The Heir by Sophie Lark

🍎🍎🍎🍎

The time has come to start Sophie Lark's Kingmakers series. This is her newest series and the fourth book came out earlier this week. To celebrate the end of her series, Sophie and her husband will be doing a live show on Jenn's (The Book Refuge) channel. There was a mention there will be spoilers, so I wanted to get them binged before then. The Heir (formerly The Freshman) is the first book in the series. I was able to apply this read to the Summer of Swoon board 2 prompt booksta recommendation.

If you haven't seen my previous reviews of Sophie's books or weren't aware of her, Kingmakers is a spin-off of her Brutal Birthright series and also connected to her Underworld series. Our hero is Leo, Sebastian and Yelena's only son (from Heavy Crown). Our heroine is Anna, the eldest daughter of Nessa and Miko (from Stolen Heir). They've grown up together and are best friends. Instead of going to a traditional college, they both are accepted to Kingmakers. It's a secretive and secluded school to train mafia children. There are four "houses," the heirs, accountants, enforcers and spies. Everyone has a little bit of overlap, but there are also house exclusive trainings. There is also a big event every year where each grade competes to win. Leo wants to not only be the freshman team captain, but also be the first freshman team win.

This book was a struggle for me. I had known going in that it was going to be a love triangle since Sophie Lark mentioned it in a previous live show she did on Jenn's channel. I do not have the patience for love triangles most of the time and just get so frustrated with a lot of the situations. While Anna never really quite fell for Dean, she was open and vulnerable with him. Where I really struggled though was partly with Dean and also the situations they were put in. I didn't like that Dean orchestrated Leo getting drugged and that it wasn't addressed until the end of the book. I also didn't like that there was any communication between Leo and Anna about their relationship changing until almost 70% of the way through. On top the misunderstanding and small time jump, it just was something I didn't enjoy. Then we kind of fast forward through time and don't see much of Anna and Leo being together outside of the competition or a couple sexy times. I did think it was sweet that they both ended up being virgins and were almost subconsciously saving themselves for each other.

I think the big crux for me was I wanted more romance between Leo and Anna. Actually, to see it instead of it being montaged until the end of the school year. I also had a lot of issues with Dean. He was so blind in his hatred towards Leo. It was kind of mentioned once, but I wish that Anna would've pushed Dean more about just even recognizing that there are two sides to the story. I do know that the third book in the series is Dean's book and he's intentionally set up to be the big bully moving forward. I don't know, it just felt like too much at times and made me question if he really was as smart and he was made out to be. While I understood his jealousy of Leo and how drastically their lives differed from the same starting point, but I didn't like his constant belief that Leo didn't deserve any of it. That's another thing to mention, this series has a third pov. This book was Dean. I don't think I mentioned it before, but Dean is Leo's cousin and the son of Yelena's twin brother Adrian.

Even though this book was really a 3.5-star read for me (that I rounded up to 4), I was still engaged and really enjoy this mafia universe Sophie has created. I'm certainly intrigued to read the next book and am wondering who the other couples will be outside of knowing Dean is the third book. I've heard spoiler free reviews of her last book that says she wrapped everything up really well, even for our side characters. I hope we get to see, even if it's in the background, Ares get his hea. I really liked him a lot and want him to be happy. I just connected so much with him, especially with his introverted nature. I'm also loving the Harry Potter and Hogwarts inspiration for the school. It's done so well!

Have you read The Heir?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: The Heir, Sophie Lark, 4-stars, eBook, 0 days, 509 pages, published in 2021.

Snow by Sophie Lark

🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎

Moving along in Sophie Lark's Underworld series, book 2 is Snow. As I mentioned in my previous review of Ivan, Sophie is going to be on Jenn's (The Book Refuge) channel on August 7th to celebrate the end of her Kingmakers series. During the previous live show, she and Mr. Lark mentioned that it was best to read her Brutal Birthright series, then the Underworld until Snow before going to the Kingmakers. Thankfully Snow is book 2 and I don't have more to cram in before the 7th. I was also able to apply this to the prompt indie romance for the Summer of Swoon board 2.

Snow is an underground boxer/fighter in St. Petersburg. He's working on improving high enough in the rankings to join a tournament and earn good money. He'd like to eventually move to America to fight professionally. Our heroine is Sasha. She just graduated from medical school and arrives home to find her family destitute after their restaurant started failing and her father now owes a lot of money to one of the local Bratva families. In exchange for what's owed, she offers her service as a private doctor. Snow meets Sasha and one of the fights, run by the same mafioso.

I loved this book. Sasha and Snow were both so sweet on each other. I loved how they both were able to really see the other person and not be drawn into each other's appearances. I loved how protective Snow was to Sasha, but it ended up being Sasha protecting herself and family when it came down to it. We do get a little cameo of Ivan and Sloane which was cute, but I almost wish that there was more done with them. It was almost laid out that Sloane was going to do or say something, but it never happened. This also was a little more insta-love, but it felt more believable here for me. I love Snow and Sasha and am intrigued how Snow will fit into the Kingmakers series. 

There was a lot more brutality in this and I was really uncomfortable reading Sasha's pov, especially when being paraded in front of the other bratva boss. I haven't read too many fighter romances though, so it was really interesting to see behind the scenes a little bit. I've heard good things about quite a few mma/fighter romances lately, and this certainly helped move them up my tbr. 

I can't wait to jump over the Kingmakers and hopefully it lives up to the hype. I'm a little nervous since it's really been blowing up on bookstagram and booktube lately, especially with the release of the final book earlier this week. I do plan to come back and finish the Underworld series as well as the few standalones Sophie's written. It just won't be as pressing for me to binge it.

Have you read Snow?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Snow, Sophie Lark, 5-stars, 1 day, eBook, 312 pages, published in 2020

Series I Need to Finish

 Happy Thursday! Or as a local radio host says, Happy Little Friday! 

As we reach the end of July and I've been trying to stymie a book slump, once again, and I wanted to give myself a little bit of less stress about getting a review ready. I thought about trying to squeeze in a novella or something short. However, I realized I haven't done a "book tag" or something similar this month, so now is the time! 

I have a google doc going that lists series I've started. There is a grand total of 212 series on the list. This doesn't count series where I've read all that's been released but it's not over. There are also a few series when I created it that I left out because I'm not interested in continuing. I can't list out all 212 here, so I wrote a list of ones I want to get to soon. Low and behold I got it down to 44. However, this doesn't include new series to me that I recently started (like Underworld by Sophie Lark). I decided to narrow it down further to 15. Most of these are series I started in the mid to late 2010s that I never got back too. It's a mix of I was caught up and then never picked up the new releases and  I just stopped reading because I needed a change. I'll list the 15 I've choses below in alphabetical order of authors.

