Bound by Duty by Cora Reilly

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After finishing the Kindle Clear Out and the last book Seized by Love, I could feel that I needed to pick something that I knew would suck me in to avoid a book slump. After thinking and debating on several items, I decided to go back to Cora Reilly. Thank goodness I picked this. Instead of entering a book slump over the weekend, I ended up reading four books that weekend and starting a fifth late Sunday night. And there wasn't a readathon! I was feeling pretty sick on Sunday though, so I ended up reading since I wasn't able to do my normal Sunday chores. Alright, back to my review. The book that started my Cora Reilly binge over the weekend was book two of her Born in Blood Chronicles, Bound by Duty. 

This book focuses on Dante, the heir to the Outfit, Chicago's Italian mafia and Valentina. Valentina is a daughter in the Outfit and we saw her briefly in Bound by Honor since she's Aria's cousin. As Dante is reaching the point of taking over the Outfit soon, he's expected to marry and have kids. However, what's different about this book is they are both widowed. Dante's wife had passed from cancer a couple years prior and they were completely in love with each other. In Valentina's case, her husband was killed less than a year prior. While Valentina and her husband were friends before marriage, it comes out that he was actually gay and their marriage was never consummated. There is a little bit of contention for Dante choosing Valentina as a wife over some of the other young daughters, but he was hoping to find someone that was a little older and more aware of what would be expected. The joke is on him though since Valentina is still a virgin and not experience in the intimacies between a couple.

Oh this book gutted me. I absolutely loved Dante. He's definitely cold and stand-offish, but it's mainly because he's been trained to be like that. Emotions can cause issues when dealing with business, especially as the heir. I really felt for Valentina. Since her marriage was never consummated with her first husband, she was really looking forward to having a real marriage. However, Dante keeps himself away from her and she has to seduce him. He does find out about her previous marriage (as it was pretty obvious once they slept together). I loved how once they finally start to connect both emotionally and physically the way their love for each other felt so natural. Dante still hides a lot of his feelings, even when they're alone, but I loved the little touches and ways that he subtly showed he cared. 

Dante really is pretty close to a perfect hero for me and is definitely one of my favorite heroes. I absolutely adore the alphaness, it just hits a sweet spot for me. I was excited to see a different kind of love story with them both being widowed and it definitely had me crying and swooning throughout. I am so excited I decided to try Cora Reilly's books and as mentioned above, immediately jumped into the next one!

Have you read Bound by Duty?

Bookishly Yours, 

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Bound by Duty, Cora Reilly, 5-stars, 0 days, eBook, 318 pages, published in 2015

Seized by Love by Susan Johnson

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The 10th, and last book, I read for the Kindle Clear Out Readathon was Seized by Love by Susan Johnson. This is the first book in her Russian/Kuzan Family series. I chose this book for the oldest tbr prompt on my kindle since it was the oldest published book I had that seemed interesting. I did take a peek at reviews and saw that despite this being written and published in the late 1970s, it didn't really have any rape or other major items that modern historical readers don't like.

Now, I agree with the reviews that I saw that there wasn't really rape in this book. There was definitely some, what should I call it, forced seduction? She caves and her body is definitely into it, but she tries to fight her body but her mind usually loses. But, back to the premise. Prince Nikolai Kuzan in staying at a Finnish lodge of his with friends and his contingency just getting drunk and enjoying women. One afternoon, him and two of his friends are having a picnic. One suggests a bet to help keep Nikki from getting bored with life, and it's to seduce the chaste ice queen Alsia. She is married to a local merchant and very off-standish. 

He quickly accepts and approaches her, as she's painting across the way. Now I like the premise and I enjoyed the initial seduction and time they spent together afterwards. Nikki just kind of tells her how she's coming with, especially as they've discussed her abusive husband and how he likes to beat her to find pleasure. She mentions her daughter and he says that's fine that she comes. Alsia also wants to bring her servants from before her marriage, which Nikki gets frustrated about, but allows. She still denies him. Alsia is falling for Nikki, but he just wants her as a mistress. She doesn't want that at all.

Why this is 2-stars for me is Prince Kuzan. I liked the premise and I kept feeling like he would start to care for Alsia, or at least come to realize his feelings. Every time he took a step forward though, he would go back to the start. I really just started to get frustrated with him. I could see the change coming and kept reading hoping for that switch to happen, but it never really did. Alsia does get kidnapped by her husband at one point and he rides to rescue her (if course it's right after they've come to new terms and stopped arguing, but he assumes the worst before finding out she was actually kidnapped). He then tells he that he loves her at that point and we see a few weeks of good relationship building. Then, his parents force them to marry and all that work and feelings seem to disappear on his end. It just was so back and forth and they kept antagonizing each other and it didn't stop. Finally when it comes to the birth of their child after they're married (and having a horrible marriage), Alsia struggles a lot and it seems like both will die. Suddenly, once again, Nikki realizes he loves her and promises he'll do better if she lives.

Honestly, it felt like too little too late. He never groveled or apologized or even realized how hurtful the things he was saying. He just stuck to his pride and what he thought was independence. I know that this is an older book, but it was re-edited and re-released in 1994 and Susan's author note mentioned updating things. Now don't get me wrong, I have read and loved older historical romances. The 1990s and early 2000s tend to be my sweet spot of enjoyment. I just couldn't get behind him at all. I didn't find very much redeeming of Nikki and was pretty disappointed with the read. I think what bothered me the most is that I would be thinking of dnf-ing but then there would be moments of good. I would get sucked back into the story only to eventually be let down. Repeatedly. I don't know if I'll read more in this series or try her again. I won't avoid her, but it's definitely not at the top of my tbr. Honestly after reading this, I was just hoping that it wouldn't put me in a book slump.  Spoiler Alert: It didn't, thankfully.

Have you read Seized by Love?

Bookishly Yours, 

Stasi🍎

STATISICS: Seized by Love, Susan Johnson, 2-stars, 1 day, eBook, 304 pages, published in 1979

Bound by Honor by Cora Reilly

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The ninth book I read for the Kindle Clear Out Readathon was Bound by Honor by Cora Reilly. After getting through His Grumpy Childhood Friend by Jackie Lau, I only had two prompts left on my bingo board; Oldest TBR and Buddy Read. I did have a couple different options, but Wednesday morning the Smart Women Read Romance new episode was posted and centered on Twisted Emotions, a book in Cora's Camorra Chronicles series. This connects with the Born in Blood series, of which Bound by Honor is the first. Jen and Jessen have both also raved about these two series on their YouTube channels a lot recently so I added them to my TBR. After listening to the podcast at work Wednesday, I immediately decided to go off prompt and start Bound by Honor! Mood reading strikes again!

