Okay, wait, listen. Yes, I did give the Krampus smut 4 stars…but that’s mostly because it has a lot of bad reviews and I enjoyed it way more 3.5 stars
Okay, wait, listen. Yes, I did give the Krampus smut 4 stars…but that’s mostly because it has a lot of bad reviews and I enjoyed it way more than I expected to ...more
This book had me in my feeeeels. I just finally moved into an apartment this past weekend after moving abroad for the first time and struggling to finThis book had me in my feeeeels. I just finally moved into an apartment this past weekend after moving abroad for the first time and struggling to find an apartment for months and then I got Covid. So I haven’t had much time to read and it’s been an interesting and tumultuous week so that might’ve impacted my emotional response to this book lol, but it had me tearing up quite a bit. I only gave this 3 stars cause I did still enjoy it, but idk not as much as book one and I found the plot a bit eh.
That said the steam was steamy, Azazel was romantic as hell and the way he simps for Zoe is unmatched, I love it. Hell, however, was a shit hole as usual and not romanticized at all which I’d personally would prefer. Seems like a really shit place to live and I personally like my PNR romances to have realism, but not that much realism, ya know? Like I get it’s Hell, but man does it sound like a shit existence and I want better for Azazel and Zoe lol. The one cute thing was the hell kittens, nice addition. And as always I love her hellhound and hellcat. Anywayyy I thought there was a tad too much sad and heavy shit on Earth and in Hell. Also Zoe made a few decisions/reacted to things in ways that made no sense. I just wasn’t a fan of all the plot lines we were dragged down.
Then after all the parts that had me crying the last act big twist that should’ve had me super sad had the same emotional reaction as reading a user manual in another language, just didn’t process it at all. I was just like…that’s not real, that didn’t happen. I’m still just operating under the assumption that’s going to be control undo-ed at some point? Right? Like what was the point of that? That couldn’t have just happened and can’t end that way? Why spend all that time building that up to just get rid of it all so quick and inconsequentially. It was weird. Didn’t like. I’m being vague to avoid spoilers but like no, I really liked that person and just no. Then the the verrry end did get me back in my feels for a sec, but the cliffhanger (that I knew was coming) wasn’t as annoying or heartbreaking as I feared so that’s a positive.
But idk overall this book was a bit random. I wanted a bit more world building/character development with relationships in Hell like with Lucifer, I’d like some character growth there or explanations. He’s a moody enigma I don’t understand at all. But this book was mostly just some random fighting, not that well thought out whims of Zoe’s with big consequences and depressing shit. Next book should be interesting. Potentially. Still hoping for some kind of control undo situation cause I really liked that character, but yeah it’s 2am, I stayed up late to finally finish this book and write this rambling nonsensical “review” so I think I’ll end it here ...more
This was the longest novella/book in the series so the plot was much more developed. I really enjoyed this one and this series was the perf4-4.5 stars
This was the longest novella/book in the series so the plot was much more developed. I really enjoyed this one and this series was the perfect thing to ease me out of my reading slump so thanks Kati Wilde ...more
For what that was: a short magical little fantasy quest romance that was highly enjoyable. I found the pace to be perfect, the characters interest4.25
For what that was: a short magical little fantasy quest romance that was highly enjoyable. I found the pace to be perfect, the characters interesting and the story/world building was good and just enough for the length of the book. I’m surprised by how much I liked that and excited to read the rest of this series....more
