Pleasure Unbound by Larissa Ione

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The 8th book I read for the Love in the Night Readathon was book 1 in Larissa Ione's Demonica series, Pleasure Unbound. Like I mentioned in my tbr, I've been wanting to read this series for quite a while and Larissa has been one of my sister's favorite authors. I actually have owned the first 6 books for a while as well. When we purchased them for my sister for her birthday or Christmas one year we ended up with doubles that I got to keep. I used this book for the demon prompt on the bingo board. Another fun note, I ended up reading this on Memorial Day and when I got the end I saw that Larissa is an Air Force Veteran and her husband is in the Coast Guard. A fun coincidence!

Tayla is a demon hunter and ends up in a brutal fight. The demons actually have a secret hospital, and when their paramedics arrive to pick up one of the demons she was fighting, they pick her up as well. Here is were she meets Eidolon. He's a seminus demon, a super specialized incubus, and head of the hospital. He treats her and they both are immediately drawn to each other. I also really enjoyed that the demon's slang for the hunters are slayers or Buffys. This put me right back into my high school Buffy fandom and immediately put me in the correct mindset to read this book. This is an older book, but since I started my paranormal romance journey mostly due to Buffy it felt like going home in a way. 

This universe is super cool and I loved the world building. I have read books where there are other creatures including demons, but never where the demons are so prevalent. I also have usually only seen demons as "bad" creatures and loved that this really focused on the shades of gray and that some demons could be good. I really enjoyed the mystery aspect to the story and the twists that kept coming. I also found it interesting that demons go through evolutions and the different powers they all have. We also do meet a werewolf which is fun. There are quite a few characters that I'd love to see get a HEA, mainly Gem and Luc. I know the next couple books are about Eidolon's brothers, which is super fun.

This book had some great steamy moments and I feel the action scenes were written really well. My only gripe would be how much Tayla pushed back against the truths she was learning, but I also understood that she has been brainwashed and had a lot of biases formed that need to be broken. I also didn't like that she wasn't as open with Eidolon about her trauma for so long, especially when there were quite a few times where it would've felt more natural. I still loved the twisty turns the intense feelings between Tayla and Eidolon. There was also a little bit of a stereotypical 3rd act conflict that seemed a little unnecessary, but I feel like it fit the time of publishing so it didn't bother me too much. I'm excited to continue the series and will have to try to work in maybe a novel a month. There are a couple spin-offs from the original series, but they are included in the Demonica list which has the 20th book coming out this year as well as the novellas. Another long series I'm committing myself to, but I'm excited for it since it's so unique from my other long running paranormal series.

Have you read Pleasure Unbound?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Pleasure Unbound, Larissa Ione, 5-stars, 1 day, paperback, 389 pages, published in 2008

Mating the Huntress by Talia Hibbert

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The fifth book I read for the Love in the Night Readathon was Mating the Huntress by Talia Hibbert. This was originally written as a standalone, but it has since changed to be listed as book 1 of the Monsters and Mates series. Last year the time of the first round of Love in the Night and the other Paranormal Romance readathon, this book was talked about a lot on BookTube and Bookstagram. I had added it to my tbr at that time. I am using this book for the POC Author prompt for both this readathon and the Romancing Summer Challenge.

Now Talia Hibbert has been on my tbr for quite a while now, but I haven't gotten to them yet. Mostly because they're contemporary romances and that's not a sub-genre I gravitate towards. After hearing she has a paranormal romance, as mentioned above, I had to add it. Boy am I glad to have finally get it. This novella was absolutely fun and sweet and hot. I can't imagine what Talia Hibbert could do with a full length novel.

Chastity is from a large family of werewolf hunters. She is not allowed to hunt though, even though all the other women in her family are hunters. Luke is a werewolf in the area. He comes across some of her sisters when they start hunting his portion of the woods, he smells Chastity on her sister since she's wearing her hoodie. He comes to find her at the cafe she works at and starts to kind of stalk her. Luke is so socially awkward though and it's so cute. Chastity knows he's a wolf and makes a secret plan to seduce him to make her first kill. She hasn't been allowed to hunt since a wise-woman said at her birth that "her first kill will break her heart." This is a little insta-love, but I don't mind it since it is a mate trope. I love the mate trope. I don't want to go too much into it since it's a novella, but this is such a great, quick read. It's set around Halloween, but didn't go overboard with the Halloween vibes. 

I'm really looking forward to getting into Talia Hibbert's backlist and when I do get in a contemporary mood will have to finally try her Brown Sisters trilogy. I highly recommend Talia Hibbert and have heard nothing but good things about her books. I've also listened to a couple podcasts she's been interviewed on and love her personality. I also should note, if you're looking to read more diversely, Talia is a black author and most of her books feature at least one POC main character. 

Have you read Mating the Huntress?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Mating the Huntress, Talia Hibbert, 5-stars, 0 days, eBook, 135 pages, published in 2018

The Warlord Wants Forever by Kresley Cole

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When spinning my wheel for the fourth book of the Love in the Night Readathon, it landed on IAD. That is short for Immortals After Dark, a series by Kresley Cole. I read the first book, A Hunger Like No Other, not too long ago and wanted to continue the series. I was thinking of starting the 2nd book, but decided to go with The Warlord Wants Forever. It is listed as 0.5 of the series. I am using this book for the host favorite prompt.