I have read dark romance before (not quite as dark as these are supposed to get) as well as I know I've read at least one mafia series at one time, but don't really remember what it was. I do remember I didn't enjoy it, but now that I'm thinking, maybe it was a MC (motorcycle club) or combined the two. Anyways, I'm not usually a fan of either of those. Dark romance that I've read has also been hit or miss for me. Sometimes I'm on board all the way, but sometimes it's a little too much depending on when it's set. This book was easier for me to handle the rights that weren't afforded to most women in the mafia because it was set up more along the lines of how it is in a lot of regency historicals. So if they're following old traditions, it made more sense. Although it's still hard to get past it sometimes with the characters being set in modern times and them still being treated as property.

That's also a part of the draw though; that Luca doesn't treat Aria like property, not really. He says the things in front of others that shows the "ownership," but in reality it doesn't feel like that when they are alone. It just feels like max alpha vibes to me, which I am on board with. Now, one thing I did have issue with is Luca cheating on Aria and pretty early on in their marriage. I also didn't like how his groveling was over pretty quickly, but I do understand that it's not like they can get divorced or separate, even temporarily. Aria just has to accept his apology and they both move past the indiscretions if they want to try to have a decent marriage. 

Now, going into this I heard from a couple reviews that people have issues with Aria acting too young and tstl (too stupid to live). I didn't get that vibe. While she did act young sometimes, it wasn't annoying or grating to me. Plus she's a sheltered 18-year-old that's only really been around men in her family or guards, so while she's mature for an 18-year-old, she is still young and pretty naïve. But even then, the men she was around were happily married, older and trusted to not be lewd towards her or her sisters. So basically, she didn't bother me like it seems she did others. I did wish that when Luca got short with her, especially in the beginning of their marriage, that she was more open with him about what she was actually feeling. I understand that she was afraid of him still and didn't want to feel weak or vulnerable around him, but I feel like her opening to him, just a little, would've helped them have a better basis for the marriage. Plus, she just let him assume the worst instead of actually explaining why she was upset. I feel like that was part of why he ended up cheating and this book had enough going on without that plot point. Maybe that's just me though.

I also really enjoyed Cora Reilly's writing and was hooked from the prologue. It's very engaging and when I started late after finished my previous book, I just wanted to read the first couple chapters. Next thing I know it's midnight (I'm usually in bed by 9pm) and I'm struggling to keep my eyes open. Yet my mind just wanted more. I'm super excited to finally get into the series and definitely understand the hype. I'm going to try not to binge them all too quickly since I feel like these could possibly give me a book hangover, but you never know. I am a mood reader. 

What's also fun is I saw there's a version of this book all from Luca's POV, so I'm tempted to read that as well, just not sure where I'll get to it in the order. It is listed as 0.5, but covers the same timeline as Bound by Honor. It seems that a lot of people liked it better from what I saw glancing through reviews and actually has a higher average rating on GoodReads. From what I saw it explained his cheating in a somewhat satisfactory way and that the banter between him and Mateo was really great. We'll see when I get to it, but I do want to read it though. 

Have you read Bound by Honor?

Bookishly Yours, 

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Bound by Honor, Cora Reilly, 4-stars, 2 days, eBook, 273 pages, published in 2014

His Grumpy Childhood Friend by Jackie Lau

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The eighth book I read for the Kindle Clear Out Readathon was His Grumpy Childhood friend by Jackie Lau. This is the second book in her newer Cider Bar Sisters series. I know I have mentioned it a lot lately, but Jackie Lau is one of my favorite contemporary authors. If you are looking to add more diversity in your reads, her books are a great options being that she's an Asian author and most of her main characters are also Asian. I feel like there's a lot of push for diversity for Black authors and Black romance, but I feel like if I'm truly going to try to diversity my reads I need to find books by and about all races under the POC nomenclature. This book also covers several prompts, but I decided to use this one to fulfill the POC author prompt.

In this book, we focus on the Cider Bar Sister Charlotte. She is our grumpy heroine and works from home doing something with geology engineering. Don't ask me, a lot of the engineering and geology stuff went over my head, but there are jokes about both throughout the book. She runs into her childhood neighbor and friend Mike at the cider bar one night. Her last relationship ended 5-years ago when her boyfriend proposed at a ball game. This is weirdly one of her greatest nightmares from when she was little, although I wouldn't like it either. Charlotte, a complete introvert, ran from him and ended the relationship. Finally realizing it's been 8 years since entered the dating scene, she asks good-looking Mike to go on practice dates. He says yes, but little does Charlotte know that Mike also needs the practice dates and is nowhere near as experienced as she thinks. Mike is so thoughtful, sweet and considerate of her homebody tendencies and really tries to take her on dates to places he thinks she'll like. He pushes her to be more social, but in a healthy way and knows when to back off. He was so sweet and caring and there was a lovely caretaking scene when she was suffering bad period cramps. 

After practice kissing and dating, Charlotte considers asking Mike to have practice sex, but is worried that she won't be able to keep it as practice. Mike immediately turns her down and says no, if they do have sex it'll be real because he has feelings for her. I loved that they both quickly (like before the first date even happened) were trying to convince themselves that it was just practice and they both were falling for each other from the start. Once again we get great foodie descriptions (and coffee) throughout. Mike is dealing with healing from emotionally abusive parents and has been through therapy. I just love how real Jackie Lau's characters feel. She also doesn't let them wallow in their suffering too long which is nice. She shows how you can be dealing with deep, dark emotions but still trying to live your life as best you can and the happy moments that can be experienced. It's just so hopeful. We also get a hint that Rose (one of the other Cider Bar Sisters) is dealing with depression and I'm very intrigued to get to her story. 

This is the last full length novel in the series out right now. There is a 2.5 Christmas novella about Charlotte's younger sister Julie that I haven't read yet. The next book has been announced that it'll be Nicole's. I can't wait to continue in the series. I'm loving the older characters (in their 30s) and am super excited to see how the other books will unfold. I know I keep saying this, but I couldn't recommend Jackie Lau enough! Please read her if you haven't!

Have you read His Grumpy Childhood Friend?

Bookishly Yours, 

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: His Grumpy Childhood Friend, Jackie Lau, 4-stars, 1 day, eBook, 200 pages, published in 2020

Her Big City Neighbor by Jackie Lau

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The seventh book I read for the Kindle Clear Out Readathon was Her Big City Neighbor by Jackie Lau. This is the first in her newer series, Cider Bar Sisters. As you've probably read from my previous reviews, I absolutely adore Jackie Lau and she's one of my favorite contemporary romance writers. Her books are almost always feel good, low angst, funny, foodie, Canadian goodness. While this book would fit multiple prompts on my bingo board, I ended up using it for the Favorite Author prompt.

