Showing posts with label Paranormal Romance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Paranormal Romance. Show all posts

The Rules of Royalty, Undeserved, A Court of Thorns and Roses, and Whispers in the Dark

August 21, 2024


Hello and Happy Wednesday. I hope your week is off to a great start!
I'm sharing four books I read and quite enjoyed and maybe you'll find something here to read too!


The Rules of Royalty by Cale Dietrich


Contemporary LGBT Romance, forced proximity, royals, dual pov

Jamie Johnson has never been the centre of attention, and he’s perfectly okay with that. His entire world unravels as a hidden truth emerges: he's the heir to the throne of Mitanor, a sun-drenched southern European country, and the press is ready to expose this secret to the world. An invitation to spend the summer in his father's palace arrives, giving Jamie a chance to get to know the man he never thought he’d meet.

Meanwhile, in a northern European kingdom known for its cold climate and stoic royals, Erik Von Rosenborg, the spare prince, grapples with the upcoming marriage of his golden-boy elder brother. With the country’s spotlight trained on his family more than ever, Erik feels sidelined and tightly controlled. So when he receives an offer to tutor the newly found American prince in the ways of royalty, he accepts without hesitation.

At a magnificent summer palace, Erik guides Jamie through the intricacies of royal etiquette, politics, and history. What neither prince anticipates is the connection that sparks between them—one that challenges both of their futures. Now each must make a choice: follow their hearts, or the time-honored royal path where crown and country reigns supreme, no matter the personal cost.

Rating -

I definitely got The Princess Diaries vibes from this story and found it easy to become enamored with the lead characters — Jamie, the young man who discovered he was a prince on his 17th birthday, and Erik, the prince tasked with teaching him the ins and outs of being a royal.

I liked the easy chemistry between the characters and how their friendship grew into something more intimate and meaningful. It's a clean romance with sweet queer representation and the royal families who accept, praise, support and love them.


Undeserved by Ari Reavis


Contemporary Romance, instalust, descriptive heat, dual pov

Undeserved.

That’s what Bryce feels his one night with Maya is. But he knows it’s all he can allow himself to have with her because of the vow he’s made. No love, no feelings, no relationships, no commitments. Never again. Those promises work perfectly fine until he meets Maya, and realizes he’s unable to get her off of his mind, or stop wanting her in his bed.

Maya doesn’t want anything to do with love; something she’s only ever known to come with conditions and judgment. So it’s easy for her to agree to Bryce’s rules of not letting feelings get involved. But she can’t help what being around him does to her, or the way he has her wondering if broken rules are worth the cost.

A positive pregnancy test is something neither of them expects. It changes everything, and yet their apprehensions remain the same. His walls are too high to climb. She’s fighting to keep her walls from crumbling down. Throw a baby into the mix and things can get…interesting.

Rating - 1/2

I got why Bryce was hesitant to fall in love again. Being left at the altar without an explanation would drive the knife pretty deep into anyone's heart. But I loved how irresistible Maya was to him. The more distance he wanted to put between them, the tighter he held onto her. She had her own baggage, but I was impressed with how wholly she devoted herself to their relationship. I swear, Ari Reavis has such a way with describing the emotions her characters go through and I couldn't help but feel everything. I was frustrated and intrigued and delighted and if you're someone who loves the way angst pulls at your heart, you'll enjoy this book too.


A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas


Fantasy Romance, enemies to lovers, vaguely descriptive heat, singular pov

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a terrifying creature arrives to demand retribution. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she knows about only from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not truly a beast, but one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled her world.

At least, he’s not a beast all the time.

As she adapts to her new home, her feelings for the faerie, Tamlin, transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie she’s been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But something is not right in the faerie lands. An ancient, wicked shadow is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it, or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.

Rating -

I read and loved the Crescent City series and figured it was about time to find out where all the hype began. A few years ago I was gifted the entire hardcover set of the A Court of Thorns and Roses series and thought it was about time I started it.

Did I read the same book as everyone else?

