My partner, Eric, and I took a road trip to the Olympic peninsula for my birthday. We kept it pretty simple, booked an airbnb, brought a daypack and hiking boots. We planned to keep it low key, walk on the beach and do a day hike at the Hoh National forest. After a quick bathroom break, we got on the trail and like any good couple does, we started in on various controversial topics: politics, sex, life purpose and what it means to be human.
The Hoh Rainforest is an immersion into a Paleolithic era. Drooping moss clings to thick trees, and the air is reminiscent of thick southern summers. The river peeks through the trees as the trail winds further, and I’m caught in this powerful sense of gratitude, a physical churn of wonder at the human experience.
I vocalize this romanticized ideal to Eric, and he replies with a nonchalant shrug. I imagine I narrowed my eyes at him, a look of incredulous intrigue on my face. It makes me wonder how the cogs in his brain turn and what he must think of the floral symbolism that runs through mine. This drug that keeps pulling me back to wild places, the humbling grandeur of nature contrasted with Eric’s quiet indifference and simple joy. I am a scream from the mountaintops, and he is the trail itself, continuously moving a quiet contented step.
After I convinced myself that I wasn’t dating an emotionless sociopath, our conversation veered from romanticized moments to clones and the definition of humanity. With the emergence of head transplants and artificial intelligence capable of beating a four time world poker tour champion, the question becomes even more intriguing.
We take a short detour from the main trail, and I dip my fingers into the rushing river. The cold water laps at my skin, The hot sun and warm air have me smiling as I inhale, and I remember what being alive truly feels like.
Eric has this look that speaks louder than his voice ever does. It’s a slight narrowing of his attentive eyes and tight line of his lips. I’m unable to stand still when he lights me with that stare. It means he sees something that he doesn’t know how to vocalize without making me feel bad, but honestly, it just makes me feel ignorant. I see that look often as we continue this route of conversation.
Well, to answer if clones are human, you have to answer what makes a person human, and what if Artificial Intelligence merges into a reality where human consciousness can be downloaded into an artificial body? Again, that leads us back to what makes us human.
It’s hard to discuss humanity without spiritual undertones, and I personally believe that my consciousness makes me the personal brand of Jordan that I am. Not my body, but the processes of my brain and all the ramblings that happen because of it. Call it a soul or call it consciousness, but that is what I believe. Eric is of a different mindset, lamenting that being human is both a mind body connection. In essence, there is a loss of humanity without the flesh of the body.
Eric is the most realistic person I have ever met, a direct contrast to my idealism, but he is also one of the kindest people I have ever met with a genuine desire to help those he can and work hard to help those he can’t. His liberal view on politics and people juxtapose the scientific realism with which he views the world. Spirituality and higher consciousness hold little merit, and when prompted about his purpose in life, he responded with “biological obligation.”
As a passionate creative with interest in eastern medicine and open to broad spirituality, this was an impossible pill to swallow. It’s still lodged in my throat, causing all kinds of discomfort. How could you possibly motivate your experience on the dispassionate notion of biological obligation?
By this point, we had reached our turn around point, seeing as most of the trails on the Olympic Peninsula are either .6 miles or 60 miles, we had to make our own day hike with 3 miles in and 3 miles out. Moisture beaded across my skin, soaking through my shirt, and Eric had taken to giving me that look again.
“Agree to disagree?” I acquiesced, aware that today was not the day for winning existential arguments.
We made our way back to the trail head, easily meandering over fallen logs and gnarled roots. It was a busy summer day, and we passed several groups with a smile and a well wish for a good day. I was haphazard in my gestures, the majority of my brain busy digesting this notion of humanity and life purpose.
What if Eric’s right, and there is no reason to exist? That could be a liberating notion to some people, but maybe he’s only half right. Maybe there is no one size fits all. Maybe nothing changes if I were to disappear forever, but life should be viewed through both a macro and micro lens. The power to decide is a singular choice, and humanity, purpose, joy, they are all dependent on what you choose to believe.
For me, that’s the vibrancy of an overgrown trail and a beautiful view.
I have been excited for this writing experiment, mainly to see how it would affect my relationship with perfectionism. It’s given me a dedicated opportunity to really dive into why certain feelings of inadequacy come up and how I can move forward in a constructive way.
Honestly, I’ve already failed this challenge if we are going by my original rules.
I missed a day. Barely any of the scenes I’ve been writing include a structure of beginning, middle and end, and I doubt I’ve reached 500 words every day…however, I’m still writing, and for someone who hasn’t touched her first fantasy novel in months, that feels like a success in and of itself.
Perfection does not allow for progress or growth. Perfection implies that you must “arrive” before you even begin the journey, and that’s not only unrealistic, it negates a whole layer of the fun.
So, here’s to “failure” and giving perfectionism a big “fuck you.”
I sat on the edge of the bust stop bench, my shorts riding up and allowing the rubbery plastic to create sweaty indentions in the backs of my thighs. Summer in the South was not nearly as romantic as the books at my public library made it out to be. Where were the singing cicadas, and the late night fireflies? What about my forbidden romance in the back of a pick up truck filled with plush bedding?
Instead I had a front row seat to the homeless man across the street, his scraggly grey beard nearly reaching to his mid-chest where he held a sign that read “Too old to be a stripper.” An unbidden smile crept onto my lips, and I cleared my throat to cover my amusement. Not that it mattered, since I hid behind the curtain of my pin straight black hair.
Traffic raced by, the work release instigating the tidal wave of escapees. Fuck me. You were either begging for scraps on the roadside or locked in the rat race of purgatory. Couldn’t there be a reality, a romantic mundanity that allowed me to live without pandering to the zombies that passed me on the street?
I watched the homeless man tuck another bill into his pocket, no doubt the owner of the white Subaru feeling vindicated as they drove away.
Day 5
She stood on the center stage, behind the most beautiful prize. The long legged blonde with the sultry blue eyes, soft pink lips and tits begging to be fucked. The one behind her was attractive, but unlike the show stopping sex bomb, this one had a sweet beauty woven into the width of her green eyes and the curve of her round face.
Her shoulders were squared. Her body language screamed that she was on the offensive, but her sweet face gave no emotion away. I wanted to wrap my fingers in her auburn hair and drag her face to my cock, but how much was I willing to pay?
I still hadn’t made my decision when she stepped to the front. The bid started at a middle ground as most of these fuckers couldn’t take their heads out of their asses long enough to truly see what stood in front of them. I shook my head, feeling a grin tug at my lips. Fuck them. Their oversight would be my gain.
Without a word, I raised my paddle, challenging the highest bid. A few moments passed and I moved to grab my bag when another voice called a larger price. Frowning, I scanned the crowd, my gaze landing on an unknown man in a clean grey suit, unassuming and easily forgotten. He tipped his head at me, and hot anger flared in my chest.
“$150,000,” I countered, my deep baritone sliding through the quiet room.
Out of my peripheral, I noticed the girl in question snap her attention to me, but my warning glare was locked on the man in the grey suit. He simply raised his hands as if placating a wild creature before he took his seat.
“Going once.”
“Going twice.”
“Sold to Mr. Wershan! Your goods will be packaged and delivered to your room.”
I grabbed my things and made my way through the crowd. I didn’t fight the smug smile that played on my lips, nor did I care to stick around for the rest of the show. I had found what I came for, and I didn’t need to waste anymore time. Alayna Vanderwild was mine.
Day 6
She sat with her back to me, every muscular curve exposed from the tight dress she wore. It dipped low, and my mouth watered at the dimples on the small of her back. I pressed my glass to my lips, hoping to hide my expression behind the oaky wine. It left bitter notes of cacao and cherries on my tongue, doing little to curb my growing appetite for the beautiful woman still oblivious to my gawking.
I cleared my throat as Demetri claimed the stool beside me at the bar, my gaze fluttering over the brunette one more time before landing on him with cold assessment.
“You’re wet,” I observed.
He grumbled something inaudible before slapping a manila folder in front of me.
“I’m well aware.”
I took another sip of my wine, raising a brow at his attitude.
“Alright Mr. Grumpy Pants,” I murmured before turning my attention to the folder.
He snorted, “How old are you again?”
I clucked my tongue as I combed through the pages of missing persons.
“Wow, you really are in a mood today,” I grinned, “So, what’s her name?”
Amusement quirked my lips but before Demetri could mutter some sarcastic retort, I interrupted.
