rjordan19's reviews
951 reviews

Overall: 4.5 rounded to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔 (I thought there was some pretty great character depth in this one!)
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞💞 (I found this book soooo romantic)
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋 (I think the scenes were a bit light, but some were really great – a mix of emotions and explicitness but overall I wanted a bit more from the steam)
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Humor: Yes, a bit
Perspective: First person from both hero and heroine
More character focused or plot focused? character
How did the speed of the story feel? medium
When mains are first on page together: I didn’t note it but very soon in
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: No (?)
Format: listened to audiobook from the library (Hoopla)

Should I read in order?
This is the second book in the series but I read it alone fine! There is some character overlap and Willa is mentioned (and pregnant?) in this book – she’s the heroine from book 1.

Basic plot:
Frankie and Ren spend plenty of time together at hockey rinks but when Ren finds out she’s leaving the team, he decides to make his feelings known.

Give this a try if you want:
- contemporary romance
- hockey player hero (LA Kings)
- social media manager heroine
- work place romance – they work together
- close proximity
- sunshine and grump and she’s the grump
- disability rep – heroine uses a cane and suffers from rheumatoid arthritis
- protective and sweet hero!
- bit of size difference (tall hero)
- autistic heroine rep
- unrequited love (from hero)
- virgin hero
- hero cooks for the heroine
- Shakespearean insults
- medium to higher steam – 5 scenes – maybe it’s the slower burn feel here (nothing until almost 70%) but I felt like this one was lower steam until I counted it out!

Ages:
- didn’t catch them!

First line:
Ren Bergan is too damn happy.

My thoughts:
Listened to this one after being recommended by a friend for a ‘chronic pain’ rep and just adored so much about this romance.

I really loved the mains in this one. Ren is so sweet and his unrequited love for Frankie was just delightful to me. I fell just as much in love with Frankie in this one.

There was so much sweetness here – so much romance! I just thought so many things were so swoony. So many romantic lines and romantic things. I really fell in love with this whole novel. I haven’t loved a contemporary this much in a long time, maybe ever??? I also very much appreciated the bit of angst at the end. Very emotional.

The side characters are also bright and engaging – and with a large family like Ren’s it makes me want to read the whole series!

Endearments

So much endearment play! I think they go through them all! 

Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.

- scenes of pain and ableism experienced by the heroine
- weed usage
- parental death

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

 
Safe sex: 

  There is some mention of safe sex explored – maybe mention of heroine on birth control/STD tested, hero is a virgin 

 
Hows the consent? 

  It’s good 

 
40% - kiss
63% - kiss
68% - 🔥 mutual touches and o’s
73% - 🔥 bath scene, fingering for her
83% - 🔥 oral for her, missionary
86% - 🔥 bj fingering for her
100% - 🔥 sex 

 

Overall: 3.5 rounded to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋 (Her scenes are quite light on language – more poetic and vague than explicit)
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥
Humor: A touch
Perspective: Third person from both the hero and heroine
More character focused or plot focused? character
How did the speed of the story feel? fast
When mains are first on page together: It takes a bit, 23% (chapter 3)
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: No
Format: voluntarily read an advanced reader copy

Should I read in order?
This is fine to pick up alone. I believe it was published prior in the Love for Maui anthology.

Basic plot:
Juliet and Ryker haven’t seen each other in 6 years. Now a widower, Ryker finds out he is Juliet’s guardian for the last year before she claims her inheritance.

Give this a try if you want:
- Regency (1816)
- book loving heroine
- hero needs an heir
- childhood friends to lovers – there’s been a 6 year separation and the hero doesn’t recognize the heroine immediately
- guardian/ward
- widower
- unrequited longing (from the heroine)
- heroine pursues
- average novella steam – 1 full scene

Ages:
- heroine is 24, hero is 27

First line:
It was easy to hide beside the ficus.

My thoughts:
I was excited with this book because at first I thought the mains didn’t know each other. Piers loves to write childhood friends to lovers. But as we get a few chapters in, I realized they were childhood friends to lovers 😂

It’s okay, because I do love that trope, especially when combined with unrequited longing which we have here. This one felt like we had some more character depth, even though it was such a short story because there was a lot of reflecting of the main characters and remembering past events. But this also left me wanting them together on page more in the present.

