fight fora borderline abusive relationship....

Overall, this was an incredibly toxic relationship and the only reason I finished this book was because it was short. I didn't enjoy my time with it and even the incessant sex scenes began to grate on my nerves after a while because I couldn't stand for them to be together. Greyson needed serious therapy, not a relationship. And Hannah deserved more.

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Ridiculously Entertaining

Reviewed: 02-12-24

As soon as I heard about this book, I knew it was going to make it's way onto my most anticipated list for 2022. My friend and I read it for our book club and it did not disappoint. I desperately needed to finish it once I started reading. It kept me guessing until the very last moment and I can truly appreciate that in a mystery. This was also very atmospheric and truly made me feel immersed in gothic Victorian England. While I've never read "Rebecca" this gave me the same vibes that I've heard "Rebecca" has. It ended up feeling very Clue-esque as well, which is something I really enjoy. A locked-room mystery is always going to be one of my favorite tropes and this emulated that trope to perfection. Everyone in Somerset has a reason for wanting Lady Audra dead so it's so difficult to tell who may have actually done it.

The romance in this doesn't overwhelm the main story in this, which I was truly grateful for. It's very slow burn and it made it more believable. There was a gradual building of mutual trust and feelings over the course of the book.

The only thing that I didn't love was that the twist.

Overall, I found this to be ridiculously entertaining and a perfect mix of spooky gothic mystery and a splash of romance. Perfect for this time of year. I'd definitely recommend if you enjoy books about plot of unrequited love, gothic ghost stories, and how the complete lack of control women had over their lives effected them.

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Horror mixed with some romance works for me

Reviewed: 02-12-24

I don't think this is a surprise, but I loved this. I enjoyed this one even more than "Cackle." It's not often you get to read a feminist werewolf origin story that explores female anger, romance and family drama. I felt that the balance between all of that was done very well. Though I will say, I was a bit surprised with how much romance was in this as it's classified as horror. But apparently horror mixed with a decent helping of romance works for me.

Rory was such a great character to follow and I was rooting for her the entire time. I loved her relationship with her twin sister and how her transformation into a werewolf was paralleled with her sister's pregnancy. The theme of losing control over one's own body was done very well.

I really do wish I had read this before Halloween. It's such a perfect book for the Halloween season.

Rachel Harrison is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors to read, especially for the fall. Her recent releases have touched on witches and now werewolves. There is a part of me that desperately wants her next book to be about vampires. I guess I will have to wait and see. Regardless of what it's about, I'll definitely be picking it up the second it hits the shelves.

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Another glorious fat-positive romance

Reviewed: 02-12-24

Yet another glorious fat-positive installment in The "Spoiler Alert" series from Olivia Dade. I really enjoyed this one. It was humorous and sexy and I couldn't get enough. I loved that both our hero and heroine were plus-sized and that they both stood their ground when it came to them being potentially forced to lose weight. And the pining in this! Years and years of pining made them finally getting together after so long so much sweeter and hotter.

The reason that this isn't a five star is that it dragged some at times. Overall, I loved this book and this series. I will definitely be picking up whatever Olivia Dade comes out with next.

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A great Sci-fi

Reviewed: 02-12-24

This was recommended to me by TBR and the description intrigued me. I liked the mix of mystery and sci-fi and the premise sounded so interesting. I do love a good, locked room mystery and I hadn't read one with such a sci-fi setting. I ended up having some complicated feelings on this book. It's really hard to describe my feelings for this book to be quite honest. I did really enjoy it but there was something I can't put my finger on that is making this a four star instead of a five.
The plot and worldbuilding were pretty spot-on. I thought the story was structured really well and I enjoyed how all of their backstories were integrated. The mystery itself was interesting and that's really why pushed the story along for me. Overall, it was something new for me and I really enjoyed reading it.

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This was spooky, gory, and horrific...

Reviewed: 02-12-24

I don't know what I expected when I set into reading this fantasy horror, but this definitely delivered it. This was spooky, gory, suspenseful, and horrific with a touch of romance woven in. There are plenty of content warnings, namely a ton of violence, gore, death, loss of loved ones, etc. This would be a great late summer, early fall read.

I loved the historical tone that the secluded Amity Falls had. It was a very ambiguous time period, though potentially in the 1800s? It really added to the creepiness and the isolation of the story. I also loved the setting itself. With the monster-infested woods surrounding this very small town of God-fearing people and all of the rambling creeks and farmers' fields really helped to show the devolution of the townsfolk. Over the course of the story, more and more characters give off the vibe that there's something not quite right with them.