“Oh wait,” I sighed, leveling him with my signature dazzling smile, “I don’t care.”
The bartender chose that moment to stop in front of Demetri who ordered a scotch neat and a pint of Guiness. I rolled my eyes at him, closing the folder.
“You know it’s never as good as it is in Dublin, and you order it anyway only to complain the entire time about hot it isn’t as good as it is back home. Why?”
Demetri swallowed the scotch in one gulp, licking his lips and leveling me with his dark green eyes.
“I do it mostly because you always look so sexy when you’re irritated.”
I narrowed my eyes on him, leaning back to take in his rumpled brown coat and hastily buttoned blue shirt. His shaggy black hair was damp, and the longer pieces were plastered to the side of his face. His beard was shorter than the last time I’d seen him, more of a several day scruff. I honestly wanted to know what the hell he’d been up to.
“How many times do I need to remind you that I’m the one doing you a favor,” I sighed, “It’s like you’re actively trying to piss me off.”
He wiped at his face, and sighed, “I know Kat, and I appreciate it. Old habits die hard though.”
Before I could vocalize my jaded retort, he forged ahead, tapping the manila folder.
“Thirteen missing people from the age of six to fifty-three. Men, woman, non-binary. All different races and nationalities. The only link we’ve been able to find is that they all went missing in Atlanta over the 4th of July weekend.”
I catalogued his words before following up with my disbelief in the significance of this case.
“And you’ve definitely ruled out sex trafficking?” I questioned, “I mean, Atlanta is a big hub for it.”
I wasn’t trying to sound callous, especially with young children involved, but if this turned out to be something along those lines, the local law enforcement should be handling it and not Demetri or myself.
“Come on Kat,” He smiled, his grin turning into a grimace as he took another sip of his beer, “Would I be asking for your help if it was that easy?”
There was a moment of silence while I waited for him to remember.
“It was one time!” He argued, “You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?”
“Probably not,” I smirked, rolling my eyes as his bottom lip drooped.
“Oh god, fine,” I huffed, “I’ll see what patterns I can find and let you know if there’s any excessive abnormalities.”
Demetri nodded at my coded language, leaving a $50 bill next to his half full pint. He got to his feet.
“Thanks. I’ll be waiting to hear from you, but now I’ve got to get going.”
“What?” I teased, “Got a hot date?”
“Something like that,” he winked before sauntering over to the sexy brunette.
“No fucking way,” I muttered as he tapped her on the shoulder.
I watched as they embraced like old friends, and she let him throw an arm over her hsoulders. I took in her full figure for the first time. I’d guess she was polish with her brown almond shaped eyes and small mouth painted a dark maroon. Her gaze passed right over me, dimming my view of her sex appeal, but Demetri still shot me a knowing self entitled grin before he followed her out the front door.
Which day has been your favorite so far? Which do you want to know more about?
The goal is to challenge my perfectionism and actually finish something that I start. While I’m not thoroughly impressed with the writing for today, I am happy to have day 2 in the books and another 500 creative words written down.
Day 2
Lightning whips across the sky, and I hold my breath, counting the seconds until a rumble of thunder follows. Fifteen seconds. Air whistles through my teeth and I fasten the buckles on the front of my pack, pulling them taut so the straps sit snug against my shoulders.
“Bad weather’s only 3 miles away, Luke,” I mutter to the white shepherd that’s been my adventure companion for the last six years.
His knowing eyes assess me as he tilts his head, absorbing my words. Tail thumping against the dry earth, he jumps to attention as I start making my way back down the canyon. Even Luke looks hesitant as we traverse the loose shale, and with the storm, we aren’t moving fast enough.
The arches disappear as I make my way back down into the gorge. From there it’s only another eight miles back to my truck, but another streak of lightning followed by an angry rumble of thunder has me cursing myself. Proper preparation is how you stay alive in the back country.
I can hear my uncle’s deep baritone reprimanding me now. He’d roll his steel grey eyes half hidden by the brim of his cowboy hat before crossing his arms and waiting for me to fix my mistakes. Three years of working on his ranch in southern Utah, and I was still a city girl in his eyes.
“Guess he’s right,” I mumble as Luke darted ahead of me, “If I can’t even make an overnight trip without getting swept in a flash flood.”
Another crack and groan echo in the narrow gorge as the sky opens up. Rain pelts down on us, turning the dusty trail into a stream of slick sludge. The mud gifts Luke brown boots, and despite the shuddering fear building in my chest, I snort a laugh.
“Guess if we down, we went out laughing,” I yell over the rain.
I have never been so grateful for walking sticks, and I utilize their stability with every step. Rocks that hadn’t been there before trip me up, and I can barely see three feet ahead. A garbled yelp has my head whipping around, and my wet braid smacks against my face.
“Luke,” I call, squinting my eyes as I search the torrential downpour.
Hysteria ratchets my voice an octave, and I scream his name again. On the third shriek, a muddy shepherd emerges from the trail ahead. Kneeling in a pool of water, I inspect Luke for injuries, reprimanding him for getting too far from me. He just watches with those amber eyes, imploring upon me teachings I will never hear.
Once satisfied that Luke is okay, we hurry along the trail, a prayer to the heavens on my lips. Slipping and sliding through the muck, Luke’s coat becomes a beacon of light leading me forward. I’m so focused on my feet that I don’t realize we’ve stumbled out of the gorge until Luke’s yip grounds me. Relief unlike any I’ve ever known fills my chest, and I smile as I take in my beat up old Toyota and the man in the cowboy hat running towards me.
All of my writing sessions start with inspiration or brainstorming of some kind. Whether that’s scrolling through Pinterest or having a weird dream, something prompts the gears to turn and the itch of a story to begin.
I recently had a dream about holes all over my body, deep wounds the size of a quarter that showed layers of tissue all the way down to the bone. They weren’t oozing or bloody, but I do remember the pain when trying to move. This prompted a weird set of song lyrics to pop out of my brain, but maybe it could be a starting point for a story?
I’ve got holes in my body, I’ve got holes
Seeing blood and bone, cause they are throwin’ stones
But I don’t need your hope, cause I know my own soul
I’ve also been dealing with a depressive slump, vacillating between contentment with the process and hopelessness that I’m trying for nothing. Maybe writing a little story about someone going through this emotional process would be cathartic? It would lend itself to some floral writing which is also a favorite of mine. (Sorry, not sorry.)
The smoke weighs heavily over the golden fields. Sunlight killing our crops as we inhale the consequence of wildfires in the West. My fingers tap an absent beat against the faux leather couch, while my leg vibrates against the floor. I huff a sigh, before pulling my knees to my chest, and the clock on the wall gets louder. Do something. Do nothing. You care. It doesn’t matter.
Maybe I’m looking at this the wrong way and I should figure out the story I want to tell. I need a beginning, middle and end, so maybe I should write a fable? I always enjoy needless world building anecdotes…but that also sounds a little stressful.
Draft
An ache formed in the back of my throat, and my chest burned from the building pressure. My jagged nails dug into my palms as I clenched my fists, but I still wouldn’t cry. I refused, and if there was anything my righteous mother left me before the devil claimed her soul, it was unwavering conviction.
“Go on, Jules?” Ryleigh taunted, “Show us how weak you really are.”
Weak? I thought to myself. I wasn’t weak. I was spitting mad, and fighting unconsciousness. Adrenaline and all the other fight or flight hormones we learned about in biology were rushing through me as I fought off the pain.
“Give her one more,” Sherri sighed with an air of detachment.
I shivered, and I couldn’t tell if it was from the numbness in Sherri’s green eyes or the switchblade that Ryleigh reopened. Blood trickled down my forearms from the shallow scratches that had already been painted down my arms. (Bood wouldn’t do that for a shallow wound.)
Fire raced across my bare arms and legs, streaks of dried blood covering my limbs. There was only one slash across the inner part of my bicep that had been deep enough to make me worry, but the bleeding had slowed. It couldn’t be too bad, even if I was starting to feel light headed.
I didn’t move as jerked against the zip ties binding my wrists and ankles as Ryleigh crept forward. Blood filled my mouth as I bit down on my tongue. Physical pain I could handle. Allowing any shred of satisfaction to wash over Sherri’s deadened expression was unacceptable.
“Where should this one go?” Ryleigh questioned, dragging the flat of the blade across my throat.