Overall this a sweet and quick read. I enjoyed the writing and liked both characters. I think Ryker’s turn around from not wanting to marry to being okay with marrying was too fast, but all in all I like these reads to break up longer books.

Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.

  - hero loses his wife, father, and another close family figure within the same month

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes: Note that there is a sneak peak of another story at the end so the story ends at 81%

 
Safe sex: 

  No 

 
Hows the consent? 

  It’s good 

 
54% - some light touches/her on top on a chaise lounge but ultimately nothing happens
77% - 🔥 kisses that lead to missionary (it’s a bit light on details) 

 

Overall: 4.5 rounded to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Humor: Not much
Perspective: first person from the heroine only
More character focused or plot focused? character (and sex!)
How did the speed of the story feel? medium (it’s a short story so it feels fast in that aspect)
When mains are first on page together: Quite soon in (pg 9 of 44)
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: Yes! A few years later.
Format: voluntarily read an advanced reader copy from the author in e-book format

Should I read in order?
This is book 1 of Marrying the Monster series.

Basic plot:
Violet needs to escape an undesirable marriage decreed by her father. Who better than her best friend to rescue her?

Give this a try if you want:
- Regency
- monster romance
- Orc hero / human heroine
- class difference (heroine is engaged to a Lord, hero is the stable master)
- childhood friends to lovers
- runaway marriage
- some instalust/instalove feels
- high steam – most of the story is sex
- short story

Ages:
- heroine is the eldest sister...I would guess maybe around 20? And hero I think is a similar age as they were childhood friends

First line:
“I will not marry him!”

My thoughts:
I just want to say again I love titled chapters! Little headers like ‘The Proposal’, ‘The Wedding’, etc I just love it when authors do that.

I’ve read a few Leana books now and I love how bite sized and steamy they are. I know they are erotica and with that I sometimes don’t get an HEA at all or sometimes they end with an implied happy for now and my romance heart always wants an epilogue or something a bit more solid and I was so happy in this one we get that!

This one is a steamy orc/human pairing featuring class difference, runaway bride tropes. Being such a short story, don’t go in expecting a lot of plot or character depth – just some steamy wedding night fun! I love reading stories like this to reset, or in between longer reads, or even just to boost my book count for the month, or with Leana – to try some new types of monster heroes.

I have struggled so hard with focusing right now – busy, busy personal life and lots of big changes happening – and I just NEED shorter books right now. And this one gave me the romance feels I was craving with a monster twist.

Cock/Hero Stats:

- hero is an orc – green skin and brown eyes
- tusks that graze her cheeks when he kisses and his tongue is a deep shade of pink
- for the cock – her fingers don’t meet, ‘as his girth was far too impressive’ ;) darker green than his skin, plenty of cum thattastes earthy and rich

Endearments

  Hero calls the heroine ‘my little flower’ 

Content warnings: (This should be taken as a minimum because I could have missed some!)

- mention of parental death
- go into this story with loose historical expectations please – example – they are married by priest without mention of a special license/banns read – since this is obv a fantasy realm with orcs I think it’s believable to let those expectations go

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

 
Safe sex: 

  No 

 
Hows the consent? 

  It’s good! 

 
23% - kisses in the stable
38% - 🔥wedding night at the inn – hand job for him, oral for her, missionary, followed by more sex
68% - 🔥her on top at the inn
72% - 🔥her on top at their newly bought cabin
79% - 🔥blow job (complete), sex 

 

Overall: 4.5 rounded to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥
Humor: Yes
Perspective: Third person from hero and heroine and a small amount in the beginning of the book from Chase
More character focused or plot focused? character
How did the speed of the story feel? slower to medium
When mains are first on page together: not too long – the end of chapter 2
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: No
Format: listened to the audiobook from my library (Hoopla)

“You’ll forget you’ve ever been kissed before once I’ve kissed you.”

Should I read in order?
Ideally yes because you will get the whole family dynamic. But that said, I think this one is pretty readable alone I think!

Basic plot:
A house party makes Julian doubt his initial betrothal prospect...

Give this a try if you want:
- Regency
- class difference
- Marquess hero / companion heroine
- house party
- moonlit dances
- slow burn
- hero gives gifts
- 2 steam (with some great partials)

Ages:
- Heroine is 22, didn’t catch hero

First line:
It wasn’t unusual to see a man stagger into or out of the Pig and Thistle, Pennyroyal Green’s pub.

