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Book Review: Courted by Curses (Cursed in Secrets #2)

March 9, 2023 Leave a Comment

Title: Courted by Curses (Cursed in Secrets #2)
Author: Ashley Amy
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Reverse Harem
Rating: 3 stars
Purchase: Amazon

Things would never be the same after the beginning of our secrets unraveled. Like they say about lies spinning a web, we were all caught in the center of the same snare.
Leading to certain people that would destroy us, it was time to put our differences aside in order to save ourselves. But what about the side of me that I didn’t know?
My family had their own abundance of secrets they never shared with me. It left me feeling like the prey in a game I never knew I had been playing.
With the cursed gods at my side, I just hoped they would help me figure out my history. I had to hope they believed me when it came to me lacking the knowledge of my parent’s past.

Check out my review of the previous book in the series, Housed by Haunts, here.

After finishing Housed by Haunts, I was interested to start the second book, Courted by Curses. This book starts right where the previous one left off. Our gang has locked themselves in an office hiding away from two Olympian gods: Zeus and Hades. But the office gives access to deeper tunnels, and leads Brielle to uncover secrets about her past that could help explain why she seems to collect mates left and right, and why two Olympian gods are after her.

I liked how in this book, the male love interests finally start to acknowledge they actually have feelings for Brielle. In the first book, they spend the better half of the book pushing those feelings away, but here they start embracing how they truly feel.

Plus, I don’t want to give any plot spoilers, but the whole thing with Steer? Uhm, no, thanks, no.

I’m not all that fond of the idea of “mates” either. I know it’s a popular trope, but I much prefer slow-burns or medium-burns where the guys fall for the girl because of her personality, their connection, her humor, you name it. But just because she’s your “mate”, that feels a little cheap. I do see Brielle having connections to some of the characters, notably Talus, Prome and Syph, but that’s where it ends.

Xion was already established as her “mate” as from book one, but he’s the least interesting of the guys and he just seems like a doormat. The others have personalities, Xion is just bland. And Steer is… well, there are no words. I probably would’ve enjoyed the book more if he didn’t make an appearance in it.

Also, the ending still leaves us with a lot of cliffhangers and unfortunately, although at the end of book one, I was intrigued to find out more, now I’m feeling less enthusiastic. I’m still looking forward to reading how all these plotlines connect and why Brielle can do what she does, but I didn’t enjoy this one as much as the first, unfortunately.

Filed Under: Paranormal Romance, Reverse Harem, Reviews Tagged With: , ,

Book Review: Housed by Haunts (Cursed in Secrets #1)

March 6, 2023 Leave a Comment

Title: Housed by Haunts (Cursed in Secrets #1)
Author: Ashley Amy
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Reverse Harem
Rating: 2 stars
Purchase: Amazon

The gods abandoned us.
Life was not like we once knew.
They grew envious of our reliance on technology rather than prayer. In their haste to depart and forsake this world, they left us a parting present, one that would surely end the human race.
Now at the bottom of the barrel, women were scraping to get by. A disease had come. It wiped out majority of fertility in females, placing those who could bear children back to being the low man on the totem pole.
Only seen as broodmares, we were reserved solely for the right to breed. Sold to more than one man, we were to become endowed to a house. Inside, we were subject to the demands of our men’s desires to keep the population rising.
Once I hit puberty, I tested to be a prime specimen for their ruthless requirements.
All of this because those with power wanted to prove how much control they still had.
I spent several years in the academy, learning to be a docile female for their use. For no more worth than the uterus in my body, I had come of age to be marketed off to a house.
The daft idea might not fare on my behalf, but it also offered a freedom from being treated like a porcelain doll in the school I was forced to attend.
Filled with dread, I was about to find out what it was that made porcelain so fragile.

Housed by Haunts is the first book in the Cursed in Secrets series. There are five books total in this series. It’s my first series by this author, and I’m not entirely sure what to think at this point.