With over two million ratings on Goodreads and many of them five stars, I expected the same greatness I found with Crescent City. I expected to fall deeply in love with the world, the characters, and everything in between.

Not so much.

I was bored for most of this book. I think I'm just tired of these tropes. You know the ones, where the girl is basically plucked from obscurity and yet she's the greatest thing to behold since the creation of sliced bread. She can do no evil and the ones she actually wronged are the ones bending over backward to apologize, make her feel better, be accommodating to her whims.

Over it.

So Feyre's family had descended into poverty due to her father's poor decisions. They would all starve if she hadn't figured out how to hunt. When she intentionally kills a fae wolf, she happily skins it and parcels out the meat. When Tamlin comes for her, she can only hope her family will survive without her. And when she enters the faerie lands, she quickly finds that nothing is as blissful as it seems.

I definitely got the Beauty and the Beast vibes from this story and I wish that I could have read other perspectives, especially when most of the secrets were revealed. This ended on a great note so I'm not sure if I'll be continuing the series, but never say never.


Whispers in the Dark by Nikole Knight & Lily Mayne


Paranormal Monster Romance, instalove, single pov, filthy heat

At twenty-four, Cody has already lost hope of having a life of his own. All his time is spent playing nurse to a dying, spiteful step-father and maid to his bully half-brother. His only escapes are playing his favorite online fantasy game, Black Oasis, and talking to the strange, unearthly presence under his bed that may or may not actually exist.

But everything changes when his nightly visitor, who introduces himself as Nor, starts talking back.

As their connection deepens, Nor invites Cody into the surreal world existing just beyond his nightmares, filled with haughty demons, passion-killing pet bugs named Gef, and a dark landscape that is oddly familiar. With his sweet but monstrous companion by his side, Cody might finally gain the life of freedom and adventure that he’s always wanted.

Rating -

Cody had a rough home life, with no hope for escape on the horizon. He found out the man who hated him all his life is not really his father. His mother is apathetic. And his big brother is a perverted psycho who lives to torture him daily. And then something goes bump in the night, under his bed, and a life Cody couldn't have even hoped for is right there for the taking.

He only had to dream.

I loved that Nor was a nightmare demon and how protective he was over his sweet Cody. There isn't much substance in this story, not like I'm used to from Lily Mayne, but if you love sweet and spicy monster romance, you'll enjoy this book.

Hades, Base Instincts, Z and Razr by Larissa Ione

August 10, 2024


Each book in the series is a whole story with a beginning and an ending, however the plot of each book relies significantly on the prior books in the series. As is common in paranormal romance series, there is a couple who is the focus of each individual book in the series, however there are plot lines and character development which make it useful to read the books in their published order.


Hades


Standalone - Demonica #13 / Demonica Underworld #2
Rating - 1/2
Genre - Paranormal Romance / forbidden
POV - dual 3rd person
Heat - descriptive
Source - library ebook
Length - 155 pages

A fallen angel with a mean streak and a mohawk, Hades has spent thousands of years serving as Jailor of the Underworld. The souls he guards are as evil as they come, but few dare to cross him. All of that changes when a sexy fallen angel infiltrates his prison and unintentionally starts a riot. It’s easy enough to quell an uprising, but for the first time, Hades is torn between delivering justice — bestowing or mercy — on the beautiful female who could be his salvation…or his undoing.

Thanks to her unwitting participation in another angel’s plot to start Armageddon, Cataclysm was kicked out of Heaven and is now a fallen angel in service of Hades’s boss, Azagoth. All she wants is to redeem herself and get back where she belongs. But when she gets trapped in Hades’s prison domain with only the cocky but irresistible Hades to help her, Cat finds that where she belongs might be in the place she least expected.

So many books in and I'm still amazed at how the author describes her characters. The males are insanely hot hunks and the females are incredibly beautiful sirens. Hades, blue mohawk and all, sounded delish and Cat, with her barely-there clothing, seemed to be his match. At least physically. Too bad having a conversation and getting to know each other was impossible. That is until Cat makes a huge mistake and Hades has to be the one to help her out.