This book actually focuses on the newest (we see her become a Cider Bar Sister) member of the group Amy and her grumpy, tattooed neighbor Victor. Her first sight of him is mowing the lawn without a shirt and she can't keep her eyes off of him. However, quick PSA, DO NOT mow without a shirt. Even if it's hot outside please wear proper protective equipment when mowing. I work at a lawn mower and lawn equipment repair shop, so please don't be unsafe. Outside of every time he was mowing without his shirt, I adored this book. Victor is the grumpiest of grumps, dealing with grief from his brother's passing several years prior and is just not a people person in general. Amy is the sunshine to beat all sunshine and there are several moments in the book where Victor jokes with her about having ladybug, glitter, unicorn and rainbow things. 

Even though he originally was irritated by her and her friendliness, I loved that he was drawn to her like a moth to a flame and couldn't help but want to be around her. I also liked that they both quickly noticed the desire between them, but let it simmer. The first time they both cave, they keep it to kissing and making out. It stays that way a bit before they do more intimate activities. Another thing I love about Jackie's books is there's a lot of great food descriptions and she really leans into the diversity of Toronto (where this and a lot of her other series are based). Reading her books can make you hungry or sad you don't have those type of restaurants near you. Amy had moved to Toronto from her small town after inheriting her Great-Aunt's house and is constantly trying new restaurants and cafes. We also see her visit the Pie and Ice Cream shops from her Baldwin Village Series (which I highly recommend)! 

What brought this down to a 4-stars for me was the angst I was unprepared for. I did expect more than she usually does just based on the feelings that Victor was struggling with, but it went a little further than I wanted. It also felt a little cliched with their break-up. Although I did like that Amy stood up for herself. It just didn't quite hit as well as her previous books have. I still loved it and am excited to see her new friends/roommate find their HEAs and can't wait to see what's to come in the series! It's also nice that this series will mainly stay around older people with the Cider Bar Sisters all being in their early 30s. As that's my current age, it feels nice to read people my age that don't have their lives already figured out and settled.

Have you read Her Big City Neighbor?

Bookishly Yours, 

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Her Big City Neighbor, Jackie Lau, 4-stars, 0 days, eBook, 213 pages, published in 2020

Return of the Rogue by Donna Fletcher

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The sixth book I read for the Kindle Clear Out Readathon was Donna Fletcher's Return of the Rogue. This is the first in her Sinclare Brothers series. After reading previous Donna Fletcher books, I definitely wanted to continue reading her backlist and have all her books on my paperback wishlist. For the readathon I chose this book over her others since it fits my favorite trope, wrong sibling! I just love when one of our main characters thinks they are in love with someone, only to have their sibling be their perfect match!

Honora is finally getting married to a son of the Laird of Clan Sinclare, but to the second oldest son Atair. However, her abusive step-father has worded the agreement that she is to marry the heir to the clan. That would be the eldest son Cavan. He, unfortunately, has been kidnapped by barbarians and is currently missing. During the wedding, Cavan arrives after escaping only to suddenly have a wife. Some time before he was captured, the agreement was brought up for the first time but Cavan rejected Honora because he thought her too weak to be his wife. 

This was a more angsty read compared to other Donna Fletcher novels I've read, but I still loved it. I like that it didn't take long for them to start communicating and that Cavan realized pretty early on in the book that Honora was abused. I liked how he was always so sure and proved to her that though they didn't want to get married to each other, he was not going to hurt her and do his best to be a good husband. Watching Honora finally show her strength externally and allowing Cavan to realize that she really is strong, just in a different way was so sweet. I also loved that Honora was more on board with consummating the marriage, but Cavan was trying to keep himself separated from her and his family for their protection.

I really enjoyed the progression of their relationship. It felt really natural and they seemed to really click and be drawn to each other without realizing it. I also loved that he allowed her to keep one of the new puppies. I do feel like the villain and his plans were fairly obvious. I did love that Honora was kidnapped, she actually escaped the barbarian encampment without Cavan's help. I'm super intrigued to see how the story evolves and can't wait to see what happened to the missing youngest brother Ronan and see the younger brothers get their HEAs!

I am super happy to read more Donna Fletcher and will probably jump back into this or one of the other series I started after my book clubs and readathons have a break. Plus, like I mentioned I have all her books on my wishlist. Not only are the covers absolutely gorgeous, but I really like how Donna Fletcher writes and the emotions she evokes. Her books are becoming such a great comforting, feel good read for me. Plus it's fun that her historicals are mostly highlander romances! She is definitely one of my favorite historical authors and I couldn't recommend her more!

Have you read Return of the Rogue?

Bookishly Yours, 

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Return of the Rogue, Donna Fletcher, 5-stars, 1 day, eBook, 384 pages, published in 2008

Tarkken by Annabelle Rex

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The fifth book I read for the Kindle Clear Out Readathon was Tarkken by Annabelle Rex. This is the fourth and I think last book in her Intergalactic Soulmates. I've seen other covers, but the series lists I've seen only lists four. Plus the epilogue makes me think that this was the last book planned. Once again this doubled up on prompts already covered on my bingo board.

This book focuses on the computer whiz Marta (who we met in Cael and is Asha's best friend) and Tarkken (who is Cael's head of security and also his tech man). I was really hoping after reading Cael that Tarkken and Marta would be paired since they both had kind of similar roles. Tarkken also makes fun of humans and their pets, especially cats and I could see the set up since Marta has a kitty named Mouse. 

Marta's backstory was little more angsty than I was expecting, with her father constantly getting arrested and basically abandoning her without actually realizing how his actions were affecting her and their relationship. Tarkken's race is an empathic race, and to function properly must connect emotionally with others. While surface probing can help when it's large groups of people, what's really needed for his health is a deep emotional connection. Being that his home planet everyone is pretty much open emotionally all the time, he's almost neuro-diverse in that he's okay with reading others but can't stand to be read himself.  Throughout all the books, Tarkken was my favorite hero. Tarkken and Marta end up hunting the leader of the anti-alien hate group and at a club end up kissing to cover up them being in a restricted area. Quickly after, they can't stay away from each other. Marta and Tarkken are my favorite couple of the series, and if it wasn't for her father and the overarching plot, this would've been my favorite book of the series.

A big reason it didn't get 5-stars was the epilogue. It's a year or so later and there is a global government now and Earth is finally coming together. There's a bill passed that aliens are now considered "people" and are subject to laws and all the benefits of being "human." Like adoption and those that attack them being able to be persecuted. Not only was it a little long, but we meet this random other match and learn about them a little. Plus we spend a lot of time with the other three couples, including a surprise marriage for Cael and Asha. I just wanted more HEA for Marta and Tarkken. I also didn't like that their plan was to separate from everyone else and go on their own adventures. Wouldn't Cael still need his head of security to the other places he visits? I don't know, the epilogue just ruined my enjoyment and I almost wish I didn't read it. Although, it was cute that Tarkken created a little cubby for Mouse so Marta didn't have to give her up and even got a special permit to take her with them. 