The mythology and world-building starts out a little flimsy, but it does progress and grow more interesting. Brielle has a hard life thus far, but despite all the hardships, she stands her ground and she actually has quite a strong personality – surprising given the world she’s inhabiting in which women don’t have much say.

The book isn’t very forgiving toward the other women in the book, though, except maybe Lois, and I thought that was a real shame. Why should the heroine be the only redeeming female character, and the others be one-dimensional and cruel toward other women? This bugged me the most. You don’t have to tear down other female characters to make the heroine shine–a heroine can shine in her own light.

I did breeze through the book, and it definitely had its moments. There’s a slow to medium burn build-up with the male love interests, and that’s quite well done. I do look forward to starting book two, and I hope the author expands upon the world-building and mythology, because those are the most interesting parts to me.

Filed Under: Paranormal Romance, Reverse Harem, Reviews Tagged With: , ,

Book Review: As You Witch by Erin R. Bedford

January 9, 2019 Leave a Comment

Title: As You Witch
Author: Erin R. Bedford
Genre: Paranormal, Reverse Harem, Witches
Rating: 2 stars

Purchase: Amazon

If you could wish for anything, what would you wish for?
When Max gets a magic amulet that makes nearly every desire come true, she’ll learn the truth of be careful what you wish for.
However, magical hijinks aren’t all that Max has to worry about. With her hard-working parents strained to pay her tuition, Max’s only chance to stay in Winchester Academy is to win the scholarship at the big school fair. Of course, to win, she has to beat her bully of a rival, wow the entire school, and juggle four guys vying for her attention.
Nothing a few wishes, a little magic, and a lot of luck can’t handle … she hopes!

I previously reviewed the first book in the series, Witching on a Star. That wasn’t a success by any means – I rated it 2,5 stars, and while I had high hopes for a reverse harem set in a witching academy, my hopes fell flat and the book was a bit of a dissapointment.

Still, I picked up book two, As You Witch, because I wanted to see if it would get any better. The series has a lot of potential, it just never executes it well, so I thought that maybe some of those kinks would’ve gotten fixed in book two. Alas, no such luck, and I even liked this one less than the first one.

This book was filled with unnecessary drama from the start until the end. With a million possible options to pick villains when your book is set in a witching world, the author keeps on using the mean girl as a villain. It’s dull and predictable. The dialogue is so bad that I had to roll my eyes at every other sentence. Max is immature, childish, entitled, and the guys she’s supposedly in love with are so bland and boring even I wouldn’t be able to keep them apart.

There is no conflict. There’s nothing really at stake. The relationships are too perfect – these four guys are instantly OK with all of them being with the heroine, and none of them is trying to win her for themselves. Of the four guys, only two have a hint of a personality, and the other two are basically just thrown in so this would be a reverse harem and not a love triangle. Either give them more personality or focus on the two that do have developed personalities and that a reader can root for.

Look, I know I’m one of the few who isn’t fond of this series, and it has really high overall ratings on Goodreads and Amazon. So, don’t take my word for it, this is after all just my opinion. But as far as reverse harems go, I’ve seen a lot better than this one.

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Book Review: Witching on a Star by Erin R. Bedford

January 3, 2019 Leave a Comment

Title: Witching on a Star (Academy of Witches #1)
Author: Erin R. Bedford
Genre: Paranormal, Reverse Harem, Witches
Rating: 2,5 stars
Purchase: Amazon

All her life Max knew she was destined for more, but when she graduated high school, she never expected to find out she was a witch.
Now Max isn’t headed to the ivy league college of her dreams but to the Witch’s Academy, where the spells are real and the classes just might kill you.
If Max hopes to survive her new destiny she’ll have to put up with mean girl cliques, way too sexy for their own good bad boys, and a popularity contest she didn’t expect to win.
Turns out, wishing comes with consequences and all magic has a price, especially at Witch Academy, but Max may find she’s more prepared than she thought to handle it all.