“Not her face,” Sherri reminded, uncrossing her legs so she could face us directly, “Her face is too pretty.”
Something reminiscent of relief bubbled inside my chest, and I couldn’t catch the garbled scoff that fell from my lips. Intrigue flashed across Ryleigh’s face, and I sucked in a breath before his hand wrapped around my throat.
“So you do remember how to speak,” He squeezed harder.
My body thrashed as a weight expanded, my lungs demanding oxygen. I was dying, but at least momma would be waiting for me in hell. Black dots danced across my eyes, the visage of Ryleigh’s freckled face wavering as I started to pass out.
My senses fled me. Sound became an expansive roar, and a painful numbness was all that was left of my body. The last thought I remember having was how angry I was that Ryleigh’s dumb face was the last thing I would see, but I’d take his unabashed anger over Sherri’s cold calculation.
How many times had I brushed my lips over her pale skin? Ran my fingers through her thick red hair? The happiness of the past was almost more painful than the realization that I was going to die. The pressure on my throat eased enough for a sip of air that had my lungs burning, begging for me.
Ryleigh’s lips brushed against me ear, but I didn’t hear the words he said before hot pain ripped across my throat and everything went black.
What do you think? Do you want to join me for this challenge, or does it seem impossible?
This enemies to lovers story starts out with our MC’s reputation shredded by a crime she didn’t commit. After being sent away by her rich daddy who has investments and financial ties in big places, she returns to her hometown to find three sexy-as-sin men are living in her father’s house, under her father’s rule, but nothing is quite as it seems. Madison Kate soon realizes these boys are more entwined in her life than she could have imagined, but she’s not sure even their lies are enough to keep her away.
Contemporary. New Adult. Rivaling Gangs. Stalker Mystery.
I started this series out via audiobook, and the narrator is just wonderful. Her intonation is perfect, and she does a wonderful job of adding to Madison Kate’s personality. Definitely recommend this as an audiobook read!
The characters are sexy as hell, and each of the bad boys are really singular in their personalities. I really felt a different connection between each of them, and hot damn does the tension between Archer and Madison just keep the fire flaring throughout the series. The sexy SCENES are also A+ enjoyable, and I really feel that lusty fire of being 19. All the yes!
The plot is engaging and the subtle breadcrumbs of information motivate the desire to know more. There were many times when I laughed aloud, cursed or made otherwise grunt-y noises of disdain because of all the feels this book brings.
If you’re looking for a sexy new adult with “big dick energy” male characters and a sassy MC to knock them all down a peg (or try) then you should TOTALLY check this series out.
I’ve been planning this recommendation list for a while, thinking it would be easy to scour the internet in search of awesome reverse harem romances with older main characters. Let me tell you, it’s been a journey, and most on this list are TBRs. A few are DNFs and a couple are winners.
Leaving my husband was hard. Trying to face the world alone with my teenage daughter is the sort of thing nightmares are made of, but I caught a break. My best friend just hired me for a great job. It’s not anything special, simply managing the leasing office of this very fancy and highly exclusive neighborhood, yet the perks mean I get my second chance.
Speaking of perks, my rent-free house is right beside not just one handsome man, but five! Each one is hotter than the last, and all of them seem interested in me. Maybe I can’t remember the last date I was on, but if I want to master being a strong woman, then this is a good place to start. It’s just dating, right? Normal life stuff.
Not so much.
Everyone around us has these strange golden eyes. Then there are the questions no one will answer. And who cares if there’s a lot of wildlife running around at night? I do, especially when a wolf keeps sneaking into my backyard. I have a kid to worry about. Things have got to change before someone gets bitten!
Normal is going out the window, and fast. My neighbors say I don’t belong here, and they don’t mean because I’m Hispanic. Never mind that I just heard a man growl. Now they’re talking about fated somethings, and I’m pretty sure they mean me.
I feel like I’m going crazy!
Because when I said I wanted to learn how to be strong, this wasn’t what I meant at all. Still, when it comes to taking care of my little girl, I will definitely learn how to be the biggest bitch on the block.
I just hope that doesn’t become literal.
Review: 5 Stars. The parent perspective of a YA Shifter Romance, add in sexy shifter dudes who want the 40yr old MC, and you’ve got a really enjoyable story. Artful sexy scenes imo!!!
She’s an Andinna. A member of the winged, horned, and tailed warrior race that the Elvasi Empire defeated in the Hundred Year War and then enslaved. She’s a slave, and has been one for a thousand years, the personal property of the Empress of the Elvasi Empire, since the end of the War. She’s a gladiator, thrown onto the sands of the Colosseum to die, though it backfired on those who wanted her dead. She’s the Champion of the Colosseum, and has been for roughly nine hundred years.
All of these things have marked her as an outcast among her own people. Hated, distrusted, and despised, she knows the name of her people, but not much else.
But she knows where she stands. Keeping her head down and her blades sharp has carried her this far, and she refuses to acknowledge the deepest wishes she holds in her heart. Those will only get her killed.
Alone, she’s stood against everything they have ever thrown at her, refusing to give them what they want.
What Mave doesn’t know is that it’s all about to change.
Review: 4 Stars. A High Fantasy with ALL THE WORLD BUILDING YOUR HEART COULD DESIRE wrapped up with a 1004 year old warrior female, and her fight to get out of slavery. VERY VERY VERY slow burn, but the world building is incredible. I forgive a lot of things for world building. I’m not normally one for men that are “submissive,” but this author does it well. Very enjoyable!
For thirty-year-old, Katherine Logan, that’s an easy choice. Eli has always been there for her, and even though he is her best friend, she can’t help but want the sexy as sin veteran. Chance has her camping at the start of the Appalachian Trail, when all hell breaks loose. As if the dead walking around eating people weren’t bad enough, throw in two hot hikers, and Katherine’s world gets flipped upside down. Now she doesn’t know if she will survive the Apocalypse, or if the three guys that have become her sole companions, will steal her heart. One thing is for certain, the trail has never been so hot!
Why DNF? I really wanted to like this, but the writing and language used was somewhat juvenile and lacked the feeling of a completed manuscript.
A world of vampires, magic, and mind-blowing sex that she could never have dreamed was possible.
Caught between five powerful vampires, she is trapped between the strength of their hands, the fire in their touch, and the ache in her skin for the thrust of their teeth.
She is the key to their survival, and for the four she denies, their lives will be forfeit.
Can she find a way to save them all, and place her heart in the hands of the one whose soul resonates with her own, and still finish that damn book she’s got a deadline for?
Why DNF? Too much sex and not enough character or plot. Could be the perfect thing if that’s what you’re looking for though!
You know that bitch from hell everybody talks about? That’s me. I mean that literally.
I was born in the seventh circle of Hell to two demons of noble lineage. Know what that means? Squat. My brimstone birth certificate and five bucks might get me a cup of coffee from Starbucks. The minute I was born, they handed me off to a wet nurse, sent me to earth, and left me to fend for myself. I suppose, I should thank them. They taught me at an early age that there is nothing in either world more important than self-sufficiency.
To survive, I needed money. So, naturally, I became a stripper.
Don’t judge, it paid the bills. A lot of them. And it provided a solution to my particular dietary requirements. I’m a succubus. We eat lust for breakfast. And lunch. And dinner. What better place to get it than a seedy, smoke-filled bar full of horndogs shoving dollar bills in your thong?
Life was good.
Then, I met Ryan and fell in love. He knew what I was and loved me anyway. I loved him so much that we got married and I gave him twin children. And then he died.
And left me alone.
Okay, not completely alone. He left me two kids to raise and a crippling sense of loss.
So, I did what any demon would do, I loaded up the kids and moved a thousand miles to start a new life. Now, my Hell is in suburbia and the most evil things in my life are my home owners’ association and the PTA. Maybe it wasn’t too late to go back to Hell.
Predictions: 3 to 4 stars? Sounds comedic, but could go either way if the language used is too YA.
Sean’s a genius. Not that he brags about it. An eminent criminologist, he rules his particular roost. More than just at work. At home too. See, back in college, Sean met four other guys. All geniuses, crazy prodigies who were going to set the world alight with their brilliance… They did. Nobel Prizes, Pulitzer Prizes… These guys collect awards like they’re baseball cards. One thing they don’t collect are notches on their bedpost. With all five of them so crazy busy, it just made sense to share a girl. After all, women are high maintenance, and with their careers, high maintenance is something they can’t afford. A household of six was the suggestion, and it’s worked for them ever since. Well, it would if they could find someone to fill the gap in their lives. In comes their sexy new housekeeper, Sascha Dubois. An American ex-pat in London, this chick has no problem with setting these guys’ worlds on fire. In the bedroom and out of it. Only trouble is, Sascha’s not like any woman they’ve ever met. They can charm her into their life, but can they keep her? Find out in Charmed by Them.