Overall I enjoyed this quick little novella series and it was nice to read some alien romances that didn't have the women being kidnapped and tortured before being rescued by their heroes. I'll definitely read more from Annabelle Rex. It'd be nice to get more alien with my alien romance though. But like I've said, these were quick fun reads that was a perfect in between my planned historicals. Oh, and I didn't mention, but this also doubled for the short story or novella prompt. 

Have you read Tarkken?

Bookishly Yours, 

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Tarkken, Annabelle Rex, 4-stars, 0 days, eBook, 152 pages, published in 2020

Garrant by Annabelle Rex

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The fourth book I read for the Kindle Clear Out Readathon was book three in Annabelle Rex's Intergalactic Soulmates series, Garrant. This doubled up for prompts that were already taken on my bingo board.

So Garrant is different from the first two in that we aren't focusing as much as the overarching plot. Between Cael and Garrant (the books), Asha and Cael have put together an intergalactic games. Basically it's the Olympics, but broadcast through the universe and will feature both the human and intergalactic competitions. It's meant to be a show of good will for everyone and to help with Earth's integration. So I would classify this as a alien, fated mates, sports romance. 

Garrant is a hyperdisk athlete, which is described as a mix of basketball and football (I'm assuming the soccer football since this is mainly set in England). From the descriptions it seems more like hockey, but with a frisbee sized puck that's thrown between players. Also they wear propulsion shoes, so they're all above an anti-gravity field and kind of flying. Garrant is friends with Cael's sister, so when the group gets together for the opening ceremony, he meets Asha's sister Nell. They immediately are attracted to each other and sneak away for a quickie during the after ceremony cocktail party. 

Nell's 5 year-old son Mikey was such a sweetheart throughout this book and I loved how drawn to Garrant he was. They had such a great relationship. We also deal with Nell's ex coming back now that she's related to the new princess. He plays it off that he's interested in knowing his son and getting back with Nell, but it's really because she's become "someone." Another storyline is that Garrant is injured and this will be his last big competition before retirement. He is dealing with what comes next for him after he retires, especially since he doesn't have a match/family to spend time with. I loved the connection that Garrant and Nell shared and I loved that this was separate from all the political goings on in the other three books. If I look at the books as a whole, this would be my favorite. Once again though, I wanted more alien from him. He is covered with tattoos that are important moments in his life, but that was really the main difference. His race has this fun almost pathway-type ability that comes from meditation. Garrant hasn't mastered it though since he can't seem to sit still long enough to form that connection, but in a frank conversation with Mikey he finally achieves it. While that is alien, it's more of a meta-physical/mental power. Even though this was my favorite of the series, it didn't have that extra oomph that made it a 5-star for me. However, I did immediately jump into the fourth book Tarkken. 

Have you read Garrant?

Bookishly Yours, 

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Garrant, Annabelle Rex, 4-stars, 0 days, eBook, 136 pages, published in 2020

Cael by Annabelle Rex

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The third book I read for the Kindle Clear Out Readathon was Annabelle Rex's Cael. This is the second book in her Intergalactic Soulmates series and focuses on Prince Cael. I used this for the novella or short book prompt on my bingo board.

Our heroine Asha is mechanic and also takes on small jobs for money. She is paying back loan sharks for alien technology eye replacement for her nephew Mikey. She only has three months left, but he decides instead that she's going to take the DNA Match in exchange for the remaining debt. If she is matched, she's supposed to steal a translator and bring it back. There is a big tea party even happening (the books are set in Britain) and there's an anti-alien hate group that causes riots and ruins the event. Asha ends up saving Cael and they get separated from his bodyguards and everybody else. Asha was such a strong character, but I did think that she was a little too against the match the further we got in the story. I feel like she should've softened to Cael a little sooner and slowly so that it didn't seem like a complete 180.

I did enjoy Cael, but I did wish that he was a bit more alien. I do understand and that he was the easiest to appear human since he was the dignitary and it helped so humans wouldn't be quite as afraid, but I wanted more alien. Overall I enjoyed this quick fated mates-esque novella and am intrigued to see how the overarching plot with the hate group wraps up. I did immediately jump to the third book, Garrant, so there's that. I know this review is a little shorter, but it was cute and fine and a good break from all the historical romance I've been reading. Just not much else to say about this one.

Have you read Cael?

Bookishly Yours, 

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Cael, Annabelle Rex, 0 days, eBook, 141 pages, published in 2020

Kindle Clear Out Readathon Wrap Up

 Happy Spring Equinox!

Last Friday was the end of the second round of the Kindle Clear Out Readathon hosted by JessenReadsRomance, TheBookRefuge, Whitty Reads, Falling4romance, Crystal's Bookish Life, averielovesbooks and Stephs Romance Book Talk! I had a lot of fun, and due to our regular mid-March blizzard I ended up not being able to go to work on Monday. I ended up with almost a full extra day of reading (outside of having to shovel a couple feet of snow). 

I passed my goal of 6 books, but did end up reading some extras that doubled for prompts and didn't quite next me a bingo at 6. I did end up not reading a buddy read which left me one short of a black-out. I ended up ready other books not on my tbr first, but did manage to start and finish my oldest tbr book late Friday night. While this readathon doesn't quite "clear out" my kindle as it does for others, it was fun to read some of the books I've been meaning to get to. As explained in my tbr post, my kindle is the 1st generation fire. To get books added I mostly manually edit metadata and transfer it over. Also, I have nothing else on it but books, so there's over 7,000 and I keep my kindle pretty full most of the time. I've been better about deleting books once finished and syncing it more often, but there are times when I need to spend several hours updating purchases and making sure everything's how I like it. If I do it weekly or bi-weekly it usually doesn't take as long if I can stay caught up. But back to the readathon... One reason I love this readathon is that it's not genre specific, so I'm able to fit prompts with my mood reading a little easier. Although I did better choosing my tbr and following it this time, it helped that I waited until closer to the readathon to put together my tbr.

Like previous wrap-ups, I'll list the books read in order read below with the rating and prompts it covered. There are several of them that cover multiple prompts, but I'll just go ahead and post the ones that I assigned on the bingo board. I'll also link to the review once it's posted. There are only a couple right now as I've been reading quite a bit lately and have quite a back log, but I'll add the links as they are uploaded.