My thoughts:
I really loved this novel! I was a bit worried nothing would live up to joy I had reading book 5, What I Did for a Duke. But I really loved this one as well (though maybe a hair less…)

This one had such great build up for me. Long just has such a talent of weaving subtle tension and longing within scenes. You can spend a whole chapter in a brief touch in a garden and just be -dying- over it. I am really falling in love with her writing.

Her humor is lovely too. I just adore those scenes spread throughout the book – the banter is lovely, yes, but scenes like the marquess diving into the flower bed and being beaned in the head with his hat the heroine chucks – it’s just perfection. Perfection!

I usually am not a fan of someone kind of ‘involved’ with someone else throughout most of the book but it worked for me here. The longing was so strong. The awareness of the heroine and other woman was acknowledged. The angst of an impossible relationship was felt. And it just worked so well for me.

This one is a slower burn but the tension is so delicious. The partials are so hot. It’s a 2 steam, and most of it towards the end, but I found the payoff so worth it.

This makes me more eager to read all of Longs books!

Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.

- gunshot wound
- Romany are called ‘gypsies’ and mention of ‘gypsies stealing horses’ though it’s a brief line
- scenes of smoking

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:
 

 
Safe sex: 

No 

 
Hows the consent? 

  It’s good 

 
Chapter 12 – kisses
Chapter 17 – kisses
Chapter 25 – 🔥 oral/fingering for her
Chapter 28 – 🔥 blow job (incomplete), missionary 
 

 

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋 (the first scene was developed and emotional to me, but the rest fizzled)
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑🍑 (one developed scene then the rest are very short/alluded to)
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥
Humor: A touch
Perspective: Third person from both the hero and heroine
More character focused or plot focused? character
How did the speed of the story feel? medium
When mains are first on page together: almost immediately, about 1%
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: Yes, not too far in the future
Format: voluntarily read the e-book version through NetGalley

Should I read in order?
I think this is the first book of the Clan MacPherson series?

Basic plot:
Shane and Lindsey find solace in a friendship when they both should be worried about their upcoming arranged marriages

Give this a try if you want:
- 1695 Scotland setting
- secret identity (both mains!)
- Scottish mains
- prodigal hero returns
- widower hero
- celibate hero
- beloved pets – hero takes in a stray dog
- one horse
- arranged marriage elements
- lower steam – I count this as 1 full scene plus a variety of short, closed door and alluded to scenes

Ages:
- I didn’t see them mentioned

First line:
Breathing in the scents of blooming heather and sunshine, Shane MacPherson allowed the first moments of his return home to sink in.

My thoughts:
I am so sad I struggled with this novel! I read one prior by Hanson and enjoyed a lot about it.

Now, I know I don’t do the best with secret keeping that lasts most of the book so that might have been part of my problem here. But the other thing that threw me off was the last book I read by her was pretty steamy! And this novel did have open door scenes, but other than the first scene being really great, the rest were very short and not developed at all. So I was disappointed in that and it wasn’t what I was expecting for her.

I think I never grew to love Shane. I understand needing a break and having to deal with your grief, but the fact that he saw multiple times and examples of how badly his people needed him, how he knew his step-mother was so awful and was ruining the clan/town, and he still just hid out for weeks just bothered me. It made him less respectable to me because these people were his people, and they were suffering and he saw it and stayed in his own world for too long (to me).

I did enjoy Lindsey for the most part, but also got frustrated with her when I felt she was being hypocritical. She gets very upset with Shane for doing the same thing she did, and I just couldn’t sympathize.

I did love the slower pace and character focus of the book. I also loved that they were together, alone, for much of the book and all that close proximity in the cabin was really sweet.

I think those wanting a slower paced highlander romance with secret identity would enjoy this one!

Quotes/spoiler-y thoughts:Any mistakes/typos are my own

Breathing in the scents of blooming heather and sunshine, Shane MacPherson allowed the first moments of his return home to sink in.
“Go away, you rotten whoreson!” A woman’s shout rent the clean mountain air he’d been enjoying.
Not exactly the welcome he’d been expecting after being away for five years fighting in France.
 

Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.