I loved the details given for Sheol-gra, such as the Inner Sanctum, the many halls and grounds that made up the different tiers of life in this realm, and everything in between. I definitely wouldn't want to live there, even as a soul, and I'm happy that there's a place suitable for even the good demons. That was a seriously nice touch.

This forbidden romance was surprisingly sweet and I was so happy to see Hades get some happiness in his life.


Base Instincts


Standalone - Demonica #13.5
Rating -
Genre - Paranormal / LGBTQ+ / instalove
POV - dual 3rd person
Heat - explicit
Source - library ebook
Length - 154 pages

As a Seminus demon, Raze’s life literally depends on having sex with females. The problem is that he doesn’t desire females, and it’s physically impossible for him to be with males. Thankfully, he and his best friend, Fayle, have an arrangement that keeps him alive . . . if lonely. He finds some solace in his work as a medic at Thirst, a vampire club known for its rough clientele. But his carefully structured world turns upside down when he meets a mysterious male who makes him want what he can never have.

Slake is an assassin used to getting what he wants, and what he wants is Raze. But he also wants to earn back the soul he sold when he was a much different demon. All he has to do is capture a runaway succubus named Fayle and hand her over to her family. What he doesn’t count on is being caught himself by a web of lies—and his attraction to Raze.

Raze and Slake must navigate a dangerous world to be together. But as Fayle’s jealousy of their relationship turns deadly, they find themselves embroiled in a battle not only for their love, but their lives and souls.

I didn't know where this story was going to end up, but because Raze was a seminus demon, who needed a female to orgasm, I knew that there was more to Slake than met the eye.

I kept thinking maybe Slake was transgender, but the truth was a bit more complicated and I loved how it solved the problem of how these two, who were drawn to each other from the start, could be together. Raze was a sweetheart who put up with the worst qualities of his friend Fayle in order to survive. Slake saw himself as a villain and nothing could be further from the truth. Yeah, he could kill with the best of them, but he had made the most with what he had. All I know is that these two were great together, in the short time I spent with them, and I wish them the best.

Oh and I can't be the only one who thought Fayle deserved far more than she got. She was such a wicked person, but she was right about something... she was a demon so what did we expect?


Z


Standalone - Demonica #14 / Demonica Underworld #3
Rating - 1/2
Genre - Paranormal Romance / second chance
POV - dual 3rd person
Heat - explicit
Source - library ebook
Length - 127 pages

Zhubaal, fallen angel assistant to the Grim Reaper, has spent decades searching for the angel he loved and lost nearly a century ago. Not even her death can keep him from trying to find her, not when he knows she’s been given a second chance at life in a new body. But as time passes, he’s losing hope, and he wonders how much longer he can hold to the oath he swore to her so long ago…

As an emim, the wingless offspring of two fallen angels, Vex has always felt like a second-class citizen. But if she manages to secure a deal with the Grim Reaper — by any means necessary — she will have earned her place in the world. The only obstacle in the way of her plan is a sexy hardass called Z, who seems determined to thwart her at every turn. Soon it becomes clear that they have a powerful connection rooted in the past…but can any vow stand the test of time?

This story made me laugh and I know that wasn't the intention, but Zhubaal couldn't get out of his own way and Vex was hilarious.

Once upon a time, Z was a warrior angel with his best friend, Laura. They did everything together and made a vow to be everything to each other. Then she fell and she died and Z has been looking for her ever since. Surely no matter who or what she was reborn as, she'd remember him and all they shared, right?

No.

Vex was absolutely nothing like Laura and Z couldn't get past it. She felt so much for him, some of which are her old feelings coming to the surface, but she just wants him to accept her as she is. Is that too much to ask?

I loved the interaction between these two. Vex knew how to push Z's buttons and it was fun to watch.