1. My Kind of Earl by Vivienne Lorret 🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎 - Anticipated Read Never Got To

2. Randar by Annabelle Rex 🍎🍎🍎🍎 - New Author

3. Cael by Annabelle Rex 🍎🍎🍎🍎 - Short Book or Novella

4. Garrant by Annabelle Rex 🍎🍎🍎🍎

5. Tarkken by Annabelle Rex 🍎🍎🍎🍎

6. Return of the Rogue by Donna Fletcher 🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎 - Favorite Trope (Wrong Sibling)

7. Her Big City Neighbor by Jackie Lau 🍎🍎🍎🍎 - Favorite Author

8. His Grumpy Childhood Friend by Jackie Lau 🍎🍎🍎🍎 - POC Author

9. Bound by Honor by Cora Reilly 🍎🍎🍎🍎

10. Seized by Love by Susan Johnson 🍎🍎 - Oldest TBR

I ended up reading 10 books, 4 over my goal! I also had a lot of good reads with 2 5-stars and 7 4-stars and 1 2-star. It helped that most of the books I chose where from authors that I already loved or had heard great things about. My favorite read is either My Kind of Earl or Return of the Rogue. Although I'm super excited to finally start Cora Reilly's books since I know I'll love some of the later books in her series. As is probably easy to guess, my least favorite was Seized by Love, but I'll go more into that in my review. This was super fun and I can't wait for the next readathon! Hopefully it won't be too soon though since I have some book club books to get through first. 

Did you participate in the Kindle Clear Out Readathon? If so, how did you do this week?

Bookishly Yours, 

Stasi🍎

Randar by Annabelle Rex

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The second book I read for the Kindle Clear Out Readathon was Randar by Annabelle Rex. This is the first book in her Intergalactic Soulmates series. This both works for the novella or short book prompt, as well as the new author prompt. I chose for it to be on new author on my bingo board.

So after reading a lot of historical romance lately, I wanted a little bit of change before jumping into one of my other planned books for the readathon. However, most are full length and also historical. I just kind of scrolled through my kindle for a bit looking for someone I hadn't tired yet, and settled on Randar.

In this world, aliens have come to Earth and are working to integrate humans into the intergalactic community. They've brought fun new technology, including the DNA match test. This is a test that provides you a Match (once they're in the system) to kind of your fated mate. It is super successful and gave this short series a fated mates feel. Randar is a body guard to the Prince Cael (who is the hero of book 2) and ends up matched with Angela. Her friend drunkenly signs up her up after a bad date and she gets matched. As aliens are still fairly new, there aren't too many humans signing up for the program and there is a lot of picketing and protests against aliens. 

There is a lot of commentary in these books, and usually more than I care to read about so blatantly, but I did still enjoy these books. What's fun about these is that despite them being matched, it's made clear that both parties have to work on the relationship and still do the work to really have a successful relationship. Angela and Randar's first meeting is rough as each are making assumptions based on their experiences and not the fact that they are with a different species. Angela deals with a lot of abandonment and body issues, but I loved that Randar was very communicative once they broke through that barrier. I didn't like the congressman type villain that was causing Angela's insecurities to rise again, it just felt unnecessary. I did love that she overcame them and didn't lean on Randar to stand up for herself. Even though this was a shorter novella, I enjoyed the overarching plot and was intrigued to read more. I immediately jump into Cael, the second book.

Have you read Randar?

Bookishly Yours, 

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Randa, Annabelle Rex, 4-stars, 0 days, eBook, 110 pages, published in 2020

My Kind of Earl by Vivienne Lorret

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The first book I read for the Kindle Clear Out Readathon was Vivienne Lorret's My Kind of Earl. This is the second in her Mating Habits of Scoundrels series. Before the readathon, I reread the first book. This was for the anticipated read prompt on my bingo board. 

I absolutely adored this book. I think I liked the overarching plot better than the first, but couple wise they are tied. Jane, our bookish and scientifically minded debutante, is taking charge in writing the book on scoundrels. The book starts off with her sneaking into a brothel for research. Raven, our hero, sees her sneak in and keeps an eye on her. Quickly she is found. Raven rescues her and he ends up being dyed pink by her smoke bomb. This book started off so fun and I loved how drawn they were to each other right away.

Jane recognizes a "birthmark" on Raven's arm and eventually this leads to him being the lost baby and heir to an Earldom. I loved how Jane and Raven interacted with each other and just seemed to be in sync. Even though she was scientifically minded, she wasn't like other characters I've read like that. A lot of the time they come across almost stupid in emotions. She is not as emotionally minded, but she also doesn't disregard them as unnecessary or understand them. It was such a nice change of pace. It was interesting to see the love match of her parents, but in a selfish way since they ignore all of their children and focus on each other. Jane is left to almost be a mother to them and even when eating her parents don't notice her most of the time and seem surprised when they realize she's there.

Raven is there for Jane and isn't afraid of the "hoarde" as she affectionately calls her siblings. Raven was interesting as well, being an orphan and raised on the streets. He did still have some aristocratic tendencies which was interesting. It was also fun to see that some of his most cherished possessions were books. He did fight against becoming apart of the aristocracy, but I loved that he made it a point to get to know his grandfather and that he constantly emphasized that what he really wanted was a family. 

While both books were 5-stars for me, I think that My Kind of Earl is slightly above Lord Holt Takes a Bride. The third book, focusing on the third friend Ellie, is due to come out June of this year and I can't wait! I'm excited to see how her HEA unfolds. And even though Prue isn't really in these books outside of letters to them as she's in exile, I'm intrigued to see if we'll ever meet her in person and if she'll get a book as well.

Have you read My Kind of Earl?

Bookishly Yours, 

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: My Kind of Earl, Vivienne Lorret, 5-stars, 0 days, eBook, 384 pages, published in 2020

Lord Holt Takes a Bride by Vivienne Lorret

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Before starting round two of  the Kindle Clear Out Readathon, I wanted to re-read Lord Holt Takes a Bride by Vivienne Lorret. This is the first book in her The Mating Habits of Scoundrels series. The second book, My Kind of Earl, is what I'm planning to read for the "anticipated read I never got to" prompt. I read this book for the first time back in June 2020 and gave it 3-stars. However after thinking on it for a bit, I ended up changing my rating to 4-stars. Upon my reread however, I have to move this to 5-stars.

Lord Holt Takes a Bride is such a fun, twisty, road-trip romance that I absolutely adore. Winnifred is an heiress that is being forced by her father to wed a man that could become a duke. He is horrible and on their wedding day sends pearls accidentally to Win, with a note for his mistress. Win is more on the plus-size and she has freckles. Lord Asher Holt is trapped by his father's debt and his addiction to gambling. His father has sold most of what was his mother's and constantly uses Asher's name for credit and sends the regency-time (or England-time as Erin from Heaving Bosoms would say) loan sharks after him for payment. After Win's friends Julie and Ellie "accidentally" kidnap Asher for their book on scoundrels, Asher loses the money he had for passage on a ship to look for treasure. So begins the reverse kidnapping to get his money back from the girls. 

