A Soul to Keep

   

Title: A Soul to Keep

Series: Duskwalker Brides #1

Author: Opal Reyne

Publisher: June 16, 2022

Pages: 543

Genre: Fantasy Romance

All Reia ever wanted was freedom.

Known as a harbinger of bad omens and blamed for Demons eating her family, Reia is shunned by her entire village. When the next offering is due and the monstrous Duskwalker is seen heading their way, her village offers her an impossible choice – be thrown into the prison cells or allow herself to be sacrificed to a faceless monster.

However, he is not what he seems. His skull face and glow eyes are ethereal, and she finds herself unwittingly enchanted by him.

All Orpheus ever wanted was a companion.

Each decade, in exchange for a protection ward from the Demons that terrorise the world, Orpheus takes a human offering to the Veil – the place he lives and the home of Demons. The brief companionship does little to ease his loneliness, and their lives were always, unfortunately, cut short.

He'd thought it was a hopeless endeavour, until he met her. She’s not afraid of him, and his insatiable desire deepens
within every moment of her presence.

But will Orpheus be able to convince Reia to stay before she’s lost to him forever?

**spoiler alert** 

I can't believe this only came out last summer. I thought for sure it had been on my TBR for MUCH longer. Either way, I just knew that I was going to love this book. We have a reluctant FMC, a lonely monster MMC, a heavy dose of danger, and smoking hot sex. It has all of the things that should mean I loved it.

But I just....didn't. I don't know if my hopes were too high. I do know that it was too long for me. Reia was too reluctant for too long though. Like the first time she ran away, ok. I forgive her. She's always felt trapped and she just wants to be free and she's feeling weird about letting a man who actively craves her flesh go down on her....and loving it. Got it. So she runs away. 

But then they save each other. Hell yes. Now bang and be happy forever. But that's not what happened. There was still so much book left. And she hurt him so many more times!!! I do love that there's obvious setup for the rest of the series in here. I am VERY interested in the 2 Duskwalkers who have each other that are mentioned. But Reia really did just annoy the crap out of me. 

She seemed very smart, and then she would pop off for no apparent reason.  I don't know. I know that no person is one thing. But some of the things that Reia was didn't make sense to me. And Orpheus deserved someone to really choose him, and even in the end if felt like Reia was just like......meh I don't want to die so please keep my soul. 

Ratings

Stars: 3/5

Spice: 5/5

Wolfsong

                                             

Title: Wolfsong

Series: Green Creek #1

Author: TJ Klune

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press, June 20, 2016

Pages: 494

Genre: LGBTQ Fantasy Romance

Ox was 12 when his daddy taught him a very valuable lesson. He said that Ox wasn't worth anything and people would never understand him. Then he left.

Ox was 16 when he met the boy on the road, the boy who talked and talked and talked. Ox found out later the boy hadn't spoken in almost two years before that day, and that the boy belonged to a family who had moved into the house at the end of the lane.

Ox was 17 when he found out the boy's secret, and it painted the world around him in colors of red and orange and violet.

Ox was 23 when murder came to town and tore a hole in his head and heart. The boy chased after the monster with revenge in his blood red eyes, leaving Ox behind to pick up the pieces.

It's been three years since that fateful day and the boy is back. Except now he's a man, and Ox can no longer ignore the song that howls between them.

This was beautiful. It's the second book that I've read by T.J. Klune, and it absolutely won't be the last. Mainly because I NEED to know how Mark and Gordo get their shit together. But also because the two books that I've read have been so very good!

I can't review this book without talking about the weird morally gray area that I was in for the first 30% or more. Was it grooming? Is it ok because Joe's a werewolf and Ox was 16? Ox is so strongly Lawfully Good that it absolutely wasn't grooming. And the werewolf thing is a part of it, but only a little. It's mostly Ox. 

I'm obsessed with Ox. I totally get little Joe Bennett. He seems awesome. Joe Bennett pissed me off SO bad when he left. But I think them spending that time apart was necessary. Even if I hated the reason and how it happened. And I DID hate the reason and how it happened. But I LOVED what it did for Ox. Not that he felt abandoned or had to grieve his mom and his alpha and his mate leaving, but how it made him put those pieces back together and be strong on his own. To learn that he was strong on his own and he had a choice in the end. 