I have to say, before we get too much farther in, I did feel like I got more from this book reading it after the first. There wasn't quite as much world building, so it was helpful that I understood more of the rules and terminology before reading this. There is a little bit of explanation so you could go in blind and still understand the basics. I do have to say though that I understood the connection between Myst and her Valkyrie sisters better because I read the A Hunger Like No Other first.

Our heroine is Myst, one of the Valkyries we met in the first book. She is commonly used as bait for the various plans they execute. She is at a stronghold of Demetrius and Ivan's and is watching as the other vampire faction (led by Kristoff) is attacking. Myst is drawn to the made vampire Nikolai Wroth, a famous warlord from back in the day. He ends up coming across her and after some baiting and sexy times between the two, Myst escapes with her sisters after "blooding" Nik. Basically she started the vampire mating bond to become his Bride, but leaves him unfinished. Poor Nik is left in a highly aroused state for 5 years and can only find completion with Myst. 

We have a time jump and come to "modern day" (when A Hunger Like No Other is set) and he finally finds her in New Orleans. Nik ends up kind of kidnapping her after breaking the chain around her waist. Now comes the issue that I've seen a lot of reviewers have with this book. If someone else has the chain, Myst has to do what they say. I was intrigued, but didn't take issue with how things evolved. Yes, Nik had some learning to do about what exactly a "women's role" is from his time as a human in the 1700s. He also is dead set that Myst is his mate, blood bride and the only woman for him. Yes he sometimes goes about things wrong, but I do want to say that it came from his insecurities. He was so nervous that if he let her go again, she would leave him, again. That was actually Myst's plan. To seduce him into giving her back the chain and then leaving. I did feel like Myst was a little over the top sometimes and very defensive. It was nice how they evolved and grew together. I feel like it gave a really nice base for their relationship once the misunderstanding was worked out. 

They both were hurt and lashed out. My really only downside was that this was longer. It didn't feel rushed to me at all, I just really love her writing and the world she's built. I definitely want to try to read at least one book in the IAD series a month moving forward. Especially since this readathon got me out of my only historical binge. I'm also really excited to see what happens with Nik's brothers.

Have you read The Warlord Wants Forever?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: The Warlord Wants Forever, Kresley Cole, 5-stars, 1 day, paperback, 188 pages, published in 2006

Love in the Night Wrap Up

 Happy June!

The last week of May was the Love in the Night readathon hosted by Shae, Crystal, Izzy, Laura, Temecka and Stef. I was even more excited since this was also over Memorial Weekend here in the US. That meant that I didn't have to work on Monday and had an extra full day of reading. However, Saturday I was in a "get stuff done" mood and ended up barely reading, just a bit before bed. I cleaned the house and switched out my closet from winter to summer. I also went through my clothes and put together some for donation. This doesn't sound like much, but it took longer than I thought. It felt nice to get things reorganized and cleaned up. I still have more reorganization projects to do, mostly with my various craft stuff. But back to the readathon!

I ended up not finishing my board, but only because I decided I didn't want to use one book for multiple prompts this time. I could've done a blackout if I used multiple prompts. I also mentioned that I might start the readathon early, but ended up starting Monday night after I got home for work. I feel accomplished with my reads, but did try to stick with shorter books during the week when I had less reading time. I also used my spinner wheel a few times and actually followed it for the first time. In the past I've spun but used it as a gauge for my mood to see if I actually wanted to read what was selected. As my previous wrap ups, below is my final bingo board and reads listed in order read. Reviews will be linked as they are posted.

1. The Vampire Who Loved Me by Teresa Medeiros 🍎🍎🍎🍎 - Read a Sequel

2. Deal with the Demon by Chase Verity 🍎🍎🍎 - Read the Group Book

3. A Kiss for Solstice by Elizabeth Allyn-Dean 🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎 - Read a Witch Novel

4. The Warlord Wants Forever by Kresley Cole 🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎 - Read a Host Favorite

5. Mating the Huntress by Talia Hibbert 🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎 - Author of Color

6. Falling in Love with the King of Beast by Aimee Lynn - Try a Different Format [Web Novel]

7. Taming the Queen of the Beasts by Aimee Lynn [Web Novel]

8. Pleasure Unbound by Larissa Ione 🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎 - Read a Demon Novel

9. Peace, Blood, and Understanding by Molly Harper 🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎

Now my reads for number 6 and 7 are not going to have reviews at this point. As of now they are at 4-star ratings. They are a new format to me, Web Novels. I have linked to their landing page. I will most likely rate them once they are completed, but there's no telling when that will be.  I did read up to what's published, over 200 chapters for Falling in Love with the King of Beasts and 20+ for Taming the Queen of the Beasts. What is weird though is that Taming the Queen of the Beasts is the sequel but they're being published simultaneously. I'll probably pick that one back up once the first finishes.