Razr


Standalone - Demonica #15 / Demonica Underworld #4
Rating -
Genre - Paranormal Romance / enemies to lovers
POV - dual 3rd person
Heat -
Source - library ebook
Length - 152 pages

A fallen angel with a secret.

An otherworldly elf with an insatiable hunger she doesn't understand.

A cursed gem.

Meet mortal enemies Razr and Jedda...and the priceless diamond that threatens to destroy them both even as it bonds them together with sizzling passion.

Welcome back to the Demonica Underworld, where enemies find love...if they're strong enough to survive.

I freaking loved the new realm introduced in this book. We got elves!!

So I found out that Razr isn't actually a fallen angel. He's an angel being punished for a lapse in duty. His powers are mostly bound, he has to put up with torture on a regular basis, and he's not welcome in Heaven until he fixes his mistake.

Sounds easy compared to his fallen brethren who have less of a chance to make it back home.

Too bad Jedda isn't about to make things easy. She and her sisters stole the gems that Razr and his team were protecting and taking the gem back would kill her. Oh and there's a vicious fallen angel who also wants a piece of her.

I really didn't know where this story was going, but I enjoyed all of it. It's a novella so it all wrapped up quickly and my only complaint was that I didn't get to spend more time with this couple.


Air Force veteran Larissa Ione traded in a career in meteorology to pursue her passion of writing. She has since published dozens of books, hit several bestseller lists, including the New York Times and USA Today, and has been nominated for a RITA award.

She now spends her days in pajamas with her computer, strong coffee, and supernatural worlds. She believes in celebrating everything, and would never be caught without a bottle of Champagne chilling in the fridge…just in case.

She lives in Wisconsin with her retired U.S. Coast Guard husband, her son, a rescue cat named Vegas, and her very own hellhounds, a King Shepherd named Hexe and a Belgian Malinois named Duvel.

Visit https://www.larissaione.com for more information.

Way Down We Go and Wither on the Vine by Andrea Jenelle

August 07, 2024


The Sons and Daughters of Lir is a paranormal romance based on Scottish each uisge folklore and mythology.


Way Down We Go by Andrea Jenelle


Rating - 1/2
Standalone - Sons and Daughters of Lir #1
Dual POV
Heat - descriptive
Tropes - Fated Mates; Star-Crossed Lovers; Marriage of Convenience Source - ebook provided by author
Length - 368 pages

Callum has been imprisoned for over a thousand years.

He's finally free and he has three objectives:
Claim Her.
Steal Her.
Sacrifice Her.

The Prince of the North Sea will claim his vengeance on the descendant of the witch that stole his brother's life.

Meghan is a research librarian in modern day Chicago. And he's the new maintenance guy in her apartment complex.

I love mythical retellings and Way Down We Go was very unique. I don't remember reading anything like it and that's part of why I enjoyed it so much.

Callum and his people were betrayed over a thousand years ago and he was stuck in a cave, living through punishment, vowing revenge — against his family and definitely against humans. What he didn't count on is that for his vengeful plan to come to fruition, he needs a human female to complete a prophecy. He must marry her, impregnate her, and kill her to save his people and bring peace to his realm.

What happens when he catches feelings?

Meghan was a tad naive, but it fed the plot. Can't have someone like me who would have responded with a HELL NO right out the gate. Her personality and her various charms kept chipping away at the distance that Callum tried to keep between them and pretty soon, I was rooting for them to find a way to have a happy ending.

If you enjoy romance full of magic, mystery and death, you'll enjoy this one!


Wither on the Vine


Rating - 1/2
Standalone - Sons and Daughters of Lir #2
Dual POV
Heat - descriptive
Trope - second chance
Source - ebook provided by author
Length - 377 pages

Eachann and Galanta fell in love almost two thousand years ago. Their love was star-crossed and tragic and ended in her betrayal and his death. After hundreds of lifetimes of separation, Galanta has finally found the incantation that will bring Eachann back to life. When that happens, will he still want revenge?