Last week, I was in the mood for a reverse harem romance. Reverse harem, for those who don’t know, is where one girl has several love interests…and actually ends up with several or all of them! It might be a bit of a strange concept if you’re not used to it, but the last year it’s really gained some fraction in the reading community and more and more people are picking up this genre of books (with more and more writers starting to write in this genre as well). Reverse harem is kind of a guilty pleasure of mine, so I’m glad to see its success growing over the past year.

Anyway, on to this book, Witching on a Star, one of the first reverse harem books I’ve picked up in a while. We meet Max, our heroine, who never expected to find out she was a witch after she graduated high school. But lo and behold, not only does she have powers, her family is actually pretty famous in the witching community, and her grandparents are swimming in cash.

Witch Academy could be fun and exciting, but on the first day, Max already makes enemies out of the current queen bee of the school, and bumps into several guys who each have their unique, interesting personality traits. There’s the typical division: smart but somewhat shy, sexy bad guy, and then two more who don’t make that much of an appearance in this book and weren’t quite that memorable to me. In fact, personality-wise, basically the only one I could tell apart from the others was sexy bad guy. The others are so bland and indescriptive that they might as well be the same person.

So far, the book seems to have everything you’d expect in a reverse harem, right?

Well, it does, but it’s all kind of cringy. The romance is cringy. Everyone Max meets instantly falls in love with her, even willing to put morals and jealousy aside to be with her; they don’t mind if she’s dating multiple guys because she’s Max, the most special snowflake to ever walk this earth.

Max’s special-snowflake behaviour is so annoying. She goes from having no powers to being overpowered in a matter of pages, without actually needing any training. She scarcely spends any time in classes, more often than not hanging out with boys instead.

The villain is a mean girl. Yes, in a world of magic where you could conjure up about any type of villain, the villain Max has to stare down is Sabrina, typical mean girl who used to be queen bee until Max came along, who promptly stole Sabrina’s boyfriend (ex-boyfriend since he dumped Sabrina previously, apparently for cheating on him with his brother… which is exactly what Max ends up doing from the start, out in the open, and he makes no comment about it whatsoever…double standards much?).

The best friend is just filler, and only shows up when Max needs her to, conveniently disappearing at any other moment. The world-building is OK but I’m curious to find out more about this wizarding world and its many families. So far, the school and world feel really, really smal. I would also like to find at least one guy in this series who is NOT instantly falling for Max.

I also picked up book two just because I wanted to see if it would get any better, as despite the mean-girl clichés and Max being a Mary Sue, I am intrigued by the guys and if they will keep swooning over Max or if more drama will come their way. Stay tuned for my review of book two soon.

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Book Review and Giveaway Once Upon A Princess Duet

November 10, 2017 3 Comments


Title: Once Upon A Princess Duet
Author: Deborah A. Bailey
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Rating: 4,5 stars
Purchase: Amazon
Review copy provided by Enchanted Book Promotions in exchange for an honest review.

The Once Upon A Princess Duet

In these two sexy paranormal romance “fairy tales,” two princesses find that love with a shifter hero is not without complications – but there is always a happily-ever-after. Includes two complete short novellas.

“Heart of Stone”

In the ruins of a country destroyed by a curse. Princess Leesa goes looking for a way to help her people. Desperate to find an item of value to trade for supplies, she trespasses into an abandoned palace.

There, she finds more than she bargained for when she encounters a lonely Gargoyle who offers to provide her with everything she needs, for a price.

If she’s willing to pay it, she may find the love she’s been looking for. Or she may lose it, forever.

“Beauty & the Faun”

Kayla, a poor young woman runs away when her rich uncle and aunt arrange her marriage to a shifter prince from another land. Her uncle needs gold to settle his debts and the king is offering a great reward if he can obtain a willing bride for his son.