- attempted sexual assault of heroine by 2 side character with weapons
- parental death
- death of a spouse (and grief over the loss)
- attempted sexual assault of heroine by her uncle resulting in a physical altercation
- scenes of danger, violence and death
- remembrances of death and war

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

 
Safe sex: 

No 

 
Hows the consent? 

  It’s good 

 
34% - kiss
36% - kiss
38% - kisses, fingering for her, missionary
40% - mention of prior sex then a her on top scene but it’s short so I decided not to count
42% - bj but it’s only a few sentences for the act
47% - brief mention of sex
51% - kiss
52% - implied sex
57% - start of a sex scene
62% - a few sentences of sex
97% - a paragraph or so of sex 

 

Overall: 3.5 rounded to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖 (I struggled with how long this one was and put down quite a few times)
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡ (I think it led into instalove pretty fast and fizzled the tension to me – they gave in pretty fast!)
Romance: 💞💞💞💞 (I thought there were a lot of really romantic things in here – very over the top fated mates, I will give my life for you actions and protective hero that I liked)
Sensuality: 💋💋💋 (The scenes are not very explicit, language is very poetic instead)
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑 (Her writing is pretty detailed but I think the scenes are pretty average length? Hard to tell on audio)
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥+
Humor: A touch
Perspective: Third person from both hero and heroine
More character focused or plot focused? kind of a mix, but more plot
How did the speed of the story feel? medium? Some parts I thought were slow (very detailed writing)
When mains are first on page together: 6% in person but they are together telepathically before that
Cliffhanger: No this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: I didn’t take notes on this, but I don’t believe so
Format: listened to audiobook from the library (Hoopla)

Should I read in order?
This is the first in Feehan’s Dark series.

Basic plot:
Mikhail is lost in feelings of loneliness and despair when Raven reaches out telepathically and consoles him.

Give this a try if you want:
- paranormal contemporary romance
- life mates
- European hero / American heroine
- telepathy
- human / Carpathian pairing
- chess
- predator/prey vibes
- vegetarian heroine
- human is a psychic
- medium steam – there’s A LOT of scenes here, but the language is quite light and some of the scenes are on the shorter side. This might feel higher steam to some readers. Lots of open door but just not much explicitness in writing

Ages:
- hero is 600 years old but looks around 30, didn’t catch heroine but I think near 30?

My thoughts:
I really liked a lot about this one. I loved the first 1/3 and was really pulled into the story. But I am also in my allergic to long books phase, and this book is -so- long. Maybe it’s because I got the authors cut with all the extras – but I was just ready for this book to end multiple times before it actually ended.

I liked the world building here. I liked the idea of this take of a ‘vampire’ being the loss of all feeling and your soul – and carpathian having vampiric elements but also shapeshifting and animal bonds.

I did struggle with the instalove elements here. I want to feel the tension in romance – it’s what I live for! So I felt like they both gave it pretty quickly here and were super in love for most of the book and that left the plot which honestly I don’t really care much about 🤣 I can get behind defeating a villain or a kidnapping or solving a mystery at some point in the book but I felt like it rather took over the latter half.

Still, I am very curious about more from this series and definitely plan on continuing! I think maybe I would like to spread these books out though because they are wordy and involved.

Cock/Hero Stats:

- he’s a leader of his species (Carpathian)
- female women were few, and women started miscarrying more often until there were no women to continue their species
- he can shapeshift
- he can ‘change’ his life mate with 3 feeding sessions
- males have lost the ability to see color when they lose their emotions but it can be restored with a life mate
- most human women can’t be converted or they go insane
- they have the power to put others into a trance to feed on them and make them forget it happens and not hurt them
- they cry in blood
- mates usually die after each other and can’t live without each other
- cock is normal/not really mentioned I think

Content warnings: (This should be taken as a minimum because I could have missed some!)

- scenes of danger/violence/murder/kidnapping/controlling
- thoughts of self harm/suicide
- attempted rape/murder on page

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes: - I got lazy with notes again, so this is an estimate

 
Safe sex: 

  No? I can’t remember and didn’t specifically note but I don’t believe so 

 
Hows the consent? 

  There’s definitely some scenes of dubious consent and nonconsent here. No rape, but the hero is aggressive and pushes the heroine a lot - he also has the ability to kind of coerce/force the heroine to do things like sleep, but she can fight/block it. 

