Surprisingly good. This held my attention and I kept thinking about when I was doing other things. All the characters are tolerable so far, but the twSurprisingly good. This held my attention and I kept thinking about when I was doing other things. All the characters are tolerable so far, but the twins are my favorite with how fast they claimed her as their future life partner.
I'm especially intrigued by the obvious bad guy who got his own POV at the very end; or maybe he's a red herring? I'm really struggling to decide if his intentions are dark and somewhat romantic or dark and eventually harmful to the heroine. I kind of want her to get with the villain, too. What's one more?...more
***TRIGGER WARNING: There's a scene at the very end of an antagonist threatening and attempting to sexually assault the heroine; he doesn't get any fu***TRIGGER WARNING: There's a scene at the very end of an antagonist threatening and attempting to sexually assault the heroine; he doesn't get any further than trying to get his hand up her dress. ***
The heroine is very hard to relate to at first because she comes across as extremely materialistic, but she eventually grew on me and I came to realize that it's more that she just really appreciates luxurious things. Having read books with dragon shifters before, I can also see that this is a common trait that authors use: attraction to pretty/shiny/sparkly things so they can collect those items and keep them in their hoard. I get it, but reading about her wanting and getting her bathroom redone with real diamonds in the tiles was a bit much....more
***CONTENT WARNING: Casual mention of losing a child and attempted suicide. There's on-page violence against the heroine and a part where she's chased***CONTENT WARNING: Casual mention of losing a child and attempted suicide. There's on-page violence against the heroine and a part where she's chased by four guys; it's never said outright, but they were presumably planning on assaulting the heroine, based on context. ***
I did it. After avoiding this like the plague during middle school, high school, and college when everyone was going insane over this series, I finally gave in after hearing more about this from a romance book podcast I listen to (Fated Mates). I'm glad that I waited because I didn't start reading romance or paranormal romance until 2020 and I don't think I would've appreciated this as much if I read it during the big craze.
This wasn't that great in general, but I really enjoyed reading it and it was hard to put down, so that's bumping up my rating to 3 stars when I probably would've put it at 2 stars for "just ok". If an author can make me keep thinking about the book (in a good way) while I'm away from it and have me looking forward to getting back to it, there's definitely some talent there. I would've liked a little more world-building and lead-up to the realization that Edward's a vampire, and I definitely would've appreciated more substance to the beginning stages of the romance itself. I believed they were infatuated with each other, but I didn't feel the romantic love. I think it'll be more tangible when I get to the book with Edward's POV, but hopefully it'll come through the pages more in book #2.
Sidenote: It was extremely hard to picture generic character descriptions in my head when I've spent this long seeing specific actors for the parts, but I think I've blocked them out enough by now to continue the series without that distraction.
Sidenote #2: Jacob showing up in this book really threw me. I thought he wouldn't show up until the 2nd or 3rd book. And his father, Billy, was real cute at the end with his message for Bella and adding in that "please" in his request that she break up with Edward....more
**Safety: No cheating whatsoever since the MCs weren't in any kind of relationship until close to the end, but the Hero is with one OW after being wit**Safety: No cheating whatsoever since the MCs weren't in any kind of relationship until close to the end, but the Hero is with one OW after being with the heroine. Hero and heroine met up to have sex once a week for 6-7 weeks in a row and she thought it might be heading somewhere, but he wasn't in the same boat, especially since they never talked about it. I should also mention that he's divorced and both MCs have experience with partners cheating on them.
12/4/23- This was good and surprisingly funny. Despite the initial hurt that happens, the way everything played out with logic and maturity helped to smooth it all out. I enjoyed the angst and the way that Hatch developed feelings for Harmony. I do have to say, though, that I wasn't really feeling the love from Harmony towards Hatch. She said she fell in love with him but I just wasn't convinced; I guess if I saw her do or say anything for him, that might've helped? The romance was on page and I saw it, but it felt very one-sided after a certain point.
I loved the part about fairies leaving messages to people in nature through heart-shaped things. I see a lot of heart-shaped rocks and pebbles, so I'm going to be thinking about this from now on every time I see one.