But Kayla’s plans to hide in the Great Forest hit a snag when two mischievous fauns find her and deliver her to a very sexy faun shifter who is ready to teach Kayla a thing or two about life and love.

Once Upon A Princess Duet is actually a collection of two books: “Heart of Stone” and “Beauty & The Faun”. Both of the books are fairytale romances, meaning they’re paranormal romance but read like fairytales.

In “Heart of Stone,” Princess Leesa is desperate to find a way to help her people, and on her quest to find a valuable item she can trade for supplies, she comes across an abandoned palace. There, she finds a gargoyle, Willem, who is willing to give her everything she needs, for a price. Is Leesa willing to take this risk? I really liked this novella, in particular the gargoyle, who has a quirky, funny personality. I also liked Leesa and how she was willing to sacrifice everything for her people.

The second novella, “Beauty & The Faun” was my favorite of the two. Kayla is a young woman who is, against her will, pushed into an arranged marriage by her aunt and uncle. Desperate to escape, Kayla hides in the Great Forest, where two mischievous fauns find her and deliver her to a faun shifter, who has some plans of his own with her. I really liked Del’s personality, how caring he was and how charming.

Both paranormal romance novellas are excellent, but the second one was my favorite. The writing is excellent overall, and I would recommend this duology to fans of fairy tale romances.

 

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Book Review: Sacred Legacy (Branded Trilogy #3) by Kat Flannery

October 29, 2017 1 Comment

Title: Sacred Legacy (Branded Trilogy #3)
Author: Kat Flannery
Genre: Historical / Western / Paranormal Romance
Age Group: Adult
Rating: 4,5 stars
Purchase: Amazon
Review copy provided by Enchanted Book Promotions in exchantge for an honest review.

Tsura is a Chuvani, and with that comes great power…

Desperate to escape the memories that haunt her, Tsura Harris returns to Jamestown, the very place her mother forbade her to go. A gifted Chuvani, Tsura has sworn off all magick, thus making her vulnerable to the Renoldi clan, who wish to kill her and take the pendant that is the key to her power.
Red Wolf is hell-bent on living his life on the sea, until he runs into Tsura on the docks. His pride wounded from her rejection years before, he hoped to never see her again. But when the evil Corsair, Romulus Black, demands to know where she is, Red Wolf must protect her, as is his duty.
But is duty and honor his only reason, or does Red Wolf still carry a flame of love in his heart? And will Tsura finally discover her destiny?

In this third and final part in the Branded Trilogy, author Kat Flannery goes above and beyond the expectations set forth in the first two books, and delivers a strong, suspenseful story that will put readers on the edge of their seat. I previously reviewed Lakota Honor and Blood Curse, the first two books in the trilogy, and really enjoyed them so needless to say, I was looking forward to reading Sacred Legacy. The book certainly didn’t dissapoint.

Tsura Harris is a gifted Chuvani, a person who can wield magick. However, she has sworn off all magick, which makes her vulnerable to the Renoldi clan who have every intent of killing her. Against her mother’s wishes, Tsura returns to Jamestown. There, she runs into Red Wolf, a man who she rejected years ago. Red Wolf hoped to never see the woman again who wounded his pride in such a terrible way, but when he sees Tsura and learns she’s in danger, Red Wolf knows it’s his duty to protect her.

The story is once again set in a historical setting, and the magick Tsura uses has ties to Native American magick and culture. I really liked the Native American theme throughout in this series. Not a lot of books focus on that setting or culture, and it’s intriguing to learn more about it. As usual, though, the real spotlight is on the characters. They’re complex, intriguing, they have their own quirks and personalities, and they feel like real, living, breathing, people.

I really liked Red Wolf too. He’s a gentle and caring soul, and cares far more for Tsura than he wants to admit, and this made me feel sympathetic towards him.