I loved the way that Asher and Win just seemed to fit and the forced proximity keeps them depending on each other to reach her Aunt's estate. Asher is so taken with Win but keeps trying to not fall for her because he's hiding something. He also doesn't want to marry her with her dowry because he doesn't want his father to take advantage and ruin her as well. They are so drawn together and constantly are getting wet from rain and rivers and various activities. I loved when they pretended to be the Strewsberrys, a travelling quartet with the other two members having been murdered by highwaymen. While I know my rating was lower on the first read for Win's misunderstanding and not willing to listen to Asher or his explanations, this time it didn't bother me near as much. It was still angsty and I just wanted them to go back to communicating, but maybe I'm more into angst now? Although I did feel like I saw more of her side on the re-read instead of just being frustrated with her choices.

I have read Vivienne's Season's Original series as well and gave all those 4-stars. I'm super excited to continue getting through her backlist and she's definitely on my list of favorite historical romance authors and one that I think deserves more recognition. Plus her covers are absolutely gorgeous! I planned (and did) read My Kind of Earl first for the readathon!

Have you read Lord Holt Takes a Bride?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Lord Holt Takes a Bride, Vivienne Lorret, 5-stars, 4 days, paperback, 367 pages, published in 2020

Stranger in My Arms by Lisa Kleypas

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This read was March's book for the Rake Appreciation Society hosted by Crystal and Jen on YouTube. This is one of those rare and elusive Lisa Kleypas standalones. I'm a fan of Lisa Kleypas and was excited to try a new book from her, Stranger in My Arms.

I really struggled with my rating on this book. If I went of enjoyment it would be closer to a 3 or 3.5-star read for me. But if I look at it critically it's more of a 4.5-star rating. I went with 4-stars. While I did love the romance between Hunter and Larissa (a.k.a. Lara), there were some times were I wasn't quite sure why it was going the direction it was. So brief summary, Lara has been living as a widow for a few months (and years alone) after her husband Hunter goes to India. He passes away in a shipwreck. A few months later he's back, but there's something off and his treatment of her has changed. Is he really her husband?

Spoiler Alert! (Although most of my posts are spoilery.) Okay, so I'm going to call our hero Hunter 2 and Hunter will just refer to Lara's original husband. I guessed pretty early on that Hunter 2 was his brother. It was just kind of wayward thought, and we got hints that he wasn't Hunter pretty early on. They looked so similar though that even Lara was confused. Granted I wasn't expecting quite how his backstory was laid out, but I was correct! Yay me! One thing that really bothered me about this book was the child-like references. I didn't like that either of them would refer to Lara's skin as soft as a child's or similar metaphors. It was just really odd, especially when describing a 24-year-old woman. Another plot line I didn't like was the entire story with her sister Rachel. I felt like Rachel could've had a bad relationship with her husband, but did it really need to go into the beatings and miscarriages? I know that that was part of what the book was trying to point out and the ownership of women at that time, but it felt too much. It just made me uncomfortable on top of all of the other goings on with Hunter 2. I feel like Rachel deserves her own book and HEA.

The ending was weird for me too. I didn't like that Lara caused everything to hit the fan, but then at the last minute change her mind. She was so staid in her ways on what was "right" but wasn't actually looking at the larger picture of what was "good." Once again, I understand what Lisa Kleypas was trying to show, but it just felt like too much whiplash emotionally for the last couple chapters. Then we had Lara's and Rachel's lives threatened and Hunter 2 had to save them. Just too much. That's why if I would go with an emotional response, this book would be closer to 3-stars. 

I love Lisa Kleypas's writing though and even at the parts where I was getting frustrated and just wanting the characters to move on, it was still engaging. Usually I have more fun with the late 1990s and early 2000s historicals. They just seem to hit the sweet spot for me of being feminist without going overboard and too unbelievable for the time period (like a lot  of the modern day historicals). I'm definitely going to continue to read Lisa Kleypas and may or may not pick up this book to own since it has a gorgeous stepback. 

Have you read Stranger in My Arms?

Bookishly Yours, 

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Stranger in My Arms, Lisa Kleypas, 4-stars, 1 day, eBook, 368 pages, published in 1998

Stripped Bare by Emma Hart

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Before jumping into my next historical romance for the Rake Appreciation Society (hosted by Crystal and Jen), I decided to try another quick contemporary. After debating between starting a super quick read or continuing on with Holly Renee, I decided to go with Stripped Bare by Emma Hart. This is the first in her Stripped duology. I have read a couple standalones by Emma in the past that were 2 or 3-star reads, but I have also read her Kiss Me series and absolutely loved it.

I was intrigue by West and Mia's story. Now when this first started, Mia is at a bachelorette party for her best friend and has secured her a lap dance at the strip bar they're at in Vegas. She decides to get payback and book a private lap for Mia with the "very best." This would be West, former stripper and now one of the owners (although he does strip "for fun" from time to time). As he's doing the dance, they feel this attraction towards each other and end up meeting later that night at her hotel. Then Mia goes back home and a couple months pass. I didn't really enjoy the first couple chapters, but wanted to get their reunion before deciding if I wanted to dnf.

Mia's boss has a family emergency and needs her to take over a big client in Vegas that owns some strip clubs. Surprise! It's West she meets with and she learns he is the owner. This is when I really started to enjoy the book. While Mia gets a little aggravating pulling back from West so many times despite their attraction, I loved how patient and understanding that West was. He was so considerate of how Mia was dealing with her emotions. He never got pissed and stormed off. He understood when to push her and when to take a step back. Even in the big "climax" at the end, he just said he was going to give her space to think. He didn't walk away permanently or even threaten that it was permanent. He smartly realized that she needed to figure out what she wanted and needed to make the choice to go all in or not. He gave her the space and patiently waited. I loved West and he really made this book for me. Plus, he's a great dirty talker and a very dominant partner in bed. He calls her "mine" but in a very sexy and aware way that he's not actually owning her and their discussion about it was so hot. He just did it for me.

I'm not sure when I'll get to the second book, but I did love his business partner Beck and am intrigued to how his book plays out. In the epilogue, he shows up with a killer hangover and married to one of the strippers at their other club. I'm glad to read more Emma Hart and am happy this wasn't a miss for me.

Have you read Stripped Bare?

Bookishly Yours, 

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Stripped Bare, Emma Hart, 4-stars, 1 day, eBook, 293 pages, published in 2016

A Dark and Stormy Knight by Kerrigan Byrne

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The final full length book of Kerrigan Byrne's Victorian Rebels series is A Dark and Stormy Knight. As I mentioned in my wrap-up for the read-a-long, this was also re-name and re-released as Seducing a Stranger and is also the first book in her Goode Girls Series.

To round out the series, our Chief Inspector Carlton Morley, a.k.a. Cutter finally gets his HEA. As he is doing his nightly vigilante investigations, he runs into Prudence at an outdoor brothel. She is there several months before her wedding to lose her innocence since she's overheard her sister and friend (as well as most everyone else) talking about how many bastards he has and that he loves the ladies. Prudence and Morley end up staying together and he disappears before either of them can even give their names. They're brought back together on Prudence's wedding day when he walks in to her holding the knife that killed her fiancé. So begins the quick but crazy roller coaster that is their story.