 
3% - telepathy sex
9% - kiss
16% - kiss
17% - 🔥 oral for her, missionary on the library floor with bites
23% - 🔥 missionary
25% - 🔥 bj (short), sex (him holding her?) with feeding
33% - sex?
55% - 🔥 sex
56% - sex but it cuts off
57% - sex but no details
64% - 🔥 missionary
72% - 🔥 sex
99% - 🔥 sex 

 

Overall: 3.5 rounded to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔 (I did feel like I knew the heroine better but I felt like I hardly knew anything about the hero)
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Humor: Not really (it’s kind of a dark book dealing with depression)
Perspective: First person from only the heroine
More character focused or plot focused? character
How did the speed of the story feel? slower
When mains are first on page together: It takes awhile – they talk online quite soon in, but aren’t on page together until about 20% or so (the end of chapter 6)
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: Not really – the last chapter jumps just a bit in time and gives a bit of a wrap up though
Format: read e-book version on kindle unlimited

Should I read in order?
This is a stand alone novel (I believe).

Basic plot:
Jules is finally tempted to leave her apartment to try to find the mysterious Mack after exchanging pictures with him on a fish forum.

Give this a try if you want:
- contemporary monster romance
- fishman hero / human heroine
- copywriter heroine (former model)
- heroine has agoraphobia
- size difference (hero is ‘much taller’ than her)
- rooftop dates
- slower burn
- forbidden love
- medium steam – 4 full scenes but one is at the very end

Ages:
- heroine is late 20s

First line:
I wake with a gasp, hand to neck, back to headboard, body bent to the darkness.

My thoughts:
I really loved a lot about this book, starting with the COVER! It is what called to me and called to me and I couldn’t stop thinking about this book until I broke down and read it.

But I did have some unanswered questions and issues with this story too.

I loved the idea of this one. My heart broke for Jules and her abusive family experience and her withdrawing into herself so far that she becomes agoraphobic. I adored Mack. He was a wonderful hero and more gentle and caring than I was expecting. And I loved the steamy scenes. I loved the slower burn and build up of their feelings. I enjoyed parts of this book immensely.

But I was sad we only got heroine POV. I love my hero POV! But I won’t hold that against the author – but what did end up really bothering me was that I was still left knowing hardly anything about the hero. How did this start/happen? I wanted more details about his family. About his job. We didn’t get a lot of details about him.

There were a lot of really incredible coincidences in this novel. It was coincidence enough that they lived in the same town so that they could visit each other. I could get behind that though, very subtle fated mates feels. But then the fact that they also (view spoiler).

I was left having so many unanswered questions. I needed more details about the how and why. I did like the idea of the ending but I wanted more details in the final chapter as well.

This novel does have a bit of a darker feel to it. There’s a lot of villain-ish figures as well as self destruction and self harm thoughts that I think you have to be ready for. Heartbreaking and memorable but my complain is this novel just didn’t feel complete to me.

I liked the writing and picked up alllll Wynn’s other novels to try though! (They are contemporary rom/com-ish I believe, not monster) I read Holiday Games awhile ago and truly loved it.

Cock/Hero Stats:

- iridescent blue eyes, high forehead and fins (including one on his chin), and ears (with fan like frills around his ears)
- has legs, hands and feet – slightly webbed, sides have fins running down the length and he’s covered in pearly scales
- no fingernails
- pale blue tongue
- no eyelashes
- human dick mostly...pink and red hues with something along the top ridge of the shaft
- he has an ‘extra appendage’ within his chin gills – not as big as a dick, a little wider and more rigid, but short that he uses in her while continuing oral
- taste of it is cooler, smoother (and mild, clean and a touch salty)