Honestly, I was on the edge of my seat from moment one. I will say that the pacing is on the slower side. But that tends to lend itself to the feeling that everything happening is very intentional. It starts off very slow with the day-to-day events broken up by something terrible happening every so often. Then the frequency of the horrific events speeds up over the course of the book and in the end it's absolute chaos.

Overall, the story telling in this was immaculate and I can't wait to read Erin A. Craig's next book.

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Fell a Little Flat...

Reviewed: 02-12-24

***3.5***

The overall premise of this book was great. It just fell a little flat for me. There are a couple reasons why this wasn't a full 4 or 5 stars. The main one of which has to do with the dubious consent surrounding Nina and Morty's relationship. They are magically induced into having a deeper connection which causes them from not liking each other, to having sex in about .5 seconds. It also doesn't really feel like their relationship progresses all that much and then they're choosing to remain "witch married" to each other at the end. While I did love both Nina and Morty as separate characters, and they both grew tremendously over the coarse of the novel, I just didn't get the romance out of this one that I was expecting. They had some sweet moments together but overall it fell a little flat for me.

Another issue that I had with this was Morty's non-binary representation. I am not non-binary but I was excited to see a nonbinary character in a popular romance series as the love interest. It's not something you find often, if ever in traditionally published romance. Morty uses he/they pronouns but I don't think that there was a single instance of Nina or even for that matter any other character calling Morty by a they/them pronoun. Morty was also described using only masculine terms such as having a “boyish face”, and “boyishly delighted grin.” There are also many points where Nina refers to Morty as a man, particularly in their sex scenes. She even thinks to herself that it’s been a while since she’s been with a man when she's about to perform oral sex on Morty. I think that all of this took away from the non-binary rep and it came off feeling like Morty was really just the standard male love interest in a romance novel.

Overall, this was just okay. I will continue on with the series and am hoping that the next book is better.

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1 person found this helpful

Felt a Bit Long...

Reviewed: 02-12-24

I will say that this isn't my favorite book of the series so far and does feel slightly disjointed from the rest of the "Truly Devious" series. The build up is very slow in this installment and it takes a long time for the action to get going in both sections. I didn't necessarily mind that as I was enjoying both Stevie's timeline and the flashback sections, but this book did feel a bit long because of that.

I loved all of the London landmarks and English feel of the book as Stevie and crew were touring around London. It reminded me heavily of my own trip to London, having fish and chips and touring the Tower of London. That being said, while it was nice getting a change of scenery, I found myself wishing for more Ellingham Academy.

Stevie and her friends, especially Nate, are always the highlight of these books and especially this one. Stevie's friendships are just so supportive and wholesome and I loved them. We also got the most perfect moment with Nate in this book. It was worth the read just for that.

Overall, I'm still invested in this series, and while some installments are better than others,
the mysteries are always interesting. I'll be eagerly awaiting book 6.

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Atmospheric and Creepy

Reviewed: 02-12-24

This was my very first Lisa Unger book and it did not disappoint. This book quickly made it onto my Most Anticipated list for 2022 because it has all my buzzwords; secluded getaway, luxury cabin, locked room mystery. I finally got to it earlier this month and it was such fun read. This would have been the perfect fall read. It's very atmospheric and almost creepy at times. There are a couple of great twists and while it's very over-the-top, and at times you may have to suspend your disbelief, I feel that it's worth the read. A great escapist-thriller to binge read.

Overall, I really did enjoy this and will be picking up more of Lisa Unger's books in the future.

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I just love a baking competition book...

Reviewed: 02-12-24

I really enjoyed this. I've seen a lot of people not liking this because of the slower pace and I think that it comes down to the fact that this wasn't really marketed as a cozy mystery. It was marketed as a standard mystery/thriller. This is very much a slower build, cozy mystery surrounding a baking competition in the vein of "The Great British Bake Off." This is definitely not a thriller. The baking competition element does take up a lot of the book and I really enjoyed hearing about all of the different baked goods the contestants made during the different rounds. Let me tell you, I was ready for a yummy treat by the time I finished this. The characters and setting also really pulled me in.

The reason that this isn't a full five star is that there was at least one perspective that I didn't think that we needed to read from.

Overall, I really had a great time with this book. I just love a baking competition book.

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