Predictions: If I’m in the right mindset, I think this will be a light hearted good time, but it sounds like it’s going to be more of a traditional romance with far reaching plot lines and a lot of sex. Who knows?
Five years ago, my world was turned upside down when my husband and sons disappeared without a trace. I mourned, I searched, and when I got no answers, I began to prepare. Nobody would catch me vulnerable again.
I was wrong to think my life couldn’t get any crazier. Now there’s two vampires at my door telling me my missing family wasn’t human…and neither am I.
I have a chance to regain everything I’ve lost. But first, I have to find the truth about my heritage. All while fighting the overwhelming attraction I have for my missing husband’s best friends.
No matter what, my mourning is done. My life is in my control again. And I will burn the world to the ground to get my family back.
Predictions: 5 Stars! I love a good revenge story, and while this book may hit on some cliches, I’m hoping it hits all the right levels of sexy/tension/and character development!
My dream of becoming prima ballerina is dead. Dropped by the Royal Ballet, I return home to my empty house in Cornwall with nothing but ghosts, and memories of a past I am desperate to forget. It takes months of depression before I pull myself out of the bleakness and attempt to start living again. With a new job as an assistant to the wealthy but elusive Sachov family, I find myself caught up in a tangled web of desire, pain and sexual awakening that will either destroy me entirely or bring me back to life. My name is Rose, and I am their muse.
Predictions:3-5 Stars? This is going to be a dark one, and its a contemporary, which I don’t normally gravitate to…I dunno how this one is going to go, but I’m keeping an open mind.
The Wild Hunt. Six disparate Fae warriors on the chase. An unruly, desperate target with weapons beyond teeth and claws who will give them the fight of their lives.
That’s me.
I had been drowning with my head above water when they dragged me kicking and screaming to be reborn in their world. My razor wit couldn’t cut them. My fleet feet couldn’t outrun them. They stripped my glamour and peeled away the shadows hiding me.
Now, I had no escape from their famished stares.
Eloden burns to touch me. Orin mesmerizes my mind. Falin nibbles at my control. Aeric tempts me to take a sweet, forbidden taste. Kheelan chips at my frozen heart. And Dain binds them in darkness come to claim nothing less than my soul.
I have to resist.
If I keep my head down, shuffle along and never look ahead, then I can blend back in with the herd. Eventually, the colour will bleed from the skies until my grey world is safe again. I won’t remember what it was like to dream my hopes or miss the promise in a kiss.
There are no happy endings.
Damnation is my ever after.
Predictions: 5 Stars! I hope! I love fae stories, especially with domineering males, and this harem sounds like my favorite kind of messed up. (lol) Super stoked and excited to see if this book can live up to my high hopes.
I recently took a deep dive into the aesthetic known as Dark Academia, and boy did I fall in love with the pretentious white boy nostalgia of prep schools in castles and muted tones of old libraries. In the spirit of Dark Academia, I came up with this Reverse Harem TBR of Academy Romances. Enjoy!
See, I kind of kissed this sexy man at the bar on a dare once, and it turns out he’s a Royal Fae destined to be my mate. Now I’ve been dragged to the Elemental Fae Academy to control the powers I unlocked that night.
So kissing? Yeah, that won’t happen again. Nope.
Lesson learned.
Except, I kind of kissed Titus, too. And well, now, I’m in a world of trouble. I keep burning things down, flooding dorms, and I’ve attracted the campus mean girl brigade.
This Fae Realm is a nightmare come to life. Truly.
But there are dreams here, too.
Sexy ones.
And they’re in the form of five Elemental Fae mentors. They’re supposed to help me control my powers, but who’s going to keep the elements from controlling me?
Predictions: 3 stars. Probably YA language but a fun story with stereotypical characters. Thinking an easy and enjoyable ride.
My name is Tamsin Vale and my life is about to get real… Really complicated and ridiculously dangerous. Which is almost funny given at nineteen I already know too much of the darkness of the world and people, the secrets they keep.
Or so I thought.
Turns out those quirky abilities I’ve been keeping secret expose me to a world I didn’t know existed. Sure, I knew I wasn’t human—but how exactly do I find out more without ending up in the wrong hands?
And I’m not so sure I’m in the right hands now given some of the reactions to finding me. They say I’m the last fairy. I’m not sure I should trust them when their thoughts are mostly of power and how to use me.
But I’m also not sure I have much of a choice. My powers are dangerous and I don’t know how to use them. They promise to teach me what I need to know and give me a chance at something I’ve never had before.
A normal life. I don’t think anything about Artemis University and those who attend is normal, but it’s still better than the life I’ve been living if they keep half their promises.
I think hoping they’ll keep half is generous.
Predictions: 3 stars. Probably cliche badass MC, but I’ll be a sucker for the harem and sexy scenes.
“It is our pleasure to inform you that you have been granted a place at Vice College for Young Demons… It is our duty to remind all students that your attendance is government mandated and enforced.”
Vice College for Young Demons; It’s beautiful, elitist and filled to the brim with other demons Lilith’s age. All of them are stuck there waiting for the ten seconds of agony, called the Showing, that will sort them into one of the seven castes. And they’re all praying that they aren’t one of the unlucky few destined to be one of the powerless Unshown.
But when Lilith’s Showing happens, the crystal that appears on her body marks her as a degenerate Lust demon. And the icing on the cake? She grows horns.
Demons don’t grow horns. It’s supposed to just be a myth. But Lilith has, and in doing so she’s caught the eye of some powerful people who want her dead. Fortunately, she’s also got the attention of the Strange God, the demonic deity, and he’s decided to appoint seven men to protect her…
If she can find them first…
Predictions: 4 Stars. Hoping its a unique take, and demons! Something I haven’t read too much about in the RH sphere.
Okay, maybe you can. Maybe it’s your dream to get tackled by a heaping helping of beefcake; hopelessly pinned beneath them, at the mercy of multiple sets of hands and lips and eyes trapping you and demanding attention. Me? I just want to make it through the day without doing too much damage.
Tornados, sinkholes, lightning strikes, explosions, a drain pipe full of bees… I’ve been there though them all. But it’s not my fault!
You see, I’m cursed to always be cursed. Somebody wants to get revenge on you when I’m in town? Well TOUGH LUCK because they’re getting revenge on me instead! Thank you for that weekend of all-foods-are-extra-spicy, unknown stranger. No, that’s okay, person-who-tried-to-make-someone-else-unable-to-wear-clothes-ever-again, I don’t mind a fine breeze between my lady bits. And to you, asshole casserole who tried to literally kill me last week? Well… you can get bent. That’s honestly just rude.
Usually my curse comes with a side of disaster, and after really, really hurting more than one person… well… I’ve been on a never-ending, cross-country, don’t-look-back-just-keep-on-running-away tour for pretty much forever. Sure, it’s lonely, but never setting down roots means never getting caught, or killed. At least I’ve got my furry best friend Aria-don’t know what I’d do without her.
Per usual, my hotel just happened to burn down this morning so it looks like I’d best get to gettin’ while the gettin’s still good, ya get it? Just one itsy-bitsy-teensie-weensie-purple-haired-and-no-bikini problem…. I may have accidentally sort of kind of tied myself to those hunks I mentioned earlier and may or may not literally be unable to go anywhere without at least one of them. Oops! And maybe I sort of kind of like them enough to not want them to get murdered in my superstorm of chaos. Double oops.
Sigh. Friggin’ Tuesdays, am I right?
Predictions: 4-5 Stars? Sounds like one of my fave RH MC’s…Willa Knight from Curse of the Gods. I love that clumsy goofball, and I’m hoping this will be the same goofy, silly and sexy fun.
Abandoned as a child and unable to remember her past, Morgan was raised as a hunter, one of an elite group of fighters sworn to protect humans from the dangerous paranormal creatures who invade our world…creatures such as herself. Her life changes the day she’s summoned to the Academy of Assassins, a school that trains witches and hunters to eradicate paranormals who prey on humans. Her first assignment—find and eliminate the killer who is using the Academy as their own personal hunting ground.