UGH. It was very good. I'm not over it. I want to read Ravensong RIGHT NOW! I still have so many questions! 

Ratings

Stars: 5/5

Spice: 3/5

Monsters in Love: Lost in the Forest

        

Title: Monsters in Love: Lost in the Forest

Series: Monsters in Love: Volume 3

Author: So Many!

Publisher: Darklight Press, March 25, 2023

Pages: 709

Genre: Romance (monster, contemporary, etc.)

Welcome to Monsters in Love...

Twigs crack and leaves rustle as monsters stalk the forest, searching for their prey…and their mates. Whether wrapping them up in vines or capturing them on the hunt, these dangerous and delicious beasts always win their lovers’ hearts. If you go out in the woods tonight, be careful, for you might just find yourself lost and in love.

I read 2 of the shorts in this anthology! Both are 5 star shorts for me!! I am a sucker for revisiting series that I love in these anthologies for sure. I am also a sucker for some light (or not light) bondage with interesting rope substitutes and BOTH of these entries have that. 

In Her Web by Ashley Bennett:

-I was introduced to the Moth Madam in the Monsters in Love anthology that released just a couple weeks ago. In A Briar Glen Halloween. She does not disappoint!!! Especially with her pet spider-man and her bratty human. It's just a short spicy snip with some interesting web work!

Ratings

Stars: 5/5

Spice: 5/5

The Applethorpe Garden by C.M. Nascosta:

-This had everything I love about Cambric Creek stories. A slightly scattered, hyper fixated, dorky monster man who is just the right amount of dominant in the bedroom. A curvy, tiny bit insecure woman who realizes that she is a fucking catch and goes after what she wants. And cameos and easter eggs of other characters sprinkled on top!! Bonus points for this one because Alder can make vines grow and tie up Ellie with a thought. Very hot. 

Ratings

Stars: 5/5

Spice: 5/5

Gender Queer

           

Title: Gender Queer: A Memoir

Author: Maia Kobabe

Publisher: Lion Forge Comics, May 28, 2019

Pages: 239

Genre: Nonfiction / LGBTQ / Memoir

In 2014, Maia Kobabe, who uses e/em/eir pronouns, thought that a comic of reading statistics would be the last autobiographical comic e would ever write. At the time, it was the only thing e felt comfortable with strangers knowing about em. Now, Gender Queer is here. Maia's intensely cathartic autobiography charts eir journey of self-identity, which includes the mortification and confusion of adolescent crushes, grappling with how to come out to family and society, bonding with friends over erotic gay fanfiction, and facing the trauma and fundamental violation of pap smears. Started as a way to explain to eir family what it means to be nonbinary and asexual, Gender Queer is more than a personal story: it is a useful and touching guide on gender identity-what it means.

Thank you for taking us on your journey. It felt beautifully vulnerable. It's so interesting to read about an experience so very unlike me own. To read about someone who faced really similar stimuli, at the same time as me, and reacted in such a different way. That sounds silly to say. Of course people react differently. But it really is so interesting to see it in this way. 

Ratings

Stars: 5/5

Heart, Haunt, Havoc

          

Title: Heart, Haunt, Havoc

Author: Freydis Moon

Publisher: February 14, 2023

Pages: 156

Genre: LGBTQ / Horror Romance

Laced with romance, gothic imagery, Catholic mysticism, diaspora, and horror…

When lonely transgender exorcist, Colin Hart, finds himself challenged by an unruly haunted house in Gideon, Colorado, he’s kept awake by ghosts, demons, ghouls, and the handsome nonbinary owner of the house, Bishop Martínez.

Unlike the simple hauntings Colin is accustomed to, Bishop’s house is a living beacon, attracting a plethora of inhuman creatures, including a vengeful wolf-headed spirit who might be the key to quieting their sleepless nights.

But as a heartbreaking mystery unravels, Colin comes face-to-face with the past Bishop tried to bury, opens a closet full of bloody skeletons, and trips into an accidental romance.