📒 When I was in college, my local library started a recommendation program. You filled out a short questionnaire about what kind of recs you want and books that you liked that were similar. One of the recommendations for me was The Others series by Anne Bishop. This is a super slow burn (over several books) that is more young/new adult urban fantasy with romantic elements. I was really intrigued by the world and gave the first few books 5-stars. There are 2 more books in the series now (and a 3rd to be published in 2022), although it looks like from the blurbs that it switches who we follow as main characters. That's a little disappointing since I vaguely remember the two main characters not getting together officially yet. I don't know, maybe I need to reread the last book I read. I definitely want to get caught up. Although I have noticed the newer books are listed in separately as well as The World of the Others series. 

📒 A fantasy series set around fairy tale retellings is the Blood Prince series by Jennifer Blackstream. I really enjoyed this series and loved the unique takes on fairy tales. Jennifer also didn't pair fairy tales up how you usually expect. For example, the first book Before Midnight is based around the werewolf area. Usually you see Beauty and the Beast retellings for werewolves, but Cinderella is the fairy tale retold. It's very unique and have been on my wish-list for a while now, eventually I'll own paper copies of them. There are 3 more books I have to read, but I know that book 7 is a retelling of The Christmas Carol set around the couple from book 2. It's only 62 pages though so I think it's supposed to be more of a 6.5. There's also a spin off series called The Blood Realm that does other retellings, but doesn't fit in the same overarching plot. It does take place in the same universe.

📒 For sports romance, I was really into Jaci Burton's Play by Play series a few years ago. What's unique about this one is that it's connected by family members and friend groups and just keeps expanding. Because it spreads like this, this series doesn't focus on just one sport. We have football, hockey, baseball, sports car driving and even rodeo! There might be sports I'm missing, but I loved how the relationships shift between books and that you can still get the same great writing but switch sports without starting a new series. I've read the first 7 books, leaving 7 more as well as a couple novellas.

📒 I always love to support Colorado based authors. One is Pamela Clare. I have a couple of her series to finish, but the main one I want to get to is her Colorado High Country series. It's based in a mountain town and finds heas for the local search and rescue team. We also have adjacent main characters like fire-fighters and police officers/rangers. In a recent newsletter of Pamela's she announced the 9th book in the series due out August of 2021. I have read the first 4 leaving 4 to read, soon to be 5. I really enjoyed the series and small town feel. Plus it's set in Colorado which I always enjoy!

📒 Another series I need to finish and chatted about recently is Olivia Dade's Lovestruck Librarians. I went on a binge of this series a couple years ago and then just never got to the last two books. I gave most of the series so far 4-stars and they are great fluffy feel good books.

📒 A series that's a few years old but making a comeback (thanks to tiktok) is Ruby Dixon's Ice Planet Barbarians. This is one the first sci-fi romances that I've read since highschool and binged the first 14 books a couple summers ago. These are great and while not every book was 4 or 5-stars for me, I still love the series overall. It's officially ended at 20 books, but I do know that there are a couple spin-off series.

📒 Sticking with sci-fi romance, another alien romance series I need to finish is the Kelderan Runic Warriors by Jessie Donovan. I actually have a couple of her series to finish, but this is my priority. I really enjoyed the unique species and different powers they had. It was such an interesting series and I don't know why I never read the last three books. I really want to and making this list is making me excited to get back to this one in particular.

📒 Another sci-fi and alien romance series I need to finish is Zoey Draven's Horde Kings of Dakkar. When I found this series last year it was touted as an alien take on the Dothraki Warriors from Game of Thrones. I was super intrigued and immediately tried it out. It was certainly inspired by the Drothraki, but I like that it's still so very different. I had read the first two books, but since then there have been two more released that I never saw.

📒 Now we'll do a double here. I am a big fan of Felicity Heaton and have finished a couple of her series. I've also started most of her others. One of my favorites is her Eternal Mates series. There's such a wide range of fantasy and paranormal creatures and such a ginormous and well built world in this series. I've read the the first 6 books and loved them all. I didn't end up continuing because book 7 wasn't downloading properly onto my kindle and I ended up switching series. I was very frustrated at the time, especially since the hero in Taken by the Dragon is a dragon shifter. Since it's been quite a while since I've read them, there are now 18 published and her recent newsletter mentioned that book 19 was with her editor and beta reader. I have some serious catching up to do.

📒 The other Felicity Heaton series I need to finish is her Cougar Creek Mates series. I've read the first two books in this four book series. I think I ended up switching genres and just never got back to it. Felicity recently started releasing the spin-off series Black Ridge Bears so I need to get caught up to move on. I think bear shifters is one of my favorite shifters. She also mentioned that there's going to be a second spin-off after the bears that's about wolf shifters in the same area.

📒 Going back to sci-fi and alien romance, another series I didn't finish was Elsa Jade's Black Hole Brides trilogy. I have the third book left and this would be an easy completion for me. These are about three women that are found kidnapped and are rescued and brought to a planet by a black hole that they were going to be "sacrificed" to by the villain. It was a super intriguing plot and I enjoyed the first two. Plus this trilogy has a little bit of a historical feel because of the way ruling body is set up of the planet they ended up at. I do have a couple of her other series to finish up as well. I really enjoy Elsa's sci-fi romances.

📒 A fantasy romance series I need to finish is Lords of the Abyss by Michelle M Pillow. This is about a boat crash and some humans are saved and brought to the society at the bottom of the ocean known as Atlantis. This is merman/mermaid romances and was super interesting. It was originally released as a trilogy, that I read, but now there are 3 more books! They were published 6 years after the original trilogy. It's been a while since I read these though, so I might want to do a reread before getting to the new books. She has some other series I need to start and finish as well.

📒 Jill Shalvis is one of my favorite contemporary authors and I practically grew up on her Lucky Harbor series. I was so sad when it finished and was super happy when she started her Heartbreaker Bay series that has similar vibes. I haven't read Jill in a while, but own all of the Heartbreaker Bay books. I would preorder them, but the last few books in the series were more holiday themed so I just didn't pick them up since I wasn't in the mood. I have the last two books and the final two novellas left.

📒 Going back to fantasy, one of my favorite fantasy romance series of all time is Kerrelyn Spark's Embraced. I have reread the first few books so many times and every time there's a new release I of course reread the series. I still have not read the last book and I just don't want it to end. I do want to reread the series again and then read the final book. I just have to pump myself up since I don't want to be disappointed both in the book and that the series is over. As a side note, Kerrelyn switched publishers after the first three books so the last two have a different style of covers. I wish that the first 3 would be rereleased with matching covers, but maybe that's just me. I just love that style of cover so much!