I loved how Morley was so excited to be a father and was secretly working on a nursery. I also loved how drawn together they both were. Now I know that they both had their issues, but what I didn't like is how long he still did not trust Prudence and kept hurting her. It really hurt my heart how lonely she was and that he didn't notice it. The book also felt shorter and more rushed than the others. I guess looking at page counts, it is about 100 pages shorter than the others. I haven't looked too much into what sisters are going to get HEAs in the spin-off, but I do hope that Honoria gets one. Her horrible husband ends up dying in this and I really want her to find her own Knight.

Overall this was a fun intermediary book that takes us from the Victorian Rebels into the Goode Girls. While I wanted more from this and wasn't completely sold on Morley's emotions throughout most of this, it was still good. I feel like with Kerrigan Byrne, even if you aren't into the trope or plot of the story, the way she writes is still so engaging. I'll definitely keep reading her books, and as I mentioned in my wrap-up I'll probably pick up her Devil You Know series next.

Have you read A Dark and Stormy Knight?

Bookishly Yours, 

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: A Dark and Stormy Knight, Kerrigan Byrne, 4-stars, 2 days, eBook, 252 pages, published in 2020

Legendary Warrior by Donna Fletcher

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The first book I read in March was my own choice. It technically wasn't for any book clubs or readathons, but The Book Refuge's buddy read for February was Legendary Warrior by Donna Fletcher. This is the first book in her Warrior duology.

I really liked this book as was happy to finally get to another Donna Fletcher after reading Bound to a Warrior earlier this year. This was different, but I believe it was her first book. The romance was throughout the book, but it was more in Magnus's and Reegan's heads if that makes sense. Like months passed and they were thinking about each other. While we saw Magnus touching her subtly and them kissing, the tension wasn't quite as high as I was expecting. I did feel they were in love and can see them in their HEA. However, there was some random time jumps where months passed, but it seemed like despite being told they were still kissing and getting closer and spending all this time together, there wasn't much progress in their relationship. So it was kind of a slow burn with most of the slowness off the page. 

What didn't make this a 5-star for me was the plot with Magnus's half-brother and how suddenly it came to a culmination. While it was drawn out and everyone was waiting for him to enact his evil plans, it also felt absent at times. Then boom last chapter everything culminates. On one hand it was nice that so much focus was on the relationship for Magnus and Reegan, it felt almost like she ran out of pages for the big climax for his half-brother. 

One thing I did love was the surprise second relationship we see between Reegan's best friend Brigid and Magnus's right-hand man Thomas. They were both so sweet and it was fun to kind of see each relationship progress on a similar timeline, but with different misgivings for each heroine on going all in. It was a fun twist to have Reegan and Brigid going through similar relationship tests and being able to discuss and lean on each other when struggling.

Overall I loved it, and I loved the teaser for The Dark One and Magnus's ward Mary. While reading I was guessing they were going to get a book and when I read the blurb for Dark Warrior, I was pleased to see I was right! I'll definitely be getting to it, maybe for the Kindle Clear Out Readathon, which is going on now! I am really happy to get to my second Donna Fletcher and I absolutely adore her writing and the way it makes me feel. She is quickly becoming a favorite author of mine and can't wait to read more!

Have you read Legendary Warrior?

Bookishly Yours, 

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Legendary Warrior, Donna Fletcher, 4-stars, 3 days, eBook, 384 pages, published in 2004

Soulfire by Juliette Cross

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The last book I read for FaRoFeb was Soulfire by Juliette Cross. This is book one in her Nightwing trilogy, which also segues into her Vale of Stars series. As I've mentioned numerous times, Juliette is one-half of the excellent Aunt-Niece duo that hosts the Smart Women Read Romance Podcast. I actually had Juliette on my tbr (her Vampire Blood series) before I started listening to the podcast, but actually didn't start reading her until she started releasing her newer Stay a Spell series (which I absolutely love).

Anyways, I wanted for my last book to be something fun and special and to end on a good note. I went for Soulfire since it's a shorter book and I knew I could read it before bed in one sitting. However, when I started reading I realized I had the original copy. She actually re-released these in 2018 after revising, updating and adding a few scenes. I immediately restarted the newer version. 

This was such a great novella and a great introduction in her world with Morgans. Morgans are like dragon-human hybrids. They have wings and are otherwise humanoid in form. These are more of a fated mate trope so the romance was pretty insta-love. Being that our hero Lucius is a Morgan, it didn't bother me. When reading more fantasy or paranormal romances, the insta-love doesn't bother me as much (though there are some that aren't done well). Jessen (named after her co-podcaster niece) is at a club for a friends band and runs into her brother and kind-of fiancé and a brawl breaks out. Lucius saves her and they immediately feel a connection. I loved that they didn't just jump straight to kissing or more intimate acts. They almost became friends and had some fun but also deep conversations.

I just wish that it was longer. It is a novella and I knew that going in, but it's rare that I feel like I don't need more at the end. I am definitely intrigued and really hope that his brother Lorian is a hero in the next books. I haven't looked yet because I don't want to spoil too much. I'm super excited to continue and these are going to be perfect to read between books, especially during the week when I don't want to start something lengthy. I'm super excited to finally get into Juliette's backlist and will definitely be adding these in to my current reading rotation. 

Have you read Soulfire?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Soulfire, Juliette Cross, 4-stars, 0 days, eBook, 172 pages, published 2018

Hermes by Alessa Thorn

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The last book in The Court of the Underworld series I read for FaRoFeb was book four, Hermes. These great Greek retellings were written by Alessa Thorn, and as I'm sure you can tell from my previous reviews, I am obsessed with this series.

This book focuses on the damaged Hermes and his nurse Selene. We've met Selene throughout the series as their on call nurse. Hermes was just rescued from Pandora, the villain behind everything (as learned at the end of Hades). He has lost his memory (which we come to learn was actually a curse from Zeus before he died) and drugged. Now that he is back, he doesn't remember a lot, has a hard time forming memories and being around Selene just seems to calm him.

While I still enjoyed this book, it did a lot of advancement in the overarching plot. While it was nice to finally get some answers for whose behind all these horrible events and kidnappings, I wanted more focus on Selene and Hermes. Their romance was cute and I loved how mischievous he was, even when he didn't quite know that's how he normally acted. I felt like the curse resolution being the "moon in love" and Selene being lady moon and a surprise descendent of Hecate was a little too perfect. But for the these shorter books it still fit the established world and makes sense in a way. Just a little to predictable for me. While the other ones had some predictable moments, it didn't felt as obvious compared to the others. 