As Morgan delves deeper into the investigation, she will need to dodge assassination attempts, avoid the distraction of romantic entanglements with the devilishly handsome security expert, Kincade, and his maddeningly overprotective teammates, while keeping the volatile magic in her blood concealed from those who would use it for their own purposes. When the danger increases and the school is threatened, Morgan must unearth her missing memories before someone finishes the job they started so long ago—killing her and unleashing a plague that will consume the world.
Predictions: 4 Stars. I have a soft spot for assassin stories. I’m just hoping this isn’t too over-the-top ridiculous. Fingers crossed!
As the daughter of Dracula, you would think I’d be born the perfect monster.
You couldn’t be more wrong.
As far as monsters go, I’m a screw up—if I’m not tripping over my own feet, I’m accidentally murdering someone (it’s a real issue, guys).
Left with no choice, Dad decides to send me to Prodigium—otherwise known as Monster Academy—to train me on how to be a better monster.
When bodies turn up on campus, I’m the prime suspect (not that I can blame them. I’ll be pretty suspicious too if bodies drained of blood show up right after Dracula’s daughter arrives).
With the help of my mortal-nemesis Vin, Van Helsing’s son
Frankie, Frankenstein’s son
Mason, Medusa’s son
And Jack (sometimes Hux), Dr. Jekyll’s son
I might have a chance of uncovering the truth.
If I’m not murdered first.
The struggles of being a vampire, am I right?
Predictions: 3 Stars. I want to love Katie May. I really do, but I haven’t been a fan of the few books I’ve read of hers. I’m trying again though…hoping for comedic and not stupid.
I just found out that I’m a supernatural and now I’m attending Redwood Supernatural University. With its magic and mix of beings from myth and legend, I’m definitely not in the human world anymore.
But not everything is picture perfect. I have the Bitch Crew that are determined to get rid of me, a guy that’s hell-bent on teaching me a lesson, and my past haunting me in my dreams.
It’s not all bad though; I have my quirky roommate Sadie and six guys who seem intent on keeping me around.
I got this…hopefully.
Predictions: 3 Stars. Definitely gonna be a mindless brain candy kind of read, but I’ll probably enjoy the fluff.
Unfortunately, not all people from magical bloodlines have powers, and at 22, I’m several years past the age they usually appear. So I’ve resigned myself to a boring, magic-less life.
Then something strange happens…
I get stuck in the middle of a bar fight, and instead of just punching the guy back, I blow a hole in the wall.
So… I guess I do have powers. But they’re unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. This shit is definitely not normal.
And it seems the magical authorities agree, because they give me a choice: either I go to school to learn to control my crazy new magic, or they’ll take it away. Permanently.
Now if I can just survive the bitchy mean girls determined to take me down a peg, the mysterious attacks on students, the three hot-as-hell guys who don’t seem turned off by my prickly exterior, and the professor who makes me long for detention, maybe I’ll get out of here in once piece.
Wouldn’t bet on it though.
Predictions: 4 Stars. I feel like the sexy scenes are gonna be spicy and delicious. lol
…and mine could bring this mysterious academy to its knees.
Many have forgotten my name. Magenta: the wicked witch whose dark magic created the Rebel Academy — a secret magic jail for supernatural bad boys. But now I’m back and eager to claim the love and life that was stolen from me, even if first I have to survive the start of term.
My enemies trapped me as a ghost on the very cursed grounds that I helped to create. Yet thanks to three deliciously tempting immortals, I’ve been awakened. One is a beautiful incubus who hungers for pleasure. The next a gorgeous shifter-mage who always senses the truth but enjoys his lies far more. Oh, and who could ever forget Loki’s hot trickster son?
Why choose between these sexy delinquents when having them all is such sinful fun?
The immortals risked everything to free me, and I’ll stop at nothing to protect them from the elitist princes who rule the reform school. Will my bond with the magical students and new friendships be enough to battle the dangerous rivalries, as well as the cruel professors’ schemes?
Or will I be forced back into the darkness…
Predictions: This has been on my TBR for a second. Not sure why I haven’t read it yet…excited to see if the plot is as good as it sounds.
The demigods can’t decide if they want to screw me or kill me!
My name is Marigold. I’m a hunter living in the Great Merge – Lucifer has brought Hell to half of Earth, and four demigods rule the other half…
The smoking-hot Demigod of War, round up my team to enroll them in Half-blood Academy, aka Half-death Academy; due to the survival rate of the students….
When he sees me, he wants no one else but me. So he offers to spare my team if I go in their place. Problem is, no human outside the bloodline of the gods can survive the magic trials. The demigod insists I’m anything but human, and he’s willing to risk my life to find out what I’m made of…
I’m not the weakest link, even though all the bullies in the Academy mock me. I’m nothing anyone has ever seen before, and when my forbidden power awakens, the demigods will regret they ever tried to make me their bitch!
Predictions: 4 Stars. Thinking the plot is gonna be a bit more involved and will make up for a so-so harem. Who knows…
Magick is real. It’s also highly illegal—not that I’m worried about that.
Sure, I heal faster than most, and I’ve got a sixth sense for brewing tea that can fix just about any problem, but my café isn’t exactly a hotbed of paranormal activity.
At least it wasn’t… until some psycho attacked me and woke up the freaky, forbidden magick inside, earning me a one-way ticket to jail.
Now, a covert magickal university is offering me a deal: my freedom in exchange for help with the Tarot prophecies—cryptic predictions they believe hold the key to stopping a deadly apocalyptic plot.
Predictions only I can decipher.
Because the witch who divined them? She died years ago.
I should know. She was my mother.
Grab your grimoires, girls. Magick school’s officially in session.
Predictions: 5 Stars. I’m in a witchy mood, and I think the world building in this is going to tickle my fancy.
This is just one incredible series by these authors. It’s not reverse harem, but its such a whirlwind of enemies to lovers to forbidden love and oh so much feels!!!! Def check it out!
Living in the Northwest has afforded a different view of Autumn, and she is a much shorter window with Winter hot on her heels. All this to say is that I already feel like I haven’t had nearly enough cozy Fall days with bread baking and colorful hikes. However, my October reading was full of atmospheric feels and spooky emotional rides.
The leaves were cold and slightly clammy. There was no mistaking them. She had seen their likeness painstakingly sketched in her father’s journal. This was his greatest secret, his treasure and his undoing. The Tree of Lies. Now it was hers, and the journey he had never finished stretched out before her.
When Faith’s father is found dead under mysterious circumstances, she is determined to untangle the truth from the lies. Searching through his belongings for clues, she discovers a strange tree. A tree that feeds off whispered lies and bears fruit that reveals hidden secrets.
But as Faith’s untruths spiral out of control, she discovers that where lies seduce, truths shatter…
Review:5 Stars. This was beautifully written. Every turn of phrase felt like a visual art piece. I am a sucker for gorgeous prose that paints a full bodied image. The story itself was engaging, and I enjoyed the small moments of a young girl going against the expectations of the time period. Loved!
The Advanced Reader Copy courtesy of Reedsy by Discovery.
Being the new witch in town isn’t what it’s cracked up to be! Lily is settling into her new life in Sweet Briar, Georgia, fixing up her art studio and trying to stay out of trouble. But it looks like trouble finds her anyway in the form of one irate librarian named Edith Plank. When Lily’s great-grandmother passively antagonizes Edith over her draconian rules at the village library, and her bully tactics over her hapless assistant Martha, Lily gets drawn into the hullaballoo.
Things go from bad to worse when Edith winds up dead under the very aged wood boards Lily chose to build shelving in her new studio. Needing to clear her name and Martha’s, Lily goes on another sleuthing mission with her cousin Andrea and other members of her family and friends. Throw in mysterious happenings at the local watering hole where Sweet Briar residents would cool off in the hot summer months and the appearance of an enigmatic feline, and Lily has her hands full trying to solve another mystery and keep her cool as her dark witch abilities seem to be getting her deeper and deeper in the very trouble she has been trying to avoid.
Review: 3 Stars. My Big Fat Greek Wedding if it was about Italian witches in Georgia, and there’s a mystery to uncover instead of a wedding…Follow this link for my full review on Reedsy.
Halloween night, one year ago, I sold my soul to the devil. Complete with a blood rite and everything. I had less than nothing. He promised me the world.