📒 The final series I chose for this list is Christine Warren's Gargoyle series. This is such a unique take on paranormal romance and this was my first series set around gargoyle creatures where that are main characters. I stepped away from this series since it's a little more on the suspense side of romance and I wasn't in the mood for it at the time. When I stopped reading the series I only had one book left, but now there are three.

I tried not to be too rambley with my list, but it just kind of happened. I really want to get caught up and finish all of these series. I'm thinking of maybe separating them into spinner wheels by genre for when I'm not sure what I want to read next. Then as I finish those up I can add some from my middle list of 44 series. I'm not setting up any plans on when to finish them by, but I'm certainly excited that I have more to read in some these series and had forgot about them. I'm sure by the end of the year you'll see some reviews for some of these!

Do you have any series you need to get around to finishing?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

Ivan by Sophie Lark

🍎🍎🍎🍎

After feeling a little ragey from Overruled and still fighting off a book slump, I wanted something that I knew I would enjoy. I checked through my tbr, but decided to jump back to Sophie Lark. She is having another live show with Jenn (The Book Refuge) on August 7th for her Kingmakers series. However, she and Mr. Lark mentioned in the previous live show that it would be best to read the Brutal Birthright series, the Underworld series until Snow and then go to the Kingmakers. I previously binged the Brutal Birthright series and decided to jump into the Underworld. The first book is Ivan, previously published as Emerald when the series was called Colors of Crime. I applied this read to the alternate/updated cover for the Summer of Swoon board 2.

We meet Sloane and assassin for hire in St. Petersburg, Russia. She's on a job undercover as a stripper to take down a politician. After finishing her job, she usually moves along. This time, a big contract comes through and she decides to go for it. Her new target is Ivan, head of his family. He captures Sloane as she breaks in to kill him and ends up keeping her prisoner. They both feel a pull to each other and she quickly becomes more than just his captive. 

I really loved this book. If I were to be super strict, it'd be more like a 4.5-stars, but I don't think it's quite there to round up to 5 for me. It felt quick, especially their trust in each other. Now don't get me wrong, I can get on board with insta-love and have liked a lot of it. This definitely felt more insta-lust to me. It was set up nicely, but I think you can tell it's an earlier book for Sophie. I certainly enjoyed how bad-ass that Sloane was and how she was willing to work with Ivan. She made it clear though that it would be with and not for him.

I really enjoyed this book and it definitely helped stave off my book slump for another day. We'll see how the next book fairs and I'm excited to get to the next book, Snow. Then I can jump to her Kingmakers series that almost everyone I follow that has read it absolutely loves. I do have a couple book club books I'd like to read by the end of the month. With me trying not to get slumpy and the Olympics happening, I'm not sure it's going to happen. I am definitely intrigued by this series and am excited to meet Snow (it's also his name). 

Have you read Ivan?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Ivan, Sophie Lark, 4-stars, 0 days, eBook, 243 pages, published in 2020

Overruled by Emma Chase

🍎🍎🍎

After feeling a little bit "blah" after finishing Broken Fighter, I wanted another change of pace. Just trying to keep from getting slumpy here lately. I read through a couple blurbs on books I had on my tbr for the rest of the month and nothing was hitting my mood. I looked through my ideas for next month and Overruled by Emma Chase was what stuck out to me. This is the first book in her Legal Briefs series. This covers the defense attorney prompt for the Ripped Bodice Summer Bingo and new author prompt for the Summer of Swoon board 2.

We start in high school when Stanton and his sweetheart Jenny find out that they're pregnant. Stanton proposes, but Jenny pushes for them to hold off so he can go to college and she can prepare for nursing school. He moves out of state and she stays home in Mississippi to raise their daughter with the help of both of their families. We cut to the future and Stanton is a criminal defense attorney in DC. They both had agreed to an open relationship when he went to college, and Stanton is currently in a friends with benefits relationship with his colleague Sofia. Stanton always believed that one day he'd get married to Jenny, but to his surprise received a wedding invitation for Jenny and someone else. It's days before the wedding and he convinces Sofia to go back to Mississippi to help him stop the wedding.

I was nervous going into this book because of the set-up and ended up really disappointed. Now before I get too much into what I disliked, I loved Emma Chase's writing. I've heard great things about her other series and have been wanting to read her for a while now. The fact that her writing was really engaging and there was great banter certainly kept me not only reading, but saved the rating so it was a 3-stars instead of 2. 

There were quite a few things I didn't like about the plot and set up of the story, but there are two that really bothered me the most so I'll focus on those. Stanton doesn't achieve closure or recognize his romantic relationship with Jenny is over until after 70% in. I did not like this at all and it ended up feeling rushed and I struggled to believe that Stanton was actually in love with Sofia in the end. He was cute with his daughter and did have some redeeming qualities, but he was blind to the situation longer than I wanted. As for the other main thing that bothered me, was Jenny and her decision to hide not only her relationship with the new guy, but her wedding. The reason why this bothered me so much was because they had a daughter together. I understand why she was nervous and kept putting off telling him she was dating seriously and then time got away from her. I understood that. What I did not like is in regards to their daughter. She was very mature for her age of 11, so that was nice and I loved how she would reprimand them when they acted younger than her. I did not like that Jenny hid the relationship and it came out that she had not only met the new guy, but was going to be living with him and her mother after the wedding. For Stanton to be completely left out of that decision and not notified really rubbed me the wrong way. I feel like Emma tried to make the reader not hate Jenny for the secrets and she was super nice to Sofia. But as a child of divorce and reading other single parent/divorcee romances, I feel like that was something that should've been addressed. I kept waiting for it to be brought up and become an issues, like I thought it should've been, but it never was. It just really bothered me and I still haven't forgiven Jenny and am still, a couple days later, heated over it. I don't care how nice she was to Sofia, she was wrong and it needed to be addressed. 

Okay, now I need to calm down. It just makes me so heated. It did take me 5 days to read this, although part of that is due to the start of the Olympics as well as my Aunt visiting for the weekend from California. I didn't dnf though, as mentioned above, because I did enjoy Emma's writing. The steam was also really well written. I'm excited to try more of her works and definitely want to read her Royally series. I might read the rest of this series. I've read the blurbs for the other books and it seems like the premise would be something I would enjoy more. We'll see how long it takes to get to those.