As paranormally skilled as Colin might be, this particular haunting may be too messy for him to handle…

This is such a beautifully written horror story. I mean. I don't know why I was surprised that it was so scary, it has Haunt in the name and the cover is quite gory. But dang. This really is super scary!

Colin is a "cleaner." He travels around cleaning up haunted places, and people sometimes. Bishop is his newest client, and they have got a lot going on in the fixer-upper they bought with their husband. Lots of little pesky haunts, and one who's very scary. Bishop also has quite a few secrets that they really aren't interested in sharing with Colin. 

Bishop is also very hot. And Colin is very hot. And Bishop's haunted house does NOT like that they find each other attractive. Not at all. I did like that part. That part was very compelling!! 

I can't get over how beautiful the imagery of this book is. Even the really gory scenes are so vivid and well done. I will definitely be reading more of this author's work!!! It's stunning!

Ratings

Stars: 5/5

Spice: 3/5

Daisy Jones & The Six

         

Title: Daisy Jones & The Six

Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid

Publisher: Random House Audio, March 5, 2019

Pages: 355

Genre: LitFic / Mockumentary

For a while, Daisy Jones & The Six were everywhere. Their albums were on every turntable, they sold out arenas from coast to coast, their sound defined an era. And then, on 12 July 1979, they split.

Nobody ever knew why. Until now.

They were lovers and friends and brothers and rivals. They couldn't believe their luck, until it ran out. This is their story of the early days and the wild nights, but everyone remembers the truth differently.

The only thing they all know for sure is that from the moment Daisy Jones walked barefoot onstage at the Whisky, their lives were irrevocably changed.

Making music is never just about the music. And sometimes it can be hard to tell where the sound stops and the feelings begin.

I love a mockumentary. I love watching them, and apparently reading them too. It's one of them things I'm most looking forward to about watching the show adapted from this book. SO I really hope they carried that aspect over because I haven't seen any trailers for it. I was trying to keep spoilers to a minimum. 

The audio production of this was so well done. I love a full cast, and these were some really recognizable voices. It was tough at first to separate Daisy Jones from Bette Porter in my head. But luckily, Daisy is not a completely likeable character, and I have a ton of practice not completely liking, but being very attracted to Bette Porter. So it worked out.

I would love to listen to The Six's albums. All of them. I'm still not sure if it's 2 or 3, but I want them. There was a recording of Honeycomb with the audiobook and I would totally listen to that album. This is a great book. It was really entertaining and I enjoyed listening to it. Solid 4 stars. 

Because I listened to the audio I wasn't able to make highlights in the book like I would in an ebook. Apparently, I've come to rely on this so I had to take notes on my phone. I will put them here for safe keeping:

-Jim Blades sounds like Zed from Mystic Bayou (confirmed!)

-"When you have everything, somebody else getting something...feels like they're stealing from you."

-"Women are always still standing."

^this was said in regard to heartbreaks. And while it's a lovely thought, and women are amazing as hell! But I think it we can all agree that there's more nuance than that.

Ratings

Stars: 4/5

Ram Rugged

        

Title: Ram Rugged

Author: Melissa Thomas

Series: Aries Cursed #1, Zodiac Shifters #32

Publisher: Nordic Lights Press, April 3, 2018

Pages: 164

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Once burned, twice shy...

After her heart is broken, curvy Mary Andre is determined to never risk it again. Besides, she has too much work and too many bills for her SoCal sheep ranch to bother with romance. Born under the Virgo sign, she has a can-do attitude. Everything is under control until her coyote-shifter ex-husband slaughters one of her flock. Mary goes looking for a hero-for-hire, but fate deals her a Greek god. Handsome Demetri Larsen puts the tempt into temptation. It takes every ounce of her willpower to resist her desire for him.

Cursed to wander the earth until he finds his soulmate...

For three hundred years, the immortal ram-shifter lived life on the road, chasing pleasure when not called upon to act as an Aries Guardian. For Demetri, desire and duty are about to collide head-on when a feisty redhead upends his entire world. In his determination to neither hurt nor be hurt, Demetri refuses to take a chance on the love that could set him free.

