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

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🍎