And then he disappeared, taking my heart with him.
But now, he’s the one with everything to lose. A family. A name. A reputation.
I’ve still got nothing, but I’m clawing my way to the top, one body at a time.
This Halloween, things are going to be different. This Halloween, ‘Lilith’ is coming to take what’s hers.
Review: 4 Stars. Really dark contemporary with an emotional roller coaster of tragic characters and toxic relationships. I freakin loved it….what is wrong with me?! lol
When offered a position at the obscure Grimmstead Academy, I jump on it. It’s not that I’m running from my past, it’s just…well, some things are better left forgotten.
An academy for lost souls and criminals? Not exactly what I signed up for, but as I’m about to learn, once you step within the halls of Grimmstead, you can never leave. As the days wear on, I find out that no one is innocent here. Not me, not the ruggedly attractive headmaster, and certainly not its dangerous, handsome students.
Me coming to Grimmstead was like a lamb running into a den of lions, only these lions are just as likely to attack each other as they are me. Mysteries lie within the heart of Grimmstead Academy, and I just might be the key to it all.
The walls of Grimmstead are painted with three things.
Depravity.
Insanity.
And blood.
If you can’t trust your own mind, who can you trust?
Review:Creepy. Anticipatory dread. Questioning reality and wanting to know more. The first book in this series really hit the right chord, but the second book fell a little flat. Still an awesome read, and definitely recommend to anyone looking for an insane asylum type dark-er RH romance.
I’m not all that special, really. Or uncommon. I’m sure there are a lot of girls with old gypsy blood who see the dead, have killer cults hunting their family, and turn into something that gets scary when they panic. Yep. Completely unoriginal, if I do say so myself. Move along. Nothing to see here. Nope. I’m just an ordinary girl.
I wish people would believe that.
I’ve been labeled as one thing or another for most of my life: Death Girl. Crazy Gypsy Girl. Gothic Chick. Monster…
It took my mother’s death for me to finally start getting answers about what’s really been going on. Unfortunately, most of the answers come from men…who aren’t just men. Somehow, I’ve gone and landed myself in a world truly filled with monsters, and I’m starting to think this is where I should have been all along.
Only…I don’t understand what’s going on. I’m walking into the middle of a story that’s thousands of years old, and I’m the new girl on the block who doesn’t have a clue how this world even works. My only guides happen to be the most lethal of the bunch.
They decide who lives or dies. They decide who gets stabbed or tortured. Yeah…
I’ve gone and drawn attention to myself, and the ones paying attention are the ones everyone else seems to fear.
How do these things always happen to me?
Review: 5 Stars. OHMYGOD this series! Holy freakin’ roller coaster! The MC is such a lovable contradiction and refreshing take on a strong female character. I absolutely adore her through the entire series. The harem of guys are pretty solid, and there are some major swoon worthy moments from Arion, the vampire (but that’s my own bias lol). The story line, the sexy scenes, the relationship dynamics. It was all incredibly wonderful, and I recommend to any monster loving reverse harem romance fan.
The only thing worse than suddenly waking up in a magical house with the insanely gorgeous Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse? Being the Fifth.
With no memory of who I am, where I came from, or what I’m doing here, I’m thrust into a new life with four people who I might want more from than just friendship. But with no past, how can I possibly plan for a future?
The only clue as to who I am? Four different species’ magic resides within me—Vampire, Fae, Shifter, and Witch—and between them, I might be the most powerful creature on the planet.
For fuck’s sake.
Review: 5 Stars. If you’re looking for a gender and sexually fluid Reverse Harem with wonderful relationship dynamics, you will absolutely LOVE this book as much as I did.
I have a story to tell you but it’s not your average fairy tale. My story? It’s wrought with violence. Strewn with blood. Dominated by desire. My stepmother, the evil queen, hates me. She wants me dead but hasn’t killed me yet. At her insistence, a never ending line of repugnant suitors tries for my hand, but when I decline each and every one of them, the evil queen punishes me…severely. She will stop at nothing until I’m sold or dead. As she grows insane with power and my death seems imminent, something unexpected happens. I see a ‘lurker.’ They come to me in my dreams, touch me, taste me. Even though I’ve never met them outside of my mind, I begin to crave them. Stories have been passed down in the town of Riverwood about creatures of legend, kings given the power to wield the seven deadly sins. They tell me they want me, they claim that I belong to them. As I fall deeper into sin, they become mine as much as I am theirs. What will happen if I submit to their desires? Will I transform into the very weapon I seek, harnessing their power for my own or will I find myself lost in their seduction? The evil queen might kill me first. But I’ve made a vow to my people; to take back my stolen throne while bathing in her blood.
REVIEW: Pros: A++ Sexy Scenes, like seriously so enjoyable. (Nothing very taboo/dark or unsettling) Cons: Standalone, kinda boring plot but still 4 Stars
Noir Rose, a horror and thriller author, always believed that the fictional monsters that she wrote about were just that – fictional. The true horror of the hideous beasts resided only within the gruesome tales she wrote. She never dreamed that reality could be just as cold and cruel as the monsters writhing inside her mind.
With the mysterious arrival of a personal invitation to a masquerade ball, Noir’s life takes a page out of one of her stories.
The Crows have come home.
Men cloaked in secrets and hidden behind white masks, earning them their chilling nickname the Faceless.
Noir should’ve ran while she had the chance, but the Faceless have set their sights on her. Now that they’ve found her, they’ll never let her go. They’ve waited an eternity for her, intent on using her to save themselves from the dark fate of their cursed immortal lives.
Can Noir find a way to stop her fate being tied to their own? Or will she succumb to their dark desires and break through their black hearts, lifting the curse forever? One thing’s for sure, she won’t come out of this the same person.
Because sometimes there’s beauty in the beasts within.
REVIEW: Pros: Really strong beginning with some suspenseful build up, and a solid ending that leaves happy feels. Cons: Standalone ultra fast burn to the point of no connection with the harem. 3 Stars.
Halloween night, one year ago, I sold my soul to the devil. Complete with a blood rite and everything. I had less than nothing. He promised me the world.
And then he disappeared, taking my heart with him.
But now, he’s the one with everything to lose. A family. A name. A reputation.
I’ve still got nothing, but I’m clawing my way to the top, one body at a time.
This Halloween, things are going to be different. This Halloween, ‘Lilith’ is coming to take what’s hers.
Review: Very sinister and disturbing in a contemporary setting. Awesome read that takes you on an emotional roller coaster.
I don’t know how long I’ve been in this darkness. I don’t know how long I’ve been seeing with eyes that can’t open, speaking from a throat incapable of making sounds. All I have are my thoughts and how weary I’ve grown with nothing else to listen to. Perhaps I am nothing more than a state of mind.
I want to die.
Understanding is slow to arrive but when it does, nothing will ever be the same again. Now, with a form that moves, I uncover the meaning of my existence and the purpose for my extended solitude.
I’m an omega.
A rare breeding mare for the likes of alphas. With the decrease in fertility rates in able omegas, less pups means a crippled society overrun with beta’s. Omega’s, now born sickly and broken, are found wanting in a population steeply dying out. I’m just the beginning of change and by no means the last. Created, not born, I’m slave to the will of my makers … and my mates.
Will I survive or be torn apart by five hungry alphas?
Review: Nope. DNF cause omegaverse ain’t for me. lol
My name is Kat Aleson. My dad named me after Katrina – if you’ve heard the Legend of Sleepy Hollow, you know the one. I didn’t know my dad well, because after he and my mom divorced, I only spent my summers in Sleepy Hollow. But when I get news that my dad is dead, I have to go back.
Sleepy Hollow hasn’t changed. Its people still believe in the legends, and especially the one about crossing that particular bridge. My childhood friend, Bones, is all grown up. The town hero, all muscles and dimples. My childhood crush that I thought was gone? Not so gone after all. And let’s not even talk about Crane, the strange, rich eccentric who was working with my dad until he died.
I’m drawn to them both, almost like fate wants a replay of the legend. Kat torn between her childhood friend and the new man in her life. The only problem is that there’s another part of the equation, and he’s the most dangerous of them all.
The spirits want me, and soon I learn they’ll do anything to have me. I’m the key to this whole thing. Sleepy Hollow will never be the same.
Predictions:3 Stars…At only 26% into the book, I’m intrigued enough to continue but it pales in comparison to just finishing the wild ride that was Kristy Cunning’s All the Pretty Monsters.