Readers interested in paranormal romance with a historical setting should definitely check out this book. Even if you haven’t read the previous books in the series, all the stories are stand-alones, so you can just pick one up and dive into the fascinating world author Kat Flannery has created in the Branded Trilogy.

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Book Review and Giveaway Blood Curse

October 17, 2017 1 Comment

Title: Blood Curse

Author: Kat Flannery
Genre: Historical / Paranormal Romance / Western
Age Group: Adult
Rating: 4 stars
Purchase: Amazon
Review copy provided by Enchanted Book Promotions in exchange for an honest review.

Four years after the Blood Curse, Pril of the Peddlers vows to protect her child against the evil men who hunt her. With her clan unaware of the branded girl among them, Pril has to keep the identity of her daughter a secret. When her child is kidnapped, she is forced to ask Merchant runner, Kade Walker, for his help.

Kade Walker needs to find the gypsy child. Blackmailed and pushed beyond his own moral code, he is determined to do whatever it takes. When he comes across the Peddler clan, he is sure the girl is there, however all hope is lost when the gypsies capture him. Time is running out—until Pril makes him an offer he cannot refuse.

Amidst greed, lust, revenge and love, Pril will need to trust Kade. But as the evil nears and doubt creeps in, will she discover that the enemy has been standing next to her all along?

Even if you haven’t read Lakota Honor, the first book in the trilogy, you can still pick up Blood Curse and enjoy it, because it focuses on a different set of main characters. Pril is a gypsy who lives in Virginia, and who cares for her child – a child who is branded, and possesses strong magic. Others want the child destroyed, but Pril will risk her life to save her. However, saving her might involve more than just risking her own life; she’ll also have to trust Kade Walker.

While Kade vows to protect Pril and the child, this goes against his original plan and when he develops feelings for Pril, they’re not entirely welcomed. He has to focus on his task… Although it’s becoming increasingy harder as he can no longer deny the attraction between them.

The story was solid and well-researched, and the characters were amazing, in particular Pril. She was strong and capable, and extremely brave. The writing was excellent and immediately, I felt like I was part of the story. Fans of paranormal romance and historical romances will love this book.

 
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Book Review: Lakota Honor (Branded Trilogy #1) by Kat Flannery

October 12, 2017 2 Comments

Title: Lakota Honor (Branded Trilogy #1)
Author: Kat Flannery
Genre: Historical / Western / Paranormal Romance
Age Group: Adult
Rating: 4 stars
Purchase: Amazon
Review copy provided by Enchanted Book Promotions in exchange for an honest review.

Fate has brought them together, but will a promise tear them apart?

In the small town of Willow Creek, Colorado, Nora Rushton spends most of her days locked up in her home with a father who resents her and fighting off unwanted marriage proposals from the wealthy Elwood Calhoun. Marked as a witch, Nora must hide her healing powers from those who wish to destroy all the witkowin—crazy women. What she doesn’t know is that a bounty hunter is hot on her trail.

Lakota native Otakatay has an obligation to fulfill. He has been hired to kill the witkowin. In a time when race and difference are a threat and innocence holds no ground, courage, love and honor will bring Nora and Otakatay together as they fight for their freedom. Will the desire to fulfill his promise drive Otakatay to kill Nora? Or will the kindness he sees in her blue eyes push him to be the man he once was?

In Lakota Honor, Nora Rushton lives in the small town of Willow Creek in a historical setting. Nora spends most of her time hidden away in her home. The reason she can’t go outside? Her healing powers that often tend to generate accusations of witchcraft. And her father does his best to protect her, yet at the same time he also resents her, making for a toxic combination.

Nora comes across Lakota native while wandering through the nearby forest. His name is Otakatav and he’s a bounty hunter who, as it turns out, has been hired to kill any people with healing powers – like Nora. Will he be able to fulfill this quest?

Nora has a strong personality and her love for others shines through and makes her come across as very sympathetic. She’s willing to risk herself to put others first, and she has a very admirable personality. I really liked her, and I also really enjoyed the book. It was a fast read, and once I started, I didn’t want to finish.