I have been searching for a ram shifter book for awhile. I wanted to read something with a ram shifter to celebrate being an Aries and moving into Aries season. I also needed a cowboy romance to complete one of the challenges I'm doing this year, so this seemed absolutely perfect. It quickly devolved into a hate read.

The puns are amazing!!! The dog that talks, amazing!! A woman named Mary running a lamb farm and have a coyote ex-husband, such a great start.

BUT I had to check the publication date MANY times. I could not believe that a book published in 2018 had so much fat phobia and slut shaming. Simultaneously. It tells me I've been very insular with my reading choices, but like, I'm ok with that if it means I'm avoiding books with fat phobia and slut shaming.

I could go on. I have 25 highlights in this book and I didn't make a single one visible. 2 are just excellent punny chapter titles! 2 are heaving bosoms found in the wild. But the other 21 are cringy moments or just blatant contradictions in the text. It got rough there for a minute.

Overall, it's very short and it absolutely does fit the prompt of cowboy romance and ram shifter, which was ultimately what I was looking for. Buuuuuuut that's about it.

Ratings

Stars: 2/5

Spice: 2/5

Love & Other Disasters

         

Title: Love & Other Disasters

Author: Anita Kelly

Publisher: Forever, January 18, 2022

Pages: 385

Genre: LGBTQ+ Contemporary Romance

Recently divorced and on the verge of bankruptcy, Dahlia Woodson is ready to reinvent herself on the popular reality competition show Chef’s Special. Too bad the first memorable move she makes is falling flat on her face, sending fish tacos flying—not quite the fresh start she was hoping for. Still, she's focused on winning, until she meets someone she might want a future with more than she needs the prize money. 

After announcing their pronouns on national television, London Parker has enough on their mind without worrying about the klutzy competitor stationed in front of them. They’re there to prove the trolls—including a fellow contestant and their dad—wrong, and falling in love was never part of the plan.

As London and Dahlia get closer, reality starts to fall away. Goodbye, guilt about divorce, anxiety about uncertain futures, and stress from transphobia. Hello, hilarious shenanigans on set, wedding crashing, and spontaneous dips into the Pacific. But as the finale draws near, Dahlia and London’s steamy relationship starts to feel the heat both in and outside the kitchen—and they must figure out if they have the right ingredients for a happily ever after.

I am flying high after finishing this book. I don't remember exactly what put it on my radar, but when my library hold came up I reread the blurb. A hot queer woman and a hot nonbinary person get together on a cooking show?!?! Sign me the F up! 

I was not prepared for how validating this book would be to read. I am a queer woman. My partner is a nonbinary person. It was my favorite thing this year to read a book about that particular type of relationship. It helped a lot that the book was smoking hot and really good on top of all of that. But I super appreciate the representation!!!

Dahlia, this queer woman, is a WRECK. Like this baby is having a time. But she quits her job and jets off to LA to be on this cooking show. There she meets London. This audio engineer from Nashville who wants to start a LGBTQ+ nonprofit. There are so many antics. 

I was hungry the entire time I read this book. Every single food item discussed sounded incredible and I wanted to try it immediately. There is also food sex, which was hot in the book and absolutely sounds terrible if you would try to translate that to real life. Luckily they were in a hotel. Can you imagine trying to clean that up in your own bedroom?!?! Not for me.

There are some heavy themes in this book. They talk about divorce and transphobia. They touch on dealing with strained parental relationships. They also talk about what happens when you realize that you don't want children, and I would definitely call it a content warning for anyone who is dealing or has dealt with any infertility struggles. Or even if you dealt with blowback regarding your own choice of whether or not to have children. 

Even with some of the heavy themes, this book is hilarious. A fun, quick read. It gave me all of the comfort that I get from watching cooking shows. So if that's your jam, you'll like this too.

ETA: This was just as good upon the relisten. London really is swoony as all heck. Dahlia is just as much of a wreck, but also just as hot. Considering the themes dealt with, it's a shockingly cozy read. And I look forward to the rest of the series! I didn't know we were going to get more of these lovelies!