Kenzie has lived in Whisperwood since she was a child. She’d fallen into a strange but happy routine that included her best friend and boyfriend, but when he’s fired for inappropriate conduct, Kenzie begins to spiral. Her fixation on the newest resident becomes a welcome distraction but as Halloween approaches, she starts to wonder where Crane’s delusions end and a strange reality begins.
…where the petting zoo gets a little insane.
Crane has always avoided the living at all costs, his job in the morgue only helping his desires. When he runs into a mysterious stranger at a bar one night, his life takes a sudden turn into hell. Now, he’s hearing a mysterious voice and the proper jerk has a fascination with heads. Willingly checking himself into Whisperwood should have been the answer to his problems. Instead, the feisty blonde with a taste for trouble only seems to make his own yearning for blood stronger.
When All Hallows Eve crashes down upon Kenzie and Crane, will they be strong enough to survive the massacre, or will they remain locked within the suffocating walls of Whisperwood Sanitorium?
Predictions: 4 stars! This sounds creepy and weird and oh so wonderful. Super stoked to read this one.
I must marry Sawyer Crescent. The alternative is to be discarded by my clan.
For one year, I’ve prepared myself for my duty.
My unloving parents sent me to Japan. As an albino kitsune with only one tail, I’m seen as a bad omen, and this marriage is the only way I can redeem myself and be loved by my fellow foxes.
The problem?
Sawyer has been scarred by love in his past, and he doesn’t want anything to do with me.
While trying to convince him that we’re both fated to be with each other, I sense a connection with two other men—Carter, the bad boy who has anger management issues, and Nicholas, the calm sage who fought in a war many years ago.
I find out I have three true mates, Sawyer included.
But they’re not making this easy.
It never is.
Predictions: This could go either way…it could be a really awesome shifter romance with mm scenes OR it could be kitschy (lol) and over dramatic…really hoping for the former!
Four years ago, an innocent game led a group of friends into the woods for a night of debauchery.
Two weeks later, one of them was dead.
Now, Natalie Adams wants nothing more than to forget what happened that night—and everything that happened after.
It’s easier said than done when a very public misstep lands her back at Banner-Hill, a place she swore she’d never step foot in again.
And she’s not the only one that’s back.
Logan and Killian are just down the hall, reminding her of everything she’d rather forget. Taunting her with everything they once had.
At Banner-Hill, the wealthy fight their demons—or indulge them.
Natalie Adams plans to do both.
Predictions: Definitely sounds like a bully romance that I would enjoy, but again, it could be way too much. Bully Romances require a certain finesse for ultimate emotional manipulation (damn these authors) so it will be interesting to see if this one fits the bill.
What do you do when everything you thought was made for spooky dreams and wicked fantasy becomes your reality?
You make it your b*tch.
Halloween is the time of year when dead things wake from their slumber… The one night when you can dress up and be anyone or anything you want to be. For me, it was the night those costumes became real.
Raising the dead… along with some witches, vampires, and a zombie or two, was just another boring day in Midnight Hollow. This place is impossible, magical, and everything this goth girl ever dreamed of. But there’s something evil lurking in the dark. Being stuck in this nightmare with four of my smoking hot arch enemies and my best friend, Maddie, will force us to work together when nothing else makes sense… It might even force me to deal with what happened a year ago on this very night.
Who will live and who will die? Who will rise again? My name is October, and this is my story.
Predictions: This just sounds like an all around silly and wonderful good time. Excited!
My best friend of 17 years just got married at the beginning of this month. It was a beautiful courthouse wedding and an even more incredible mountaintop elopement. While I was out there visiting, we stopped into 3 different bookstores in the Asheville area: two used and one local. Each were wonderful in their own unique ways, and each yielded a great bounty of promising words.
Deep in the Adirondack Mountains lies a speck of a town called Rangeley. There isn’t much to this tiny town, but it is at the crossroads of serene fishing streams off the Mink River, pristine hunting grounds in the surrounding mountains, and vast estates of the extremely rich. It is also the gateway to the Mohawk Club, which houses the Lost Boys, an exclusive group of wealthy and powerful men with global influence and a taste for depravity.
Raised wild and poor in the shadows of the Mohawk Club, Evie Quimby was a teenager when she first fell victim to the Lost Boys. Seventeen years later, she is now a world-renowned art restorer famous for repairing even the most-broken statues. After spending half her life in Paris, establishing her reputation and raising her daughter Chloé, Evie has come a long way from the girl who left Rangeley behind. But when Chloé receives a visit from an elegant stranger who claims to be an old friend of her mother’s, the ghosts of Evie’s past return in full force, pulling her back to the North Country of her girlhood and into the tangled, intricate web of the Lost Boys. Evie bands together with her formidable mother and an embattled heiress, both victims of the Lost Boys, in pursuit of an unusual and heart-stopping vengeance.
Predictions: 4 Stars. Hoping the descriptions are literary and the plot breaks my heart.
A bestseller in the author’s native country of Estonia, where the book is so well known that a popular board game has been created based on it, The Man Who Spoke Snakish is the imaginative and moving story of a boy who is tasked with preserving ancient traditions in the face of modernity.
Set in a fantastical version of medieval Estonia, The Man Who Spoke Snakish follows a young boy, Leemet, who lives with his hunter-gatherer family in the forest and is the last speaker of the ancient tongue of snakish, a language that allows its speakers to command all animals. But the forest is gradually emptying as more and more people leave to settle in villages, where they break their backs tilling the land to grow wheat for their “bread” (which Leemet has been told tastes horrible) and where they pray to a god very different from the spirits worshipped in the forest’s sacred grove. With lothario bears who wordlessly seduce women, a giant louse with a penchant for swimming, a legendary flying frog, and a young charismatic viper named Ints, The Man Who Spoke Snakish is a totally inventive novel for readers of David Mitchell, Sjón, and Terry Pratchett.
Predictions: 3 Stars…hoping for A+ on fantastical, but worried the plot/storyline will be a bit of a sludge to get through.
New York Times Bestselling Author Wendy Corsi Staub is the master of psychological suspense. Here, she delves into the twisted mind of The Angler, who lures his human prey the way he catches fish. Sometimes, he gets one worth keeping . . . for a little while . . .
No Such Thing as Coincidence . . .
Staring into his frightened blue eyes, investigative genealogist Amelia Crenshaw Haines vows to help this silent little boy who is unable—or unwilling—to communicate his past. Though her own roots remain shrouded in mystery, she relies on tangible DNA evidence to help fellow foundlings uncover theirs . . . until a remarkable twist of fate presents a stranger bearing an eerily familiar childhood souvenir.
NYPD Missing Persons Detective Stockton Barnes has spent his career searching for other people’s lost loved ones and outrunning a youthful misstep. Now a chance encounter with a key player from that fateful night leads him on a desperate quest to locate the one woman he’s ever regretted leaving—unless a savage killer finds her first.
As Amelia and Barnes uncover intertwining truths—and lies—the real horror emerges not in crimes already committed, but in evil yet to come . . .
Predictions:4 Stars…Seems like a classic trope that will fulfill on the horror factor, but I doubt it will be 5 star worthy. Time will tel…
A room of one’s own: is there anybody who hasn’t at one time or another wished for such a place, hasn’t turned those soft words over until they’d assumed a habitable shape?
When writer Michael Pollan decided to plant a garden, the result was an award-winning treatise on the borders between nature and contemporary life, the acclaimed bestseller Second Nature. Now Pollan turns his sharp insight to the craft of building, as he recounts the process of designing and constructing a small one-room structure on his rural Connecticut property–a place in which he hoped to read, write and daydream, built with his two own unhandy hands.
Invoking the titans of architecture, literature and philosophy, from Vitrivius to Thoreau, from the Chinese masters of feng shui to the revolutionary Frank Lloyd Wright, Pollan brilliantly chronicles a realm of blueprints, joints and trusses as he peers into the ephemeral nature of “houseness” itself. From the spark of an idea to the search for a perfect site to the raising of a ridgepole, Pollan revels in the infinitely detailed, complex process of creating a finished structure. At once superbly written, informative and enormously entertaining, A Place of My Own is for anyone who has ever wondered how the walls around us take shape–and how we might shape them ourselves.