Quotes/spoiler-y thoughts:Any mistakes/typos are my own

I let my hands travel down the length of his back to grasp at his taut, muscled hips, but he growls softly into my mouth. Then, one by one, he pulls my hands off him and holds them over my head.
“Stay put,” he commands.
---
“Just...let me...let me touch it. Suck it. Just one little suck. One tiny little suck.” So I can really know what’s going on with you. So I can have you inside me once and for all.
His eyes darken again. And this time, they really darken, not just in the sense that it looks like he wants to eat me. Now, it’s more murderous. The whites of his eyes turn dark gray, the blue part going almost completely black.
My pulse pounds through my body. My knees ache on the ground.
I don’t care.
At first, I think he might pounce on me. Push me to my knees in front of him and put me to work.
The degree to which I want him to do that startles me.
---
But his eyes are on me. And mine on him.
“Look at me,” he commands, his voice gruff when my gaze wanders to his hand. “Look at me while I do this. Because I’m doing this for you. Because of you.”
---
“Be a good girl for me and come.”
The sight of his hard cock encased in his large hand hits me hard, as does the first wave of my orgasm.
“Come hard,” he commands.
---
The irises of his eyes are almost completely black. Shark.
“I’m feeling a little….” He pulls on his collar. “Different…”
“Different how?” I ask, my mouth gone dry.
“Like I wanna do things to you. Lots of things. Lots of different things.”
I bite my lip and nod my head. “Uh-huh….”
Anticipation nips at my skin, scaling up and down the sensitive nerves beneath. And yet, I don’t make a move. I’ve been making most of the moves.
It’s his turn.
“Like if I don’t touch you right now, I’ll die. Like if anyone else touched you, I’d kill them.”
---
“Hold onto the ledge,” he says as he sinks below inch by inch, roughly throwing each of my thighs over either of his shoulders.
He dips below the surface, but his head is between my legs.
 

Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.

- there’s a creepy cop neighbor that harasses the heroine and wears his gun while lounging around
- scenes of mental health struggles, being afraid to leave the house, not bathing and doing laundry
- scenes of panic and anxiety
- mention of parental abandonment
- there’s something here I just want to note – I actually loved this part but it just popped out at me and I wanted to mention – there’s a scene early in the book where the coffee shop guy comes to check on Jules because he hasn’t seen her in a while and she’s quite shaken and rattled (her agoraphobia kicking in) but then when she goes to Mack’s house for the first time, he’s obviously freaking out because she found out where he lived when they had no idea they were in even in the same state, and then she demands he lets her in, and even finds a spare key and lets herself in even though he is saying no. I didn’t mind the part, but I couldn’t help thinking if it was reversed…
- sexual assault remembered
- suicidal thoughts/actions including attempting death on page
- scenes of drug/alcohol usage
- violence, stalking, gun shots/wounds, attacking in self defense

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

Safe sex: 

  No (?) 

Hows the consent? 

  The steamy scenes are good. There are some questionable scenes of the heroine finding and going into the hero's house uninvited 

28% - heroine self pleasure but it’s pretty short
41% - kiss
43% - 🔥 kisses, dry humping on the couch (no one o’s), mutual masturbation
61% - 🔥 breast play, oral in the pool with her legs over his shoulders
74% - 🔥 bj (complete)

“Shit, you did it. You took the whole thing. Fuck, you’re such a good girl.”

97% - 🔥 him behind her in the water 
 

 

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Humor: A touch
Perspective: Third person from both the hero and heroine
More character focused or plot focused? a mix of both, but maybe more plot leaning
How did the speed of the story feel? medium
When mains are first on page together: Very soon in, first chapter
Cliffhanger: No this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: Yes, a few years later
Format: voluntarily read an e-book copy through NetGalley

Should I read in order?
You could – book 1’s characters are heavy side characters in this one – I’m not sure how much depth you get for these characters in the prior book. I did find myself wishing I had dove into that one first.

Basic plot:
Sol finds himself saved by a mysterious Hannah and can’t stay away even though she is everything he needs to avoid...

Give this a try if you want:
- England 1832 (What do I call this period? I usually did Victorian at 1837, but it’s not really late Regency at the point of William’s reign….let me know what you call this!)
- London setting
- she rescues him
- Snow White retelling (twist – the hero is Snow White)
- age gap with older heroine (heroine is 32/hero is 26)
- pawnshop owning heroine
- Jewish mains
- bit of grumpy heroine/sunshine hero vibes
- class difference
- the sweetest hero
- medium steam – 3 full scenes

Ages:
- Heroine is 32, hero is 26

First line:
Night was the best time to hunt – especially if you relied on stealth, not strength, to snare your prey.

My thoughts:
There is so much to love about this novel! But overall, I ended up wanting them together more, and the romance got a bit lost for me in all the plot antics.