Wither on the Vine was a lot more emotional than the first book. Eachann and Galanta met and fell in love. Their relationship was absolutely forbidden, but they couldn't seem to stop. Galanta was abused by her stepfather and stepbrothers and Eachann was the first person, since her mother, to show her any kindness. When she falls pregnant and he proposes marriage, life couldn't get any better.

So what happens when that love is betrayed?

Galanta spent a thousand years trying to figure out how to resurrect Eachann and I felt the pain of her loss. I felt the pain of her isolation and I was so happy that the women of the family took her under their wing, giving her companionship and encouragement. Especially when Eachann came back and was an absolute meanie towards her.

Seeing these characters make their way back to each other was magic itself. I loved how the author highlighted their individual suffering and gave us so much warmth as well. These stories are well-written and entertaining, and I'll be looking forward to the next one.


I waited more than half my life to begin this journey…

I wrote my first story, about a friendly giant that saved a ladybug, when I was six. I have at least three journals crammed full of poetry. In middle school and high school I had a non-profit side gig writing love stories for my friends that featured characters with their names… But as a young single mom, I was discouraged from pursuing a writing career. I’m tired of waiting and I’m following my dream.

Visit https://www.andreajenelleromance.com for more information.

Revenant by Larissa Ione

July 26, 2024

Revenant by Larissa Ione

“Moonbeams and sunshine, the clouds and the seas, all part of the many worlds I want you to see. Fear not the unknown, nor the depths of the night, for nothing can harm you when I hold you tight.” — the only kindness Revenant had ever known


Revenant by Larissa Ione

Revenant by Larissa Ione


Standalone - Lords of Deliverance #6 / Demonica #11
Rating - 1/2
Genre - Paranormal Romance / instant connection
POV - primarily dual 3rd person
Heat - descriptive
Source - library ebook
Length - 368 pages

HELL HATH NO FURY . . .

For five thousand years, Revenant believed he was alone in the world, a fallen angel beyond any redemption. Now he finds he has a twin brother who had all the light and love Revenant was denied. Caught in a tug of war between Heaven and Hell, he must weigh his thirst for revenge against his desire for a mysterious female named Blaspheme—a female whose very origins could deliver him into salvation . . . or destruction.

LIKE AN ANGEL SCORNED

Blaspheme has a deadly secret: she's the forbidden offspring of an angel and a fallen angel. Hunted by both heavenly and satanic forces, she has survived only by laying low and trusting no one. When Revenant claims he can save them both, how can she possibly believe him? But the powerful angel is persistence incarnate and for Blaspheme, there's no place she can hide in Heaven or Hell where he won't find her.

Revenant by Larissa Ione


This beautiful male just about broke my heart. For thousands of years, Revenant believed the worst about himself. When the truth of who he really is, that he's an actual heavenly angel, is revealed to both him and Reaver, he finds himself in crisis—about his identity, his past, and his future. The author did an incredible job of showing his inner conflict and getting me to fall in love with a bad guy who really ain't that bad.

Blaspheme was a mystery and it was fun trying to figure out the truth. I knew she was hiding behind the False Angel identity, but was she truly an abomination? And what would happen when Rev finally learned her truth?

What I loved the most about this story was how these two defended each other. They made mistakes, tons of them, but they were willing to fall on a sword to save the other.

I only wish that parts of this story weren't so vague. Was that intentional? Well, we've got one thousand years to figure out how to truly defeat Satan and I'm excited to see what the author will do with that.



Air Force veteran Larissa Ione traded in a career in meteorology to pursue her passion of writing. She has since published dozens of books, hit several bestseller lists, including the New York Times and USA Today, and has been nominated for a RITA award.

She now spends her days in pajamas with her computer, strong coffee, and supernatural worlds. She believes in celebrating everything, and would never be caught without a bottle of Champagne chilling in the fridge…just in case.

She lives in Wisconsin with her retired U.S. Coast Guard husband, her son, a rescue cat named Vegas, and her very own hellhounds, a King Shepherd named Hexe and a Belgian Malinois named Duvel.

Visit https://www.larissaione.com for more information.