Have you read Overruled?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Overruled, Emma Chase, 3-stars, 5 days, eBook, 272 pages, published in 2015

Broken Fighter by Maggie Cole

🍎🍎🍎🍎

Wanting to get caught up in Maggie Cole's Mafia Wars series, I immediately jumped into book 2, Broken Fighter. Jenn (The Book Refuge) is hosting a live show with Maggie Cole on July 31st. I've been wanting to read her books since Jenn first talked about them. I originally wanted to start her during the Mafia Romance Readathon, but ran out of time. The live show finally put a fire under my butt and made me want to get to as many of her books as possible. Thankfully there's only 4 out right now, but the 5th book comes out August 1st. I applied this book to the Summer of Swoon board 2 prompt trope outside comfort zone. I don't want to spoil too much, but since we are aware in the first book, this book has the surprise pregnancy trope, which I'm not too fond of. Also hiding the relationship, although it made a little more sense than usual being their both connected to different mafia families.

Broken Fighter focuses on middle brother Boris and Nora. We see them as a couple in the previous book, but this book starts in the past and kind of shows the breadth of their relationship, starting when they're both in their late teens. There's a couple time skips to move forward in time line to get to the main events that progress their relationship. As we've learned, Boris and the Ivanovs are kind of connected to the bratva, but Boris is the main person still connected to them. He still has a deal with the head to meet once a year and do whatever he wants. Nora is sister to the non-mafia O'Malleys, but they do get dragged into the mafia side from time to time. Since they have the name and relations other crime families still come for them. The Italian Rossis start coming for the O'Malleys and specifically Nora and this gives them the final push to go all in.

This book was a little bit of a let down for me. While I overall enjoyed the writing and story once again, I felt a little bit bored. As I mentioned before, there's a lot of time skips. There's small ones mid-chapter that are days or weeks. Then at a new chapter there's a months or years time jump. It just felt too much for one book. We didn't even really catch up to the present time set up in the first book until about 70% through. I wanted to see more of the current time and less of the will-they-won't-they stuff for most of it. I did enjoy how protective and confident Boris was about his love for Nora. There was also too much hypocrisy from her family about Boris being Russian. It just came from everyone, even his best friend and Nora's older brother Killian. I expected it from the higher ups in her family, but not from everyone. Then the later parts where we're more in the present time felt rushed to me. Less than 30% to set up the next little bit just wasn't enough. I almost wish that some of the earlier parts of their relationship was a prequel novella to this and then we could focus on the more current storyline. I just was left feeling a little "blah" at the end of the book. Also, I didn't like when Nora freaked out on the girls during her wedding dress fitting. I understand why she was being protective of the guys, but I also feel like she could've been at least as understanding as the guys about how much it is to take in a process for someone not used to their lifestyle. It just seemed a little out of character to me. But she's pregnant so it was kind of blamed on that. Which I felt was a little bit of a cop out.

Even though I'm intrigued to read the next book, I didn't jump into it right away. I just wasn't in the mood to move on. I know that the couple teased met in the first book so we won't go back in time too much, but there will be some back tracking. Hopefully I'll be able to squeeze it in before the live show later this month. We'll see where my mood takes me!

Have you read Broken Fighter?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Broken Fighter, Maggie Cole, 4-stars, 1 day, eBook, 416 pages, published in 2021

Ruthless Stranger by Maggie Cole

🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎

After finishing Blindsided, I was kind of in a little bit of a funk and was debating what to read next. I ended up deciding I need a change of pace a little bit. I had wanted to read at least the first book in Maggie Cole's Mafia Wars series, Ruthless Stranger, by the end of the month. She's going to be doing a interview with Jenn (The Book Refuge) on July 31st. I was also able to apply this read to the Summer of Swoon prompt bearded hero on cover for board 2. And can I just say, thank goodness I chose this book.

Our hero is Maksim, a Russian with ties to the bratva. He's not a member but his mother created ties when they were suffering after his father's death. Maksim in is Las Vegas for his brother's bachelor party. Also in Las Vegas is Aspen who was surprised by the trip as a girl's day celebration for her divorce. There are conversations about getting back in the saddle that Maksim overhears and they end up having a scorching couple nights. One of the conditions however is that Aspen is blindfolded. They both leave Vegas feeling such a strong connection to each other, but not knowing who each other are. As things happen in romancelandia, they end up finding each other since Maksim is having property issues he bought from the city and Aspen is the employee set to help them. They immediately recognize each based on their voice and scent.

I absolutely loved this. First off, Maksim is in his 40s and Aspen in in her late 30s. It was nice reading a romance about older couples once again. There was a little bit of misunderstanding between them, but it came from some split-second assumptions and didn't last very long (thankfully). Outside of that, they really pushed for honesty and communication between them. Yes it broke down a little at times, but they both put in the work to try to keep themselves open and honest with each other. While I didn't like where the miscommunication led, I also understood how it was setting up things to come in the overall plot of the series. I also really liked Aspen's friends, although Skylar was a little bit over the top for my tastes. She was just at 110% all the time and I would've like to see more intimate moments between the four of them. 

Another thing I absolutely loved was Maksim being all in for Aspen. He was so protective and caring towards her and I fell for him along with Aspen. When she pushed back against so many gifts, especially the expensive ones, he described why he wanted to give her the best so eloquently. Sometimes with the super rich or mafia heroes it can come across a little manipulative but not here. I really loved this and am intrigued to read more in the series. I felt a connection more towards Hailee in her friend group and am hoping that she gets a book as well. There are a couple relationships set up and teased in this book, so I can't wait to get to them.

I'm a little sad I wasn't able to get to Ruthless Stranger during the Mafia Romance Readathon. I don't know why I waited so long to get to it, but maybe now was the right time. I feel like I could've gone in a book slump but this helped me not do so. Hopefully I can get to a couple more before the live show later this month!

Have you read Ruthless Stranger?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Ruthless Stranger, Maggie Cole, 5-stars, 0 days, eBook, 398 pages, published in 2021

Blindsided by Amy Daws

🍎🍎🍎🍎

The July book for the Smart Women Read Romance Patreon Exclusive Live Review was Blindsided by Amy Daws. The genre this month was rom-com and this was the poll winner. While this is considered a stand-alone; there are connections (which I found out at the end of the book in the author notes) to her Harris Brothers and London Lovers series. I was able to apply this read to the Summer of Swoon board 2 prompt starts with the letter "b."