I love the older heroine pairing, and Sol is so, so sweet. Oh he’s so caring and gentle and loving and I just adored him. I love his optimism. Hannah has been through hell and is a survivor. She tries to protect her heart as well as keep her family safe. So this leads to a lot of push and pull between them that I enjoyed.

Outside forces started taking over this book for me though. We have multiple side characters, and I found Sol spending a lot of time alone or with his brother, and Hannah alone, on the streets, with nefarious side characters or her sister. I wanted them together more. I also wanted more tension between them – I feel like when they were together it was a bit of instalust and then they’d separate and come together again and be glued to each other (but only for a short time because forces)

Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.

- being immersed in a life of struggle – heroine’s parents were in a scandal and heroine runs the pawnshop and takes care of her sister. She faces people trying to take advantage of her, dealing with illegal activities, doing side jobs for a man that threatens her
- scenes of threatened sexual assault
- physical abuse/assault on page resulting in bruising and swelling
- antisemitism
- poisoning of hero (allergy related)
Author given content guidance: attempted (nongraphic) sexual assault, nonconsensual sexual contact, depictions of emotional abuse, and discussion and depiction of antisemitic language and behavior.

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

Safe sex: 

  Hero pulls out 

Hows the consent? 

  It’s good 

19% - kiss
28% - kisses
35% - kisses
42% - 🔥kisses, oral/fingering for her, missionary
51% - kiss
67% - 🔥oral for her (sit on my face and hold the head board), missionary

He crooked a finger at her. “Now, come here and let me make you feel very good.” He grinned. “Provided you do as I say.”

74% - 🔥 kisses, fingering for her, her on top 
 

 

Overall: 3.5 rounded to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋 (for kisses)
Sex Scene Length: No sex scenes on page
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): No on page steam
Humor: Yes
Perspective: Third person from both the hero and heroine
More character focused or plot focused? plot
How did the speed of the story feel? medium to fast
When mains are first on page together: Takes a little bit, about 12% (chapter 3)
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: Yes, not too far in the future
Format: voluntarily read an e-book version of the novel from NetGalley (requested after the pub date)

Should I read in order?
I believe this is a stand alone or first in a future series.

Basic plot:
Charlotte has just been informed she is betrothed – whether she wants to be or not. She simply must prove her future spouse is too awful to marry and engages in his brother’s assistance.

Give this a try if you want:
- historical romance (I couldn’t peg the date, but maybe Georgian? Pre-Regency?)
- brother’s best friend
- villain to defeat
- pets/animals in the story – a parrot and a monkey are featured
- doctor, author and spy hero
- no steam on page but there’s multiple kisses

Ages:
- Heroine is 25, didn’t catch hero (but I think he’s a similar age, as his older brother is 29

First line:
“This gown will be perfect for the betrothal ball.”

My thoughts:
I really appreciated the humor in this one. At some points it maybe felt a bit over the top but it was still enjoyable. The animal friends were hilarious.

I definitely wanted more steam. There were quite a few kisses though!

Overall I liked her writing and fast pace of the story. I definitely want steam in my books at this point, so I’m not sure if I would read her again. Maybe I’d pick up a novella. Those that don’t mind lower steam might really enjoy this romp though. It has a lot to enjoy.

Minor complaint

The start of the book has a scene with the heroine basically running away from her family in the middle of a dress fitting – I was a bit unsettled this was never addressed or returned to. Her mother seemed over the top and controlling, so I was very curious what her reaction was to Charlotte’s behavior that day. I was surprised when we are told she is just back to living with her parents because I took it has she was escaping them forever… 

Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.

- mention of crime and murder
- scenes of medical work, blood, cannulas, etc
- gunshot wound on page

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

 
Safe sex: 

  No sex! 

 
Hows the consent? 

  It’s good 

 
I didn’t end up marking the pages for kisses, but they start maybe halfway or a bit later? 