Ratings

Stars: 5/5

Spice: 4/5

The Bodyguard

        

Title: The Bodyguard

Author: Katherine Center

Publisher: St. Martin's Press, July 19, 2022

Pages: 310

Genre: Contemporary Romance

She’s got his back.
Hannah Brooks looks more like a kindergarten teacher than somebody who could kill you with a wine bottle opener. Or a ballpoint pen. Or a dinner napkin. But the truth is, she’s an Executive Protection Agent (aka "bodyguard"), and she just got hired to protect superstar actor Jack Stapleton from his middle-aged, corgi-breeding stalker.

He’s got her heart.
Jack Stapleton’s a household name—captured by paparazzi on beaches the world over, famous for, among other things, rising out of the waves in all manner of clingy board shorts and glistening like a Roman deity. But a few years back, in the wake of a family tragedy, he dropped from the public eye and went off the grid.

They’ve got a secret.
When Jack’s mom gets sick, he goes home to the family’s Texas ranch to help out. Only one catch: He doesn’t want his family to know about his stalker. Or the bodyguard thing. And so Hannah—against her will and her better judgment—finds herself pretending to be Jack’s girlfriend as a cover. Even though her ex, says no one will believe it.

What could possibly go wrong?
Hannah hardly believes it, herself. But the more time she spends with Jack, the more real it all starts to seem. And there lies the heartbreak. Because it’s easy for Hannah to protect Jack. But protecting her own, long-neglected heart? That’s the hardest thing she’s ever done.

** spoiler alert ** 

The blurb for this book piqued my interest SO much. You hear about a bodyguard romance, you're thinking female celebrity with a hulking male bodyguard. I sure was. And then you find it's a hunky male celebrity and a short, ordinary female bodyguard. I had to know!!! (Also, damn my own preconceptions!)

I should have checked for content warnings before I started reading. We meet Hannah Brooks on the worst day of her life. Her mother has just died and her coworker/boyfriend broke up with her. The night after the funeral. (He's awesome...) Her boss benches her when all she wants is a distraction, and she's truly unraveling. 

THEN her ex goes on a mission with her best friend. I knew in my gut, that something was going on there. And I was right. Hannah doesn't catch a break for the first 30-40% of this book. All she wants is to go on assignment out of town. She wants to escape and have a distraction. So her boss dangles an opportunity to do just that, if she does this one, puny assignment in her hometown. 

Jack Stapleton is great. He's a bit too aloof about his own safety, but he's a solid hero. I loved him. You'll love him. Hannah definitely loves him. 

She agrees to fake date Jack Stapleton, for his safety, so his mom won't worry and know about the stalkers and safety concerns. 

It was SO GOOD! I can say, I haven't stayed up all night to finish a book in a looooong time. Especially not a book that I had to read through tears to get to the end. I mean this thing was good! The only reason I can't give it 5 stars, is how close to a "she's not like regular girls" narrative we get. She never says it, nobody ever says those words. But the vibes are absolutely there. We have the best friend who sleeps with her ex of like 2 days during the worst week of her life. We have the celebrity who is flabbergasted that anyone would choose her over them, and tries to humiliate her in front of a full Thanksgiving crowd. We have the female stalker who threatens to kill her in creative ways for being in Jack's life. We had this awesome book that was SO close to putting all of these gender roles and stereotypes on their head, and then just....didn't follow through all of the way. I'm sure I'm missing some big twist that was supposed to make those things subversive and stuff, but I can tell you I got REAL pissed at 6am after reading and crying my eyes out all night, to have been duped into rooting against all these different women. 

It got better again. I mean I only took away one star for it. But it was rough for a hot second there. I still highly recommend this though. But be careful with yourself, it's got some really heavy themes.

Ratings

Stars: 4/5

Spice: 1/5

My Primal Mate

       

Title: My Primal Mate

Author: Susan Trombley

Series: Iriduan Universe Love Stories #3

Publisher: October 21, 2022

Pages: 230

Genre: Sci-Fi Romance

Ariyah

My new next-door neighbor looks like a demon—and acts like one too!

Most of the Akrellians now living on Earth after saving humanity from an alien invasion are super polite. The red-scaled, black-quilled behemoth living next door is a notable exception, and he doesn’t bother to return my enthusiastic greeting with anything more than an impatient growl.