I had a lot of great reads throughout the week. My favorite is probably my last read, Peace, Blood, and Understanding. I haven't read Molly Harper in a while and it was so nice to get back to one of my favorite authors. Her humor always hits for me and I always love spending time in the Half-Moon Hallow universe. My least favorite was my lowest rating, Deal with the Demon. I just was disappointed in it after hearing such great things, but you can read more about that in my review.

I'm super happy to finally get back to some paranormal romance and look forward to continuing all of these series. I almost want to start adding at least one paranormal book a month to get going on the longer running series. We'll see how I feel though. One more little bookkeeping thing, there is a live show wrap up hosted on Shae's channel. It'll be this Friday, June 4th, at 7pm mountain time. I'm excited for the live and can't wait to see what everybody read. I'm sure I'll have some new books to add to my ever-expanding tbr!

Did you participate in the Love in the Night Readathon? If so, how did your reading go?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

May Wrap Up

 Happy June!

Where in the heck is time going. And is it fall yet. We've just barely hit 80 degrees F here, and I'm already over it. I am just not good with warmer weather as time goes on. Hopefully we won't get too hot this summer and get a good bit of rain.

I read quite a bit in May and it's been one of my best reading months this year so far. I also funnily enough read only two genres, as you'll see below. I had a lot of fun binging paranormal romance at the end of the month for the Love in the Night Readathon. I've been wanting to read more paranormal lately and this was just what I needed to get me in the mood! As always books are listed in order read below after all my stats. 

May 2021

25 books read for 7,349 pages

💗 I averaged 0.72 books a day
💗 The average page count per book is 320.94
💗 The page ranges I read were 2 less than 100, 4 in the 100s, 3 in the 200s, 14 in the 300s and 2 in the 400s
💗 20 of the books I read were for clubs/readathons

💗 4 of my books were diverse reads

💗 I read 5 new authors

💗 I owned 4 of the books read in paperback and added 18 to my wishlist

💗 I read 4 books in paperback and 21 in ebBok

💗 I read in the following decades: 1 in the 1980s, 1 in the 1990s, 4 in the 2000s, 18 in the 2010s and 1 in the 2020s

💗 My average rating was 4.44
🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎 - 13 books
🍎🍎🍎🍎 - 10 books
🍎🍎🍎 - 2 books

💗 17 books were historical and 8 were paranormal romances

1. Scandalous Desires by Elizabeth Hoyt 🍎🍎🍎🍎

2. Thief of Shadows by Elizabeth Hoyt 🍎🍎🍎🍎

3. Lord of Darkness by Elizabeth Hoyt 🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎

4. Duke of Midnight by Elizabeth Hoyt 🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎

5. Darling Beast by Elizabeth Hoyt 🍎🍎🍎🍎

6. Dearest Rogue by Elizabeth Hoyt 🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎

7. Sweetest Scoundrel by Elizabeth Hoyt 🍎🍎🍎🍎

8. Duke of Sin by Elizabeth Hoyt 🍎🍎🍎🍎

9. After Midnight by Teresa Medeiros 🍎🍎🍎🍎

10. Once Upon a Moonlit Night by Elizabeth Hoyt 🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎

11. Once Upon a Christmas Eve by Elizabeth Hoyt 🍎🍎🍎🍎

12. Duke of Pleasure by Elizabeth Hoyt 🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎

13. Duke of Desire by Elizabeth Hoyt 🍎🍎🍎🍎

14. Once Upon a Maiden Lane by Elizabeth Hoyt 🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎

15. Then Came You by Lisa Kleypas 🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎

16. Cold-Hearted Rake by Lisa Kleypas 🍎🍎🍎🍎

17. Fires of Winter by Johanna Lindsey 🍎🍎🍎

18. Marrying Winterborne by Lisa Kleypas 🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎

19. The Vampire Who Loved Me by Teresa Medeiros 🍎🍎🍎🍎

20. Deal with the Demon by Chase Verity 🍎🍎🍎

21. A Kiss for Solstice by Elizabeth Allyn-Dean 🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎

22. A Warlord Wants Forever by Kresley Cole 🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎

23. Mating the Huntress by Talia Hibbert 🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎

24. Pleasure Unbound by Larissa Ione 🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎

25. Peace, Blood, and Understanding by Molly Harper 🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎

💗 I finished my Maiden Lane binge this month and had a couple favorites there. I also finally got to start my Ravenels reread and also read a new Lisa Kleypas. I think those were my favorite reads along with A Kiss for Solstice. It just really hit me as you can tell from my review and I really wish that Elizabeth Allyn-Dean would write more. Side note, I also realized I read a lot of Elizabeths (not just this month, but in general). Maybe I'm drawn to that name? I'm also really happy to end the month with Molly Harper and have really missed her writing. It makes me want to go on a binge of her books.

How did your reading this month go? I hope you found some new favorites as well! As we move into June I've added a couple more summer readathons that seem to be easier prompts to match with contemporary reads. I also have the Mafia Romance Readathon this weekend, so I'm looking forward to that. I'm pretty sure my reads won't be in just two genres this month. At the very least I have my couple book clubs that'll be different than what I already have planned. We'll see where my mood takes me!

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