 

Overall: 4.5 rounded to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔 (In all of these, I find myself wanting just a bit more character depth, more background)
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡⚡ (I think there was a good build up here!)
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑 (about average?)
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥
Humor: A touch
Perspective: First person from both hero and heroine
More character focused or plot focused? character
How did the speed of the story feel? slow to medium
When mains are first on page together: It takes a bit – about 18% in (chapter 3)
Cliffhanger: No this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: Yes, but it’s a preview in the next book’s character, Sage. The last chapter of the book is kind of like an epilogue though, taking place a week in the future from the end of the story.
Format: voluntarily read an advanced reader copy from the author in e-book format

Should I read in order?
Ideally yes because you’ll gain knowledge of the clan and characters as well as a bit of world building. But I did love that Hale started this one with a bit of a prologue that sets up Maeve leaving Earth and coming to Tavikh so it doesn’t start you off in the middle of the world (like book 2 did a bit). If you want the full story, you can also get Fated to the Lost Warrior as a newsletter grab freebie (which is the prequel novella).

Basic plot:
Maeve is aboard the ship bound for Tavikh under a new name and is hoping for a new life

Give this a try if you want:
- science fiction romance
- alien setting (primitive)
- this takes place in a futuristic time period (Earth is sending people to populate the planet Tavikh)
- alien hero/human heroine
- fated mates
- denial of a fated mate bond (she doesn’t just give in when it happens)
- survival themes
- hero runs the forge
- heroine has abuse and trauma from a prior relationship to overcome
- heroine nurses hero back to health
- slower burn
- found family vibes for heroine (with the other females on the planet)
-

virgin hero 

- scarred hero
- lower to mid steam – 2 full scenes (but it feels like a touch lower page count)

Ages:
- Didn’t catch either?

First line:
Sweat trickles down my back and nausea churns in my stomach.

My thoughts:
I love that Hale included not only content warnings for her books, but also a note on chapter 1 that if the book opens to this page, the content warnings are available in previous pages. I personally have not come across triggers or content that bothers me, but I like to be cognizant of it for others and really appreciate Hale’s extra touch of empathy here (especially because many times e-books open after where content warnings are usually placed)

I was worried about getting into this one because Benham and Maeve are not together too often in the beginning of the book. It takes about 35-40% until they really start interacting and I was foaming at the mouth for them to be on page together more 😂 When they are together it’s perfection!

Benham is so deliciously gentle with Maeve, and so sweet. I loved their progression to getting to know each other and slowly opening up. Slower burns with tension build up are my favorite and I found that here. I still think I like the prequel novella just a bit more (Fated to the Lost Warrior) but this is a close second. I ended up really loving this couple.

Cock/Hero Stats: (some of this is taken from prior books about the culture and may not be specifically mentioned in this novel)

- mating bonds are never broken, even in death. If either dies, their mate follows them on their journey to the lands of Deeka
- They have a belief system of ‘gods’ that’s integrated through their thought process but not overwhelming (mention of Deeka blessing them/prayers sent)
- translators are used and gets most language across but there are some nuances that are lost
- hero smells faintly like chocolate
- hero’s cock has nodes that run the length of it and fill with ‘mating fluid’
- cock has a head that is flared and shaped like upside down umbrella
- when the mating nodes open there are tiny hairs that release a fluid that enhances pleasure
- yellow eyes with vertical pupils

Endearments

  The heroes call their mates ‘keeshla’. 

Quotes/thoughts: (Any mistakes are my own)

“Benham?”
He stops hammering and gives me his full attention.
“Would it be okay if I...if I touched you?”
“Is that what you would like to do?”
No. Yes. Maybe. My hands shake and I clench and unclench my fists. “I think so.”
“My Maeve,” Benham says softly and hearing him call me his makes my stomach flip-flop in a weird way. “I would like nothing more than that, but I want you to know that you want to, not just think you do. When you can say yes without hesitation, then I welcome all of your touches.”
 

Content warnings: (This should be taken as a minimum because I could have missed some!)

- parental death
- remembrance of an abusive relationship for the heroine on Earth, including physical abuse
- some brief mentions of furs/hunting for food
- mention of prior attacks on the village but nothing on page
- implied rape of heroine by her boyfriend
- side character remembers her sisters suicide

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

 
Safe sex: 

  No 

 
Hows the consent? 

  It’s very good! The hero is gentle and asks and goes slow to make sure the heroine feels safe 

 
54% - kiss
61% - kisses
67% - kisses, light touches
84% - 🔥 kisses, fingering for her, missionary
94% - 🔥 dirty talking hero, oral for her, missionary with tail play on the clit