Our English heroine Freya is a seamstress and best friends with Scottish footballer (we're talking England here, so Soccer) Maclay. There are connections through marriage and friendship to the football players and the boutique shop she works at. They became friends over a year ago and have a lot of netflix and hangout. They like to watch Heartland together. Mac ends up dragging Freya to a party and she plays never have I ever the opposite way and ends up super drunk. Things happen and it eventually comes out that Freya is still a virgin and wants to lose it before she turns 30 in a couple months. Mac decides to help her out as a love coach and eventually sex coach.

I was really torn on this book. There were parts I really liked, but others I didn't. I'm still not quite sure if my 4-star rating is too high. I liked that Freya was plus size, but I wish that she wasn't quite as hard on herself throughout so much of the book. Even after sleeping with Mac for weeks and understanding how attracted he was to her, she still felt she wasn't the "type of girl" he would be with. There was some good conversations between them about if she's being pragmatic or derogatory to herself. Where I have issues is how much she pushed against going public with Mac. Not with the paparazzi and stuff, but just with their friend group. She felt different from everyone else and constantly was counter herself out. Another conversation I loved was when they were all together in Scotland and all the women were hanging out together. Freya came to realize that she wasn't the only one with a disparaging inner voice. It just emphasized the point that you really can't know what someone is dealing with internally based on how they look or act.

Mac was very sexy and I like how into Freya was. I did wish that they conversed more and were both patient with each other during their conversations. There were a couple moments though when I wanted him to be a little more introspective, especially since he was touted as being in touch with his emotions. Another thing I want to mention, I don't think I laughed at all during this book. It wasn't a rom-com to me. It was definitely more angsty than I expected and was tearing up a few different times in the latter half of the book. I wasn't able to participate in the show last night live since my Aunt is visitng from California, but hopefully I can get the chance to watch it this weekend and see everybody else's thoughts.

I have had Amy Daws on my tbr for awhile, specifically her Wait With Me series. I don't think it's connected to this book. Based on the list in the back of the ebook I think there's at least one more connected standalone to this and the London series I mentioned above. I'm intrigued to read her other series as well. We'll see when I get to them though. I was excited to finally try her out though. I feel like I would've felt more connected to this book if I had read the connected series first since there was a lot of what felt like fan-service for the side characters.

Have you read Blindsided?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Blindsided, Amy Daws, 4-stars, 1 day, eBook, 305 pages, published in 2019

Hello Stranger by Lisa Kelypas

🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎

Continuing with my Ravenels reread, the next book I had was number four, Hello Stranger. In case this is your first post of mine that you're reading, I've been rereading Lisa Kleypas's Ravenels series in preparation for the 7th book to come out later this month. When I first mentioned doing my rereads, I couldn't quite remember where I left off (and didn't mark them on my goodreads for some reason). I wasn't sure if I had read Hello Stranger or not, but the verdict is in! This was reread for me. I believe that the books I have left will be new reads for me. Don't ask me why I stopped reading the series. I'm sure it was me waiting for the next book to be released and then just never getting to it. Anyways, I was able to apply this book to the Summer of Swoon prompt part of a series on board 2 and the Ripped Bodice Summer Bingo prompt of construction.

We get teasers of this romance starting in book 2, Marrying Winterborne. We have the first female doctor in England Garret that became friends with Helen and started working at Winterborne's (the department store). The former Scotland Yard detective Ethan has been attracted to her from the start. However he's not kind of a spy/assassin for a secret part of the home office and tries to stay away from her. He's been following her on her weekly Tuesday visits for charity services. She ends up being accosted and Ethan leaves the shadows and they meet once again. Now however there is a spark between them that really starts to grow.

I really enjoyed this reread. I remember not being as into this book before and didn't rate it as high. I do think if I were to be strict it'd be more of a 4.5-star rating instead of a full 5-stars. I could definitely appreciate this more now than when I read it a few years ago. I feel like sometimes the feminism can be pushed a little too much and a lot of newer historical romances kind of suffer from that. Here there is quite a bit of the individualism of Garrett and her being her own woman, but it was done really naturally and didn't feel like we, the reader, were getting beat over the head with Garrett's independence. It was done so well and it wasn't really part of the big conflict between them. She did make a point that she didn't want to marry and be forced to become the stay-at-home wife, but she never really felt that Ethan would do that to her. It was more society and "men" as a whole.

If you haven't read the Ravenels I couldn't recommend the series more, especially if you prefer the more modern historicals. Lisa Kleypas writes so well and really pulls you into her world and makes you want to be apart of one of her families. I'm super excited to get to the last two books and the new release. There are more people starting to read their arcs or received/found early copies of The Devil in Disguise and have been saying it's one of their favorite reads of the year and/or of all Lisa Kleypas's works. I just hope I'm not too hyped when I finally get to it. If anyone can live up to the hype, Lisa Kleypas is definitely on the short list.

Have you read Hello Stranger?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Hello Stranger, Lisa Kleypas, 5-stars, 0 days, eBook, 405 pages, published in 2018

Ripped Bodice Summer Bingo Mid-Challenge Update

Update: Wrap up is posted!

Happy Hump Day!

I can't believe we're over half-way through July. I've been doing pretty good on my summer challenges and don't have too much left for the Ripped Bodice Summer Bingo. In case you missed my original tbr or haven't heard of it, let me do a quick info dump. Ribbed Bodice is the first romance only bookstore that is in California. For the past few years they've done a summer bingo challenge and you can enter up to to 5 times to win prizes! That's four different bingos and then blackout! To enter and learn more, check out their website! The challenge runs through August 31st, so you still have time to join if you'd like!

Above is the blank bingo board and below is where I'm currently at as of this morning. I have a couple ideas for the rest of the prompts and will list them below! I'll stick to the prompts that I have left and go over all my reads and the corresponding prompts during my wrap up.

🦩 The July book for the Ravished by Romance book club is A Promise of Fire by Amanda Bouchet. This would cover the circus prompt. I'm hoping to get to this in time for the book club meeting at the end of the month and is a series I've been intrigued by since I learned about it during FaRoFeb.

🦩 Another prompt I have narrowed down is demigods. I have in paperback a two novella bind up by Katie MacAlister called Ain't Myth-Behaving that I've been wanting to read since I found it used. Now's the time to finally get to it!

🦩 The last prompt I have narrowed down is triplets. I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with Offside by Juliana Stone which focuses on a heroine that is not only a triplet, but also a female hockey player! The other option I'm debating between is a new book I found yesterday, How to Seduce a Duke. It's part of a trilogy by Kathryn Caskie about triplet sisters and the first book has my favorite trope!

🦩 Defense Attorney is a prompt I have several ideas for that I also mentioned in my tbr. I ended up starting Overruled by Emma Chase last night!