Petition for JK to write a highlander time traveler book next or better yet bring a whole ass actual caveman into the 21st century, the chaos she woulPetition for JK to write a highlander time traveler book next or better yet bring a whole ass actual caveman into the 21st century, the chaos she would unleash with that would just be ...more
Okay we’re back on track. I enjoyed this book much more than book 2. The quorum gave a little structure to the death defying feats Kira acco4.25 stars
Okay we’re back on track. I enjoyed this book much more than book 2. The quorum gave a little structure to the death defying feats Kira accomplished and things felt less chaotic and random. I also liked the character growth and development that happened in this book. We got to see or interact with pretty much every major character and meet a few new important people which was majorly confusing but in the end I found out that was on purpose (still annoying tho lol). A few important things were finally revealed, especially right at the end there was a confirmed long held suspicion of mine so that was fun. The end of this book was also pretty emosh ...more
I rounded down for this one because I just really wanted to differentiate that I thought this wasn’t as good as book one. I still really enjo3.5 stars
I rounded down for this one because I just really wanted to differentiate that I thought this wasn’t as good as book one. I still really enjoyed it especially the end, but some of it had me doubting how much I actually loved book one lol. I think starting a series is “easier”, in quotes because I don’t think it’s easy at all and don’t want to downplay it, but the follow through is harder in a series so making things make sense, building on the foundations you laid, etc and I don’t think the follow through was that great. This book felt chaotic and things happened without real explanation, and a lot of it felt very gratuitous and overdone. This was like a mix of Harry Potter, The Hunger Games and Throne of Glass, just very much Kira is the underdog (THG) with untold powers that even she doesn’t understand the extent of (TOG) and she’s constantly stumbling into trouble, forcing her to show off and scrape out a win by the skin of her teeth (HP). But she’s playing the long game and has plans no one knows about (TOG) and “governments”/enemies are out to get her making her trials she has to pass in Roake harder than they should be (THG)…I could keep going but you get it. Basically I feel like this book needed to chill a tiny bit. There are other ways to progress the plot than Kira constantly finding danger and showing everyone how impossibly amazing she is every second and inadvertently revealing secrets at a trickle along the way. Don’t get me wrong I’m loving the strong, independent heroine who doesn’t need no man to save her, but I wish there weren’t quite so many life or death situations, it just got redundant. Oh and also the traitor in this book was painfully obvious (as in the last one) and I’m still not super solid on why their betrayal went down the way it did given the consequences it had for others and even themselves ...more
I was about to give this 3-3.5 stars because the fae really let me down and annoyed the fuck out of me lol like really is it impossible for one fae toI was about to give this 3-3.5 stars because the fae really let me down and annoyed the fuck out of me lol like really is it impossible for one fae to be decent? But then the epilogue had two nice surprises that saved it and that’s also when I realized this series is over ...more
This was…fine. Very predictable and a bit boring though. I acknowledge and like that SW can be quite formulaic in her writing and characters 2.5 stars
This was…fine. Very predictable and a bit boring though. I acknowledge and like that SW can be quite formulaic in her writing and characters and often times that’s comforting, but it’s just not hitting the same in this series. The recycled characters and plot just feels inauthentic. Cain and Wynter say and do all the right things, perfectly and quickly. No tension, no surprises, idk. Everything just moves really fast, and while I can get behind instalove I just don’t feel their love the same as other series/characters.