2/12/24- I enjoyed this more the second time around, surprisingly....more
2.5 stars. Enjoyable and well-written, but I cringed at how fast the Hero was forgiven. That was one of the better and more genuine "forgive me" speec2.5 stars. Enjoyable and well-written, but I cringed at how fast the Hero was forgiven. That was one of the better and more genuine "forgive me" speeches I've read, but I felt like the heroine was put on the spot since he did it in a town meeting and asked her to marry him in the same speech....more
***TRIGGER WARNING: One of the MCs is the product of sexual assault and the whole situation surrounding that is extremely frustrating to read about. T***TRIGGER WARNING: One of the MCs is the product of sexual assault and the whole situation surrounding that is extremely frustrating to read about. The rapist is actually the father of two of the heroine's mates and he's loosely involved in the background, but now he's portrayed as a good person. I did not like how his actions were basically brushed aside and now the reader is supposed to view him in a better light, but I don't remember if it gets said in the later installments whether he paid for his actions. I'll update as I re-read each book, but from here, it's rather upsetting to have this guy's absolutely cruel behavior spelled out casually and then forgotten AND THEN you get an on-page scene where he's happily mated. No, thank you. That guy deserves to be castrated at the very least. The whole situation is immensely fucked up.
If you're like me and this is something that you know will make you angry, proceed with caution or maybe even skip this altogether. This is my third time reading this and I've gotten angry every time, but I can eventually push past it and enjoy the main portions of the story. ***...more
***TRIGGER WARNING: This series is a spin-off of the Chosen series by this author and both revolve heavily around human trafficking with mentions of a***TRIGGER WARNING: This series is a spin-off of the Chosen series by this author and both revolve heavily around human trafficking with mentions of assault. At least one book in this spin-off deals directly with a survivor of sexual assault that results in a pregnancy (I believe it's the 2nd installment). ***
So I tried reading this a 3rd time but it really rubbed me the wrong way this time around. The prologue of when they were kids was so adorable, but basically being told upfront that these two MCs are fated mates and STILL letting them be with other people and telling the reader about it just made me feel so icky. I usually love this author and I have read this particular book twice before, but I guess it didn't really register with me what was happening until this 3rd attempt.
And now that I think about it, it doesn't fit in with the romance of literally every couple in the Chosen universe. When the MCs of every book meet, they can't stop thinking about each other and the mere thought of being with someone else repulses them-- and that's all even without knowing they're mates. In this book, these two MCs grow up together and don't know they're mates due to timing and the scent-blockers, but they're still extremely close and can't stop thinking about each other. And yet, the author lets us know that these two --despite feeling the way all those other couples felt-- hooked up with other people several times. We're even told that they lost their virginities on the same night with strangers and they both hated it. I did not need to know that and I'm just now realizing that it was so unsettling to have their romance play out this way because it does not follow the usual route of mates for this author. It's fine to change some things up, but not in this regard when it's been your formula for at least 30 books (not counting the Terra Mortis series) to have the mates not even be able to stomach the thought of being with someone else.
I'll definitely come back to this series, but I might skip over this book....more
7/3/23- ***Before starting this series, I think sensitive readers should be made aware that the main storyline throughout the series involves human tra7/3/23- ***Before starting this series, I think sensitive readers should be made aware that the main storyline throughout the series involves human trafficking. I'll update as I re-read, but there are at least two or three books with MCs that are survivors of abuse, and I'll list them below with specifics if you need them for trigger warnings. That said, this author usually keeps her writing fairly light with lots of romance and humor, so you don't have to worry about the mood staying too heavy for too long. The moments I mention are brief since they're contained in conversation when an MC is sharing their past, but I still think it's necessary to point them out as a potential trigger.
Aside from that, I personally love this series and this is my 4th time reading through it. Even if the writing needs editing, the world-building and the great characters that the author's created overshadow that flaw exponentially. The best character in this world that I always look forward to seeing is Bennett; he's very reliable for comedic effect.
Potentially triggering books in this series:
-#5 ("Pretty Angel") has an MC that was held captive for years and he describes an attempted sexual assault in his past; he was helped before anything happened.
-#9 ("Little Sh*t") has an MC who was repeatedly sexually assaulted by a family member while he was underage (~15); that person is killed by MC a few years later.
-#22.5 ("Nights with Roarsen") has an MC that became an escort/sex worker to support him and his friend. There was an attempted assault and a forced claiming bite by one of his clients; he got away before anything more than the bite could happen....more
***TRIGGER WARNING: It's an alien animal, but this contains the death of a pet and it's babies. It's not on-page, but it's a somewhat violent death. ****TRIGGER WARNING: It's an alien animal, but this contains the death of a pet and it's babies. It's not on-page, but it's a somewhat violent death. ***...more
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