But I know the secret to making friends, and that secret is a dozen red velvet cupcakes with cute monster faces on them, just in time for Halloween. The grumpy, smoldering volcano of a male might pretend he’s not interested in my offering, but he can’t resist my sweet treats for long.

Of course, he might just be too hot to handle, because this Akrellian serves a darker Dancer, and the drumbeats from his primal song draw me to the domineering and demanding male while his wild howl thrills my blood—even as it sends me fleeing. When he gives chase, I try not to reveal how eager I am to be caught.

It’s just too bad that he believes I’m an assassin who tried to poison him.

Zernagol is the most unreliable of narrators and I LOVE IT! He is unreliable because he doesn't ever admit to himself what is actually going on. It's amazing. His level of self-deception is HIGH, but he's totally fine with it. It actually comes across way healthier than I'm making it sound. 

This dude has a cute next door neighbor who owns a bakery chasing after him, and he has convinced himself that she's an assassin. What led him to this conclusion?? Eating an entire platter of cupcakes in one sitting. I get it though, that sounds TERRIBLE!

Ariyah can't get Zernagol out of her head, and he seems to not want anything to do with her. Until he does!!! And then he hunts her through a cornfield, scares the pants off of her, and it is very hot.

There is a large portion of this book dedicated to the question of whether or not criminals can be rehabilitated. And if those rehabilitated criminals deserve freedom. Yes, they can. And yes, they do. We can talk about it more in depth if you choose, and every case is different, but the answer overall, is yes.

I would love for Cupid to have their own happy ending. <3

Ratings

Stars: 3/5

Spice: 4/5

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

       

Title: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

Author: Gabrielle Zevin

Publisher: Knopf, July 5, 2022

Pages: 416

Genre: Literary Fiction

From the best-selling author of The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry: On a bitter-cold day, in the December of his junior year at Harvard, Sam Masur exits a subway car and sees, amid the hordes of people waiting on the platform, Sadie Green. He calls her name. For a moment, she pretends she hasn’t heard him, but then, she turns, and a game begins: a legendary collaboration that will launch them to stardom. 

These friends, intimates since childhood, borrow money, beg favors, and, before even graduating college, they have created their first blockbuster, Ichigo. Overnight, the world is theirs. Not even twenty-five years old, Sam and Sadie are brilliant, successful, and rich, but these qualities won’t protect them from their own creative ambitions or the betrayals of their hearts.

Spanning thirty years, from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Venice Beach, California, and lands in between and far beyond, Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow examines the multifarious nature of identity, disability, failure, the redemptive possibilities in play, and above all, our need to connect: to be loved and to love.

I absolutely loved the use of time in this book. Obviously for dramatic irony, but it really helped to make each section/act/part of the book feel like its own distinct game. 

We're following Sam and Sadie throughout their lives. They meet as preteens and bond over video games. Sam gets his feelings hurt and they don't speak for 6 years. They reunite in college and decide to make video games together. Sadie gets her feelings hurt this time. And it goes on like that. They have a very volatile relationship, but they make beautiful games together. 

There is way more than one lifetime's worth of trauma packed in this book. You've got witnessing self-unaliving, horrific car accidents, childhood illness, losing parents, abusive relationships, losing best friends, losing partners. Literally so much trauma. 

I really love the concept that play is the thing that always brings you back to the people you love. There is a quote that stuck with me. "There's no more intimate act than play, even sex." It's framed as a quote from Mazer that the public takes poorly, and I get why they do. I would argue that sex is simply an intimate form of play. When this quote appears in the book, I was so angry. I hated it. However, after getting to know his character better, I absolutely understand the quote better and it makes a lot more sense. 