 

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Book Review: Cry Wolf by Greta Stone

August 5, 2017 Leave a Comment

Title: Cry Wolf

Author: Greta Stone

Genre: M/M Urban fantasy

Age Group: Adult

Rating: 4,5 stars

Purchase: Amazon

Review copy provided by Enchanted Book Promotions in exchange for an honest review.

Everything you know is a lie.

Peter is a kitsune. Chaos follows him wherever he goes. Good intentions, bad intentions—it doesn’t matter. Even mimicking the howl of a friend he hasn’t seen in over a decade turns out to have disastrous consequences.

The wolf doesn’t have a name. For now, he goes by Luca. He has no past, and as an escaped slave, if he can’t stay hidden in the shadows, he’ll have no future. When someone steals his howl, he’s drawn to investigate, and ends up saddled with a mouthy fox who insists they used to be friends once upon a time.

Petty problems and a dubious reunion are pushed aside the longer they’re stranded together. The Underwood is a dangerous place.

They have two choices: work together or die.

Join Greta Stone in a dark paranormal MM romance retelling of Aesop’s fable, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, and David P. Mannix’s classic novel, The Fox and the Hound.

In Cry Wolf, Peter is a kitsune, a fox shifter, who has chaos following him wherever he goes. Luca is a wolf who has no past and likely no future either, if he can’t stay hidden in the shadows. When someone steals his howl, he’s forced to investigate, and that leads him to Peter, a fox who insists he and Luca used to be friends, once upon a time.

Reminiscent of the story of The Fox and the Hound, and set in The Underwood, a dangerous yet fabulous place with fabulous world-building, this is an excellent story for people who enjoy dark paranormal romance, fables, and MM romance.

The suspense was there from the first page, and the pacing was high from the start, and never slowed down. This is an excellent book and I can’t recommend it enough.

 

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Book Review and Giveaway Trolling by Emma Brady

July 24, 2017 1 Comment

Title: Trolling

Author: Emma Brady

Genre: Romance / Urban Fantasy

Age Group: Adult

Rating: 4 stars

Purchase: Amazon

Review copy provided by Enchanted Book Promotions in exchange for an honest review.

Lily Faye-Richardson thought her bad luck was ending when she and her sisters inherited her uncle’s house. Finding a green man chained in the basement changed that. Now she must trust this sexy troll to take her into a magical kingdom and rescue the only family she has.
Theno woke up with missing pieces to his memory but an angel saving him. When her sisters are kidnapped, he is willing to do anything to help her in return. The problem is, if he can’t remember who he is, how can he trust himself not to hurt her?
Together, the two of them will go to the land of Tammara to bring back the other Faye girls. They will have to face an Evil Queen, who wants to find the door and cross over into the human world. There is also the matter of an intense sexual attraction between them and the need for Theno to discover his identity. Does a troll get to have a happy ending?

In Trolling, Lily Faye-Richardson and her sisters inherited her uncle’s house. For Lily, it’s a sign her bad luck is finally turning around… Until she finds a green man chained in the basement of her new home. Turns out he’s a troll named Theno. When Lily’s sisters are kidnapped, he’s willing to risk everything to help her find her sisters back.

Together, Lily and Theno head to the land of Tammara to bring back Lily’s sisters, all the while trying to deny the growing sexual attraction between the two of them…

Lily and Theno were great. They had instant chemistry which only intensified as the story progressed. However, what I enjoyed even more than the romantic interaction, was the world-building. You don’t often see trolls in fantasy literature (people tend to think of trolls as ugly) so that was an original twist. I also enjoyed getting to know the land of Tammara and its inhabitants. The story is creative and imaginative.

Lily was my favorite character. She was willing to do anything to save her sisters, and I really admired that.

I would recommend this book to all fantasy of romance and fantasy fiction.

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