A Place of My Own recounts his two-and-a-half-year journey of discovery in an absorbing narrative that deftly weaves the day-to-day work of design and building–from siting to blueprint, from the pouring of foundations to finish carpentry–with reflections on everything form the power of place to shape our lives to the question of what constitutes “real work” in a technological society.
A book about craft that is itself beautifully crafted, linking the world of the body and material things with the realm of mind, heart, and spirit, A Place of My Own has received extraordinary praise.
Predictions: 5 Stars if read in the right mindset, because I like this author, and I romanticize building/gardening with my own hands.
In 1976, a uniquely seductive world of vampires was unveiled in the now-classic Interview with the Vampire . . . in 1985, a wild and voluptous voice spoke to us, telling the story of The Vampire Lestat. In The Queen of the Damned, Anne Rice continues her extraordinary “Vampire Chronicles” in a feat of mesmeric storytelling, a chillingly hypnotic entertainment in which the oldest and most powerful forces of the night are unleashed on an unsuspecting world.
Predictions: 4 Stars. I think it’ll be interesting,…excited to experience my first Anne Rice novel.
In this compelling and evocative story of a world in flux, Brown shows that death was as generative as it was destructive. From the eighteenth-century zenith of British colonial slavery to its demise in the 1830s, the Grim Reaper cultivated essential aspects of social life in Jamaica—belonging and status, dreams for the future, and commemorations of the past. Surveying a haunted landscape, Brown unfolds the letters of anxious colonists; listens in on wakes, eulogies, and solemn incantations; peers into crypts and coffins, and finds the very spirit of human struggle in slavery. Masters and enslaved, fortune seekers and spiritual healers, rebels and rulers, all summoned the dead to further their desires and ambitions. In this turbulent transatlantic world, Brown argues, “mortuary politics” played a consequential role in determining the course of history.
Insightful and powerfully affecting, The Reaper’s Garden promises to enrich our understanding of the ways that death shaped political life in the world of Atlantic slavery and beyond.
Predictions: 4 stars…Excited about the story and the history. Worried that it won’t be enough storytelling and it’ll take me forever to read. Fingers crossed this won’t be the case!
Travel writing maintains its seemingly endless popularity, and this volume offers a particularly transporting body of work, pairing exotic locales with writers of the highest caliber: Russell Banks writes on the Everglades, Francine Prose explores the secrets of Prague, Robert Hughes takes us on a tour of Italy, and more. From the most beautiful gardens to visit in Japan to the best free things to do in Provence, this book is as enlightening as it is entertaining. Whether off to the other side of the globe or to their favorite reading chair, wanderers of every sort will find this book truly indispensable.
Predictions: 5 Stars…it’s gonna make my wanderlust soar!
It began as President Ulysses S. Grant’s bid for international glory after the Civil War—America’s first attempt to reach the North Pole. It ended with Captain Charles Hall’s death under suspicious circumstances, dissension among sailors, scientists, and explorers, the ship’s evacuation and eventual sinking. Then came a brutal struggle for survival by thirty-three men, women and children, stranded on the polar ice—and two dramatic rescues by whaling ships. When news of the disastrous expedition and accusations of murder reached Washington D.C., it led to a nationwide scandal, an official investigation, and a government cover-up.
The mystery of the captain’s death remained unsolved for nearly 100 years. But when Charles Hall’s frozen grave in northern Greenland was opened, and hair and fingernail samples were retrieved, forensic scientists were finally able to reach a shocking conclusion.
Now, telling the complete story for the first time, acclaimed researcher and bestselling writer Bruce Henderson—whose works have been praised as “compelling” (LOS ANGELES TIMES Book Review) and “compulsively readable” (SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER)—has researched original transcripts of the U.S. Navy inquests, personal papers of Captain Hall, autopsy and forensic reports relating to the century-old crime, the ship’s original log, personal journals kept by crewmen, and hero-survivor George Tyson’s diary and family papers to bring to life one of the most mysterious tragedies of American exploration.
Predictions: 4 Stars. LOVE stories like this. (ie. see below lol)
In February 1959, a group of nine experienced hikers in the Russian Ural Mountains died mysteriously on an elevation known as Dead Mountain. Eerie aspects of the incident—unexplained violent injuries, signs that they cut open and fled the tent without proper clothing or shoes, a strange final photograph taken by one of the hikers, and elevated levels of radiation found on some of their clothes—have led to decades of speculation over what really happened. This gripping work of literary nonfiction delves into the mystery through unprecedented access to the hikers’ own journals and photographs, rarely seen government records, dozens of interviews, and the author’s retracing of the hikers’ fateful journey in the Russian winter. A fascinating portrait of the young hikers in the Soviet era, and a skillful interweaving of the hikers narrative, the investigators’ efforts, and the author’s investigations, here for the first time is the real story of what happened that night on Dead Mountain.
Review: 4 Stars…thoroughly interesting read. A blend of non-fiction/research and prospective fiction.
A tale of revenge, cultural identity, and the cost of breaking from tradition in this latest novel from the Jordan Peele of horror literature, Stephen Graham Jones.
Seamlessly blending classic horror and a dramatic narrative with sharp social commentary, The Only Good Indians follows four American Indian men after a disturbing event from their youth puts them in a desperate struggle for their lives. Tracked by an entity bent on revenge, these childhood friends are helpless as the culture and traditions they left behind catch up to them in a violent, vengeful way.
Many years ago, Claire was named Head Librarian of the Unwritten Wing—a neutral space in Hell where all the stories unfinished by their authors reside. Her job consists mainly of repairing and organizing books, but also of keeping an eye on restless stories that risk materializing as characters and escaping the library. When a Hero escapes from his book and goes in search of his author, Claire must track and capture him with the help of former muse and current assistant Brevity and nervous demon courier Leto.
But what should have been a simple retrieval goes horrifyingly wrong when the terrifyingly angelic Ramiel attacks them, convinced that they hold the Devil’s Bible. The text of the Devil’s Bible is a powerful weapon in the power struggle between Heaven and Hell, so it falls to the librarians to find a book with the power to reshape the boundaries between Heaven, Hell … and Earth.
Predictions: 4 Stars. Hoping it’s written with a beautiful literary style, and the fantasy is believable. We’ll see!
If you’re looking for a character driven story with a slow burn plot and awesome LGBTQ+ relationship dynamics, then you’ll love this book. Be warned though, it really is a lot of relationship building and character evolution. If you’re looking for a fast paced action packed plot, you won’t find that with this one.
There is so many wonderful things I have to say about this book!!!! (Side note being how incredible this book cover is?!?!)
Our MC (a tatted Japanese woman) wakes up with no recollection of who she was as a person or where she has wound up. These four beautiful strangers tell her that she has died. Her mortal life has ended, and she has been reborn as a Horseman. What type? Well, they don’t know yet. (Cue plot)
As time passes, and our MC heals from her injuries, she begins having dreams/flashbacks of her mortal life. She deals with a lot of internal conflict over the unknowns of her identity. As far as plot goes, this uncovering-who-she-was-as-a-human-and-what-that-means-for-who-she-is-now becomes the main element of the story. There are a few little unexpected twists and turns as our MC uncovers her Horseman powers (in part the fact that she has every type of supernatural in her blood), but ultimately this is alllllll about the characters.
WHICH I LOVED!!!!
The F/F relationship in this book is definitely one of my faves…I’ve been on the hunt for an awesome F/F dynamic in an RH for a while, and often the ones I’ve found felt forced or like an after thought. It definitely doesn’t feel that way AT ALL in this book. There are so many adorable and sweet moments juxtaposed with the relationship building of the other dudes in the harem.
Do go into this with the expectation of a slow burn though…the rest of the horsemen have been denying their emotions for each other for the entirety of their existences, and while our MC is working to break down those emotional barriers, it’s gonna take some time.
That doesn’t mean that Mrs. (miss? Ms? whydowehavesomanyoftheseforwomennnn) Frieda Kilmari doesn’t give us some creatively juicy and enjoyable sexy scenes though, but it is DEFINITELY a tease. Right to the very end when all I want is more, more, more.
I don’t want to spoil anything, so I’ll just end with my UTTER enjoyment of the sexual and gender fluidity explored within this RH (A sexually fluid, gender shifting MC yessss?!!). It’s unlike anything I’ve read before, and I cannot wait for what comes next.
P.S. I received this as an advanced reader copy from the author. (Thank you, Freida!) But all these thoughts are of course my own, swayed only by my love of this book and my well wishes to this author. 😊
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