Ultimately. I'm really freaking mad at this book. My favorite person in the whole book did not deserve any of the baloney he went through. Sam and Sadie absolutely deserve each other. They both suck. I think that's what we were going for, right. Realistic people with realistic trauma making realistic bad choices. But UGH. Marx deserved better. :(

Ratings

Stars: 4/5

My Foxy Mate

      

Title: My Foxy Mate

Series: Iriduan Universe Love Stories #2

Author: Susan Trombley

Publisher: September 17, 2022

Pages: 259

Genre: Sci-Fi Romance

Davinia

Sell over a million dollars of programmable hover vacs in a month, get a hefty commission check, and win an all-expenses paid trip to Ubaid Space Station.

That’s the promise, and I deliver on my end of the bargain. What I get for my trouble is a “supervised” guided tour of the station, surrounded by other humans.

I came for the extraterrestrial experience, not the poorly cooked chicken parmesan in the Earth-centric resort restaurant. So, who can blame me if I slip my leash by bribing the tour guide to let me escape yet another mind-numbingly boring museum trip?

After an encounter with a gray alien lands me a hot tip on the best place to find excitement on this station, I end up in a bar in the most dangerous sector of the Leisure Ring. I also meet the extraterrestrial of my dreams—at least, he can be for the remainder of my vacation.

Yes, he’s an Okihan, known as a “fox-man” to us humans, and yes, he looks very roguish, even with that super fluffy tail of his, but he reassures me that he’s not a pirate. He works for the Cosmic Syndicate, all official-like.

He’s charming, rakish, and probably more than a little disreputable, and I might be playing in a much larger sandbox than I’m accustomed to, but I just can’t resist giving in to his flirtation.

I came to Ubaid Space Station searching for adventure, and Suda Eran promises to take me on one, but I probably shouldn’t trust him, because the more time I spend with him, the more I realize that he’s already stealing my heart.

My friend recommended this book to me to fill in another challenge prompt. She is working her way through Susan Trombley's back catalogue, and after reading this book I TOTALLY understand why. This is such a fun romp through the space station!

I know that this is the second book in a spin off series, so I was a little intimidated to just jump in here. However, I do think I got enough background in this book to not feel overwhelmed or like I was totally lost. 

Davi Jones is a master of puns. Suda Eran is a foxy pirate. Davi wins a trip to space, goes in search of adventure, and finds a little more than she bargained for. Davi and Suda are so cute together, but my favorite parts of this book was everything else going on. There was SO MUCH else going on! We get little glimpses of a bunch of different types of aliens, upstanding and criminal aspects of the space station, responsive vibrating body jewelry, etc. I can't wait to meet an Akrellian in the next book though!!!

I absolutely foresee myself stalking through the back catalogue at some point. I already know I want to read Kotesri's book to see what he's all about! And there are four side characters that we met in this book that I would ABSOLUTELY read their books. Ultiman, anyone???

Ratings

Stars: 4/5

Spice: 4/5

Dream On

       

Title: Dream On

Author: Angie Hockman

Publisher: Gallery Books, July 5, 2022

Pages: 350

Genre: Contemporary Romance

What would you do if your dream man turned out to be real?

When law student Cass Walker wakes up after surviving a car accident, she is flooded with memories of her boyfriend, Devin. The only problem? Devin doesn’t exist. But everything she remembers about him feels so real, like the precise shade of his coffee-brown eyes; the texture of his favorite hand-me-down scarf; even the slightly crooked angle of his pinkie, broken after falling off a trampoline in third grade. She knows he’s a figment of her imagination—friends, family, and doctors confirm it—but she still can’t seem to get him out of her head.

So when she runs into the real Devin a year later in a Cleveland flower shop, she’s completely shocked. Even more surprising is that Devin actually believes her story, and soon they embark on a real-life romance. With her dream man by her side and an upcoming summer job at a prestigious law firm, Cass’s future seems perfect. But fate might have other plans...

This book took me on a roller coaster. I read most books like I'm a detective and it's my job to figure out how the book ends and what twists it'll take me on before we get there. And there were SO many twists! It's really funny to look back at my annotations throughout the book and see just how wrong some of my guesses were. 

I want to write a much longer review, but I truly can't bring myself to spoil this book for anyone. Even with all of the appropriate spoiler warnings, I don't want to risk it! This is absolutely a 5 star read, it's fully going on my amnesia list, and I think this should be required reading! 

Ratings

Stars: 5/5

Spice: 1/5