🦩 For reality tv I'm still thinking of picking up one of Olivia Dade's Love Unscripted series. I was also intrigued by Single Dad Seeks Juliet by Max Monroe. I don't think it's about characters on a reality show, but it's definitely inspired by the Bachelor franchise. There's a couple other bachelor inspired romances I've recently added to my tbr as well that I might pick up.

🦩 Graphic novel is one that I can easily meet. I have a lot of options if I spread this prompt to include comics, manga, and/or webtoons. I have read all in the past but just need to make a decision either way. I'll probably pick back up my webtoon app. I follow quite a few stories on there, but tend to leave it sit for a month or so and then binge all the episodes updated. Others tend to read every week, but I like to sit and read more than one episode at a time. To qualify I would want to either read an entire series or for the longer running ones, one season.

🦩 The last prompt I have is protagonist that smells like bread. I'm still a little stumped on this one. I fee like I saw somewhere that Mad About Ewe by Susannah Nix and Sweethand by NG Peltier both have main characters that smell like bread. Mad About Ewe was already on my tbr and is about a yarn shop owner, so I'm slightly leaning more towards that one.

I've only got 7 prompts left so that should easily be doable by the end of August! As soon as I read my last book for blackout I'll post my wrap up. If you want to see what I'm reading as I go along, feel free to follow me on instagram. I've been posting any challenge updates as I read a book in my stories and also have all my challenges saved as highlights!

Are you participating in the Ripped Bodice Summer Bingo?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

Devil in Spring by Lisa Kleypas

🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎

After finishing my new releases and having a little bit of time before needing to get to some book club books, I decided to finally get back to my Ravenels series reread. I had meant to read book 3, Devil in Spring, and book 4, Hello Stranger, last month (in June), but ran out of time. Now I have 4 to read by the end of the month. In case you're new around here, I am rereading Lisa Kelypas's Ravenels series since book 7, Devil in Disguise, comes out later this month on the 27th. It's also the August book for the Rake Appreciation Society hosted by Crystal and Jen. But back to Devil in Spring. I was able to apply this read to the travel or vacation prompt for the Summer of Swoon board 2.

So a little bit of a preface here. If you didn't know, one of Lisa Kleypas's biggest series is the Wallflowers. Book 3, Devil in Winter, has a hero, Sebastian St. Vincent, that is redeemed (he kidnaps the heroine in the previous book) and is a fan favorite (between him and Derek Craven). Personally I prefer Westcliff, the hero of It Happened One Autumn. But back to Sebastian, he and his wife Evie are the prologue of this book. It's such a great intro, even more so to touch base with them years later and just brings that nostalgic feeling that sets this book up so well. A fun note, there are a couple books in this series that have "devil" in the title. If it does there is some sort of connection to Sebastian and Evie. This is also why there's a lot of speculation about Devil in Disguise because fans can't quite figure out the connection beforehand. Back to Devil in Spring. 

Gabriel, our hero of this book is Sebastian and Evie's eldest son. He's in line for the dukedom and is the current Lord St. Vincent. Our heroine is the dark haired twin Pandora. As we know from the first two books, she's more the eccentric and energetic twin. She assists a friend in getting an earring and just so happens to get caught in the wood filigree on the back of a settee. Gabriel happens upon her and rescues her. However they are in a carriage house and get caught by Westcliff and the host of the ball. Of course this leads to Pandora being "ruined" and starts their connection. Pandora is dead set against getting married and her board game designs are starting to take off. Gabriel doesn't think, at first, she's the best personality to be his wife, but is super drawn to her and wants to do the right thing. Sebastian and Evie decide to invite the Ravenels to a house party for the families to get to know each other better.

It's never quite spelled out directly, but it's pretty much assumed by a lot of readers that Pandora has some sort of behavioral disorder like ADHD. She gets sidetracked very easily and has her habits to reset her mind. I love the way she portrayed without it being constantly shoved in your face that she's different. Gabriel also seems to be able to understand her more than others and know how to bring her back to the present. He's so good and starting conversations that are more engaging for her brain and really keeps her more present. I also loved getting to see more of the twin dynamic from Pandora and Cassandra. I also love seeing sibling relationships, but even more when there's that twin connection. It always fascinates me. I've heard that twins tend to skip generations, so if that's true there's a change that myself and/or my siblings will have twins. My grandmother had twin boys, but unfortunately they passed not long after birth.

I'm really excited to get back to my reread and am a little mad at myself for not getting back to it sooner. Lisa Kleypas is such a great writer and her books always sweep me away. She is known as the historical romance queen among romance readers and for good reason. If you haven't tried historical romance or Lisa Kleypas yet, the Wallflowers series is a great place to start (and is a shorter series). I can't wait to continue my reread and eventually get to her new release. I've seen some reviewers that received arcs for review really rave about it. There hasn't really much been said about plot (outside of the blurb), but they all have really enjoyed it.

Have you read Devil in Spring?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Devil in Spring, Lisa Kleypas, 5-stars, 1 day, paperback, 370 pages, published in 2017

Witches Get Stitches by Juliette Cross

🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎

Witches Get Stitches, the 3rd book in Juliette Cross's Stay a Spell series, is out tomorrow, July 20th. However, my preorder copy shipped early and I received it Monday, July 12th. Of course I couldn't wait and immediately started it that night. And can I just say, I had a hell of a Monday and that just made my day brighten and I kept fondling(?) and looking at it on my desk. This series just looks so freaking gorgeous! I also may or may not have hugged it a few times. I may be a nerd, but books just bring me so much joy. I was hoping to get time to reread the first two books last week to refresh my mind on all the little things, but I'll just have to do it later. Anyways, I was happy to be able to apply this to my Summer of Swoon prompt starts with the letter W and the Ripped Bodice Summer Bingo prompt karaoke!

This book focuses on the Savoie sister Violet. Her witch classification is diviner. We saw in the previous books her separating a little from the sisters and announced that she is starting a tattoo shop. She ends up partnering with Nico, a werewolf. We previously met him in book 1, as he's Mateo's cousin. In the prologue however we find out Violet and Nico's teased backstory. They are now partners and Violet has firmly placed Nico in the friendzone for various reasons. Nico is just biding his time, recognizing from the beginning that she's his mate. Violet is working on creating tattoos that are spelled to help various supernaturals with different things. Nico's old pack show up in town and things start to get a little more dangerous and twisty, especially when his former best friend Shane shows an interest in Violet.