I really enjoyed Selene and loved getting to know more about her. It'll be interesting if moving forward we get to see her learning more about her magic and how to wield it moving forward. It was teased at the end that Hecate was still in the world and I believe she is who was woken up from slumber in the epilogue. It was also teased that Thanatos had a crush on her way back when, so maybe that's the couple? I haven't at the blurbs too much because while I'm familiar with the myths, next we'll be dealing with the titans who I don't know quite as much about. I can't wait to continue on in the series, but I might switch over to something for a little bit before jumping back in. Maybe I'll leave the last three for the Kindle Clear Out Readathon which started today!

Have you read Hermes?

Bookishly Yours, 

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Hermes, Alessa Thorn, 4-stars, 0 days, eBook, 212 pages, published in 2020

Kindle Clear Out Readathon

Wrap Up is posted!!

 Happy Friday!

Announced in February and hosted by JessenReadsRomance, TheBookRefuge, Whitty Reads, Falling4romance, Crystal's Bookish Life, averielovesbooks and Stephs Romance Book Talk; it's the 2nd round of the Kindle Clear Out Readathon! I ended up participating last minute last year and it was actually my first official readathon. Taking part was a big reason that I decided to start this blog. You can check out my badly done photos and few posts on instagram. What's fun is this round they're doing a create your own bingo board. There are two sizes, 3x3 and 4x4 and a list of prompts. If you'd like to see some of the blank templates I have them attached to the event in my calendar at the bottom of the page. I decided to do the smaller bingo board since I'm a mood reader and the readathon is only a week.

Here is my board! I just kind of randomly placed items, but am hoping to get a couple bingos, if not a black out. It's helpful that one prompt was a novella/short book and that there's no genre stipulations. I can just go hog wild!

I do want to point out though, my stats are going to look crazy high for books on my kindle when I started and finished, if I decide to post them. Right now I have over 6,000 books on my kindle and my storage is as full as it can get. I do however manually sync my kindle. Every month or so, after I've gotten through a good chunk or have some new books I want to add to it, I'll go through and adjust things. I'll remove series I'm not in the mood for and make room for what I'm adding. This is a little old school, but my kindle is the first generation fire and this just seems to work for me. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Just don't remind me that I'll spend a morning editing metadata and making sure that everything has a cover and is formatted how I prefer before syncing.

I'm going to not try to not give myself too strict of a tbr again, but here are some books I'm planning/hoping to get to since they're also doubling for some of my book clubs or something I've been wanting to read a lot lately.

🍏 Favorite Trope: My absolute favorite trope is wrong sibling. For this I'm hoping to start Donna Fletcher's Sinclare Brother's series. The first book slightly has this trope since she gets married thinking it'll be to the 2nd brother, but Cavan surprisingly comes back after people thought he was dead and ends up married to her instead. Although, announced last night during the Rake Appreciation Society live show (hosted by Crystal and Jenn), April's book is Lorraine Heath's Texas Destiny which also fits this trope. It would also fit with the Buddy Read prompt.

🍏 For oldest tbr, I'm thinking of going with one of the oldest published books on my kindle instead of what's been on there the longest. One of the oldest that's also a romance is Seized by Love by Susan Johnson. It was published in 1978. It could have some problematic issues, but it sounds like it could be fun for an older book.

🍏 The March book for Historical Hellions is Once and Always by Judith McNaught. I might do this for the buddy read prompt. Jenn with The Book Refuge (and one of our hosts) is also doing a buddy read of Elizabeth Hoyt's To Beguile a Beast for her discord. I might try either of these or even both.

🍏 For POC author I have a lot of choices, but I'm debating between starting one of Stacy Reid's series I haven't read yet or finally starting Jackie Lau's Cider Bar Sisters. These are two of my favorite POC authors and I can always count on them for a good, fun read.

🍏 For anticipated read I never got to I'm going to aim to read My Kind of Earl, the second book in Vivienne Lorret's The Mating Habits of Scoundrels series. I absolutely loved the first book Lord Holt Takes a Bride and was surprised I didn't read My Kind of Earl when it came out September last year. This one was a little hard to narrow down though since a lot of my anticipated reads I preordered and have in paperback. This is one of the few I didn't, at least with the more recent releases.

My goal is to at least read 6 books, which is 2 more than I did last year. That will also net me at least one bingo. They are doing prizes as well this round and Jen has them posted on her instagram.

Will you be participating in the Kindle Clear Out Readathon?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

Hades by Alessa Thorn

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 The third book in Alessa Thorn's The Court of the Underworld series is Hades. I ended choosing this book as my Angels or Gods bingo prompt for FaRoFeb. I was slightly nervous going into this one despite loving the first two books. Hades and Persephone is a retelling that I see the most for Greek myths, and a good chunk of them just don't hit what I want from it. *Side note, I absolutely adore the Webtoon Lore Olympus.

This retelling sticks a little closer to our original myth than the first two, but this time Alessa isn't making the "villain" into the hero. Even though going into this I was nervous, I ended up loving how she retold it. The prologue or first chapter is them connecting at a club after both escaping from a professional meeting. They are drawn to each other and end up getting hot and heavy in a private room before being interrupted. Hades goes crazy when he returns and she's gone. The main story line is 6 years later and in the same timeline as Asterion and Medusa. 

I love how strong and sassy Persephone was. Yes she was a little naïve in life and untrained in her magic, but she was so confident in her sense of self. The banter between Hades and Persephone was on point. I also loved that Hades asked her to fix his garden and she made a forest instead. She also was finally able to stand up to Demeter and I like how Hades just laid the breadcrumbs but Persephone really found the strength in herself. Plus they were so steamy together. There's a fun scene where they pretty much destroy his office. I also love that when Persephone's emotions run high wood furniture around her will start to grow. It just cracks me up.

When she gets kidnapped I was a little "meh" about that plot device, but I loved that it led to the rescue of the "inventor" that's been teased throughout the series so far. I was thinking it might Hephaestus or a demi-god I wasn't aware of, but we get Hermes! He actually ends up being the next book before we get to the other three court members. Persephone also gets to go hog wild with her powers and even impresses Ariadne (the assassin). She just gets so bad-ass at the end and I loved that Hades was just like "go get 'em tiger" and sat back. 

I'm super excited to continue the series and can't wait to continue! I know I've mentioned it in my previous reviews, but in case you're reading this first, READ THESE BOOKS! They are short, steamy, funny, swoony and so good. I couldn't praise these books enough and are some of the best retellings I've ever read. These are also some of the rare shorter books where I don't feel like I need more to complete the book. I want more because I love them, but I don't feel the relationship needs more. It also helps that there's a kind of fated mates or long pining going on for the couples throughout.

Have you read Hades?

Bookishly Yours, 

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Hades, Alessa Thorn, 5-stars, 1 day, eBook, 203 pages, published in 2020