I did like the brief nod to Lucifer, tying in the loose over-arching world building of her series. Wynter’s coven wasn’t as OTT and annoying as I found them last book. I liked that we finally learned almost all of Cain’s secrets…like kinda interesting, honestly...more
Read as an audiobook. Still enjoying this series, it’s an easy thing to listen to while working or doing chores. The ending was intriguing because it Read as an audiobook. Still enjoying this series, it’s an easy thing to listen to while working or doing chores. The ending was intriguing because it entwines more with her other series and was a very Annette Marie way to end on a non urgent cliffhanger, but I’m excited to see how that unfolds in the next book. I am endlessly pissed off that Zak and Saber still haven’t explained to each other what happened when they were teenagers. Saber refuses to ask because it will confirm(?) that he’s heartless and make her re-live his betrayal and I’m just like stfu and talk about it already!! So here’s hoping that happens any time soon, but I wouldn’t be surprised if AM drags it out for a whole nother book ...more
I liked this one quite a bit. One of my favorite fictional setups is a man being inconceivably and inexcusably cruel to a woman based on assumptions tI liked this one quite a bit. One of my favorite fictional setups is a man being inconceivably and inexcusably cruel to a woman based on assumptions that turn out to be untrue because she’s actually the sweetest, kindest person in the world and that’s exactly what went down in this book. Ideally I’d get a lot more groveling, but I’ll take what I can get. This was almost like a dark romance for Kristen Ashley, her Unfinished Hero series comes to mind with a similarly morally grey hero, but I don’t think I’ve ever read a KA book where the hero makes the heroine his paid whore ...more
I picked this up because I liked Heather Guerre’s Tooth & Claw series and saw she had a new release so I thought I’d check it out. It has faint BeautyI picked this up because I liked Heather Guerre’s Tooth & Claw series and saw she had a new release so I thought I’d check it out. It has faint Beauty and the Beast vibes and a very confusing, random magic world building and war backstory that was never really expounded on. The whole curse thing was a little anticlimactic as was the interaction with outside forces and the more crazy random magic that occurs then…I’ll leave it at that so as not to be spoilery, but that being said I did enjoy reading this and the lack of info was necessary for how short this book was. So idk this was mildly interesting and a quick read so I can’t really complain, but I see this is part of a series and I have literally no idea where this would go next but this author does like to jump around to unrelated groups in her other series so perhaps the enemy nation or something? Idk....more
It might be a little dramatic to give this 5 stars, but I love it and compared to other alien romance (a lot of which are bad) this is really good. ZoIt might be a little dramatic to give this 5 stars, but I love it and compared to other alien romance (a lot of which are bad) this is really good. Zoey Draven has written some of my favorite alien romances so I had high hopes and she delivered. I mean really the hero is a beserker vampire alien with wings and a knot liiiiike what more do you need? She threw the whole kitchen sink at this alien race and the combo worked out really well, honestly. Plus there’s fun fated blood mate stuff and a revenge plot turned into love. So good. I read this pretty slowly to savor it and I’m sure I’ll be re-reading it in the future ...more
As a Nalini Singh stan I feel like the comparisons to the Guild Hunter series were glaringly obvious just with demons instead of angels and u2.5 stars
As a Nalini Singh stan I feel like the comparisons to the Guild Hunter series were glaringly obvious just with demons instead of angels and ultimately Danica was a cheap knock off of Elena and same for Samael…he’s no Raphael. My problems with this book stemmed from the world building being pretty weak, the writing/plot needing a good editor and a lot of telling vs showing. The reason Danica and Samael didn’t compare to other PNR characters I love is because we’re told she’s a great bounty hunter, but she doesn’t really do anything all that impressive nor does she have some impressive reputation with examples to make me think she’s any good. Samael is supposedly the most powerful demon earth side, but that’s never really exhibited until the very end and that was pretty boring. This is very clearly being set up as a series so not a ton happens in this book and it needed something. So I guess I just wanted more from them as characters separately and then together as well because I don’t feel like the tension between them was built all that well. All that said as I was reading I wanted to give this 3 stars because it did keep me interested, I love demons and magic, but as the book progressed I just couldn’t rate it that high ...more
This was interesting. Gina L Maxwell is known for her kink so I was excited to see how she blended that with PNR. I found the kink a little l3.5 stars
This was interesting. Gina L Maxwell is known for her kink so I was excited to see how she blended that with PNR. I found the kink a little lacking, what we got was good but then it was like “over the past week we’ve done x y and x” and I was like bro show don’t tell lol that would’ve been fun to see. Overall I feel like her fae world building was pretty good and I’m interested to see more in this series. Although I do feel like the H and h have the more interesting backstory so I’m not sure how the next characters will top that. I also thought the mystery surrounding why Bryn was in Vegas and everything else about her was drawn out too long for how obvious it was. All in all though this was entertaining and a fun read....more