I took my time reading this book, wanting to soak up every single word. I love Juliette's writing style and she just completely knocks it out of the park with this series. I was laughing at Fred, Violet's elderly rooster, and his preening every time she game him a new bowtie. I was crying when Violet and Nico were forced to dive deep into their emotions. I was smiling with glee multiple times, both from Violet and Nico and the side characters. I loved the glimpses we see of Evie and Mateo and Isadora and Devraj. It was also fun seeing and learning more about Grims, since the bookkeeper/receptionist is a young grim named Sean. I also enjoyed learning more about the different powers/classes of witches. Juliette has done such a fantastic job world building and creating this natural feeling yet vast magic system. It's hard to express how well laid out everything is. I feel like upon my reread I'll find hints laid out in the first couple books and know that there are hints for the remaining in the series.

Also, the steam is on point and Nico is another great hero of the series. It's hard to choose between them, but I think I'm a little more drawn to Devraj. Growing up I was always a vampire girl. 100% vampires, werewolves are stupid, etc, etc. In college by best friend Billy really pushed me to read more werewolf stories, mainly starting with Patricia Briggs. After those I kind of fell into a shifter wormhole and have really come to appreciate shifters (especially bear shifters). I still love vampires a lot, but as I've learned more about myself and my kind of love language, shifters just hit me a lot more in the feels. For most shifter lore touch is a big part of how they react to their loved ones, both romantically and  platonically. I think I've mentioned this before, but my love language is foremost touch. When Violet registers all the little touches that Nico does, on her hands, arms, lower back, etc, it made me swoon so much. I just love how it was Violet from the moment they met and Nico was going to take his time bringing her to the "dark side" until a real threat showed up. I also loved that when Violet decided to move to a romantic relationship, she was all in. There wasn't really any back and forth, she was in it to win it. 

I can't recommend Juliette Cross enough and even if you don't enjoy paranormal romance, I think this series is a great one to try. They have more of a rom-com feel and aren't quite as dark and gritty as most paranormals these days. I also love her other series and need to get through the rest of her backlist as soon as I can. Hopefully by the end of the year! She also announced that there's going to be a holiday anthology out in October called Walking in a Witchy Wonderland. I can't wait for the holiday feel good on top everything else she has in her books. And I'm sure I'll be blown away by the cover. I saw on instagram that there will be a print copy option again since she loves the cover. I'll say it again, read Juliette Cross. She also just launched Hearts Adrift on Amazon's Kindle Vella and it's inspired by the reality show Below Deck (which my boss Patti got me hooked on). Also, if you enjoy romance books and/or podcasts check out the one she holds with her niece Jessen, Smart Women Read Romance. It's my favorite romance podcast and every Wednesday morning love starting my day with them both! Jessen also has a great YouTube channel!

Since it technically isn't out yet...

Will you read Witches Get Stitches?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Witches Get Stitches, Juliette Cross, 5-stars, 2 days, paperback, 378 pages, published in 2021

Summer of Swoon TBR #2

Update: Wrap Up is posted for board 3!
Update: Wrap Up is posted for board 2!

Happy Sunday! Earlier this week I posted my wrap up of the first bingo board for Summer of Swoon! It's hosted by shelbytaggartreads on instagram and runs from June 1st through August 31st. I have followed Shelby for a while now and am super happy to finally take part in one of her challenges! Shortly into June there were several people making really quick progress on her board so she created two more! I have both shown below, but I'm going to focus on just the second board for this tbr/idea post. If you want more recs or the templates, she has them all saved in her stories.

As mentioned in my wrap-up for board one, there were several books that didn't match open prompts when reading. As I read those, I fit them in where needed to the second board. So as I officially start the second board, here is where it sits. I have already covered 6 prompts! For the more unique prompts, I'll list out ideas and recommendations.

🌊 As mentioned in my first tbr for Summer of Swoon, one of my least favorite tropes is enemies to lovers. I fell like this is something that's easily met though with some of my reading plans, mostly to get through the first couple of Sophie Lark's Underworld series and then jump to her new Kingmakers series. Jen is doing another live show with Sophie the first weekend in August to celebrate the final book of the Kingmakers.

🌊 For Shelby's favorite author I know she reads a lot of Vi Keeland both alone and with her common writing partner Penelope Ward. I've read several books by them as well and have found I either love it or it's a 2 or 3-star. There is one that I was really intrigued by since it was also reviewed by Smart Women Read Romance, and that's Egomaniac. I do have several of their books on my tbr, so I'll mostly go with something from them for this prompt.

🌊 I also have several books this month for book clubs that will cover some prompts. I'll be reading Blindsided by Amy Daws for the Smart Women Read Romance live patreon review. I'll most likely use that to cover starts with the letter B, but it would also cover guy on cover, recommendation from booksta, orange on the cover, standalone, indie published and new author. I'll be hopefully reading Flowers From the Storm by Laura Kinsale for the Historical Hellions. This would cover new author, standalone, updated/alternative cover, guy on cover, yellow on the cover and/or guy on the left of the cover. For the Ravished by Romance book club this month the book is A Promise of Fire by Amanda Bouchet. I could use this for updated/alternative cover, series, recommendation from booksta, orange on the cover, yellow on the cover or new author. A lot of options for these books!

🌊 There are also a couple of series I want to get through by the end of the month. The first is to finish my reread of Lisa Kleypas's Ravenels. I didn't get to my two books last month, so I have 4 I'd like to get done by the end of the month. These would cover quite a few prompts. Jen is also hosting a live show with author Maggie Cole. She found her Mafia Wars series and I  immediately added them to my tbr. I didn't get to any during the Mafia Romance Readathon, but I'd like to at least read the first book by the end of the month (the live is on the 31st).

🌊 There are only a couple prompts left that I can see me not hitting as easy as others (like the cover ones). The first is travel or vacation romance. I don't know why, but I fell like a lot of those are contemporary and I just don't gravitate to it as often (even though I've been reading a lot more of it as late). In my various tbr challenges I've mentioned Olivia Dade's Love Unscripted series which would cover this prompt (as well as a few others).

🌊 One that give me more trouble if I think about it too much is water on the cover. I know that there are probably a lot of books that I have that might have water (in some form) on the cover, it just doesn't stick out in my brain. I just need to look through my book covers slowly. Maybe look for some pirate romances?

When I read a book and it covers multiple prompts I tend to pick one that isn't met as easily as the others. Part of me wants to try to get this board finished by the end of the month, but that seems a little too extreme. I do also need to starting wrapping up my Ripped Bodice Summer Bingo, but I'm making decent headway on that one. I'll have a mid-challenge update later this week for that one. I'm having fun with the challenge and am excited to try to finish another board. At first I wanted to get all three done, but with my other challenges they haven't quite overlapped as I hoped. We'll see how things go though.

Are you participating in the Summer of Swoon?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

The Daring Twin by Donna Fletcher

🍎🍎🍎🍎

After jumping on Tempting Auzed after it's release, I went back to looking for books to fill prompts for the Summer of Swoon. One of the last prompts I had for the first board was sunrise and sunset on the cover. I guess I was thinking too much about it and was really stumped. After the Historical Romance Readathon, I rearranged my shelves a little and just happened to see that The Daring Twin was such a cover! Loving Donna Fletcher, I immediately knew that this would be option. This is the first book in her Twin duology. I was also able to apply this to the Ripped Bodice Summer Bingo for the bodyguard prompt.

Our twins are Aliss and Fiona. They are practically identical, but have differing personalities. Of the two Fiona is the headstrong protector, great at hunting and sword play. Aliss is more caring and known as a healer. After their parents pass, they move to their Uncle's clan. Now he has passed however and his son has promised the one with more courage, aka Fiona, to the head of Clan Hellewyk, Tarr. She does not want to get married without love and will not be separated from her twin. They decide to both temper their personalities between the two so nobody can tell them apart. Tarr ends up taking them both back to his clan to figure out which one is Fiona and then wed her.

First off, I didn't read the blurb before reading this book. I did know from reviews or videos I saw that they played this twin game. Of course I got super excited when it got to that part because my silly head decided this was going to be my favorite trope and Tarr was going to fall in love with the "wrong" twin. He'd come to learn that she was just as courageous, just in a different way. After the first few chapters though, and staying in Fiona's point of view I had to read the synopsis. I was wrong. I got myself so hyped up for no reason. I maybe should've read the blurb before starting and wonder if that is part of the reason I didn't enjoy this as much. I have to say that even though I liked this, my rating would more be a 3.5-stars and this is my least favorite so far of Donna Fletcher. 

Fiona and Tarr were both very stubborn, but Fiona really started getting on my nerves. She just wanted to be in love so much, but then wouldn't agree or believe Tarr when he realized he did fall in love with her. There was even one moment where she chastised herself for pushing back against him so much, but then immediately did it again. It took quite a few people for her to really realize how he felt, but then it felt like she let him in too easy and everything flipped. There was also a lot of time spent on other mysteries as we find out the twins aren't who they thought they were. Another thing that bothered me was the abrupt ending. We kind of get Tarr and Fiona's hea with their wedding, but there is a meeting in 5 days with the wolf clan that wasn't held. I'm not sure if the overarching storyline with the Wolf Clan continues in the 2nd book, but I did scroll back a little bit to make sure I didn't miss anything. I'm intrigued by Aliss's book and hope to get to it soon. 

I also really loved Tarr. And while he was stubborn, he felt more level-headed and willing to reflect on  his words and actions. I feel like he did way more growing than Fiona, and maybe that's why I had some issues with Fiona. I did love her strength and not being the stereotypical woman for that time period. Tarr also never really tried to change her, just get to rely on others outside himself. And let him know when she left the keep. I will definitely continue reading Donna Fletcher and will get to Aliss's book soon. Even though I didn't love this as much as the others I've read from her, the writing is still very engaging and easy to read. I can't wait to read more of her backlist! (There's also a small part of me that wishes it was the wrong sibling trope still.)

Have you read The Daring Twin?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: The Daring Twin, Donna Fletcher, 4-stars, 0 days, eBook, 384 pages, published in 2005

Tempting Auzed by Victoria Aveline

🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎

Last Friday, July 9th, was the release date for Tempting Auzed! This is the 4th book in Victoria Aveline's Clecanian series. It's one of my favorite alien romance series and I've been hyped to read it since her newsletter announced the release date and cover last month. I was also able to apply this to the Summer of Swoon board 2 prompt books nobody talks about. With alien romance getting a surge lately (thanks to tiktok and the sudden rush on Ruby Dixon's Ice Planet Barbarians), I wish that more people would talk about Victoria Aveline and her unique take on alien romance.

Auzed we met in the first couple books. He's one of the brothers from the heroes in both books. He's also the head guard at the Pearl Temple, the secure area where human women that aren't mated are staying. After Saving Verakko, they've been on the hunt for Alex since getting split from Lily. He finds her, but she has crossed into Sauven territory and killed a creature that was after her, but also considered sacred to the Sauven. They end up getting captured by Sauven rangers and Alex lies and says that her and Auzed are to be mated. There's political power plays between the reagents of Sauven and Queen of Tremanta. There is a lot at stake if their rouse is found out, particularly for Auzed and having broken three laws (crossing the border without approval, killing the creature and lying to the reagents). Things of course escalate between them as they are forced to stay in Sauven for a week. The reagents want to give Sauven residents the chance to scent Alex to see if a true mate is found.

I loved this addition to the series. I loved the enemies to lovers mixed with fake dating. I'm usually not the biggest fan of enemies to lovers, but there was a lot that both characters were going through. I did like how even though Auzed was frustrated with the situation, his main focus was getting them through the week and taking care of Alex the best he could. Focusing on being a guard, he never expected to have a chance to find a wife, let a lone a mate. Alex sometimes was a little too headstrong for me and I do wish that they had the conversation about what exactly was at stake for both of them earlier. The split up at the end also felt a little bit much, but I did love the hints we got about a couple romances moving forward. 

One thing I loved was Alex pushing for Auzed to not follow the Clecanian custom of wives not showing any care or feelings towards their husbands, especially in public. She wanted to hold his hand and do the little touches and felt it was important. She tried acting Clecanian, but I'm happy that it didn't take too long for her to be like, "Hey! I'm human. We don't do it like that." When they got in their argument I loved the point he made to Alex that there's a reason that couples don't act like that. Now he has to move on (he thought she was going back to Earth at this point) knowing what it felt like to have someone be affectionate with him and will never know it again.

If you are into alien romance or interested in starting alien romance I feel like this series is a good one to start out with. It has the normal tropes but the world is so fleshed out and really transportitive. I also like how the fated mates aspect is dealt with in this series. The mate mark takes a while to show, but I would like to see one book in the series where they get mated before really knowing each other and going from there. I'm really excited for what Victoria has planned and can't wait for the next book. Also, can we just take a minute to appreciate the covers? They are so gorgeous. I saw a couple months ago that you could get paperback copies and I had to get them. The covers are even more gorgeous in person and I even love the backs to them, especially Saving Verakko. I can't wait to get this one in paperback as well!

Have you read Tempting Auzed?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Tempting Auzed, Victoria Aveline, 5-stars, 0 days, eBook, ?? pages, published in 2021