Written On His Skin by Simone Stark

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Update: I reread this again in April of 2022. I used it to cover the prompts cover you love for Love Has Sprung and Dear John (includes a text, letter or email) for the Taylor Swift Quarterly Challenge! 

After reading Run Posy Run, I could tell that I wasn't in the mood for dark romance. I decided to pick up a little novella to reread that would fit my mood better. I decided to pick up Written On His Skin by Simone Stark for the third time. Update: I applied this to the prompt of stand alone for the 3rd board of Summer of Swoon.

Abigail is a vet in Boulder, Colorado and via a friend writes a letter to a soldier stationed overseas. Roux ends up being the recipient since he has no living relatives. He is immediately charmed by Abigail's letter and feels that it's kismet. They end up writing back and forth and they quickly have a more romantic connection.

I am a big fan of epistolary romances and last year when I reread Love in the Afternoon last year, went through an epistolary romance list on goodreads for more recs. This was on that list. I reread it again later that year when I purchased the paperback. I had previously rated it 4-stars, but on this reread I bumped it up to 5. If I have wanted to reread it twice, it has to be 5-stars to me. I love the representation and want Simone Stark to write more. I loved how Roux completely fell for Abigail without knowing what she looks like. She is plus-sized, but that doesn't matter to him one bit. Plus he's a Cajun from Louisiana and when he lays on the accent it's super hot. I love accents. My heart always races when he calls her for the first time and it's just such a feel good book. There's not too much more I could say without basically retelling the plot, but this is one of my favorite novellas.

I always love when a book is set in Colorado. I also loved the small discussion about being a soldier and dealing with things they see. I really enjoyed this reread and it was just what I needed to reset my mind. I am so happy that I have this in paperback and hope that Simone Stark writes something else.

Have you read Written On His Skin?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Written On His Skin, Simone Stark, 5-stars, 0 days, paperback, 126 pages, published in 2017

Run Posy Run by Cate C. Wells

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The first book I read for the Dark Romance Readathon was Run Posy Run by Cate C. Wells. I had originally heard about this book from Jen (The Book Refuge) and was intrigued. This was able to hit the scavenger hunt prompts I'll Burn the World Down and That's Wasn't an Enthusiastic Yes. I was also able to apply this to the stand alone prompt for the Summer of Swoon board 2.

Posy is dating Dario and is getting ready for him to propose. She comes home one day after shopping and gets led into his office. He has received a video of her having sex with someone else, her high school boyfriend. The video has been doctored to more currant date. Dario ends up forcing Posy to leave. His driver/2nd hand man drops Posy off at a hotel and recommends she runs. While Dario just wants her to leave, the  head of the mafia isn't going to like "loose ends" running around. She takes off while being both angry at Dario and the situation and also broken-hearted.

I really enjoyed this. I feel like had I been in a different mood, it would be a 5-star. If you've been reading my reviews the past little bit, I've been a bit slumpy and trying to beat back finding myself in a full-blown slump. I was super excited for the readathon and had some good ideas, but I just wasn't in the mood for dark romance. This was still really written well. I also loved the conversations had about sociopaths versus psychopaths. 

I also loved how they both Posy and Dario catalogued and really inspected and tried to understand their feelings. It was really interesting and eye-opening about how much Posy put up with because she wanted to be and be in love so much. She didn't really share her true feelings on things and it became self-destructive. After the break-up and she gets not only her eyes open on her own emotions, but also that Dario is not normal emotionally. I feel like there are a lot of mafia romances where they are called psychopaths or sociopaths, but they're more just crazy criminals. It was really cool to see how a relationship would work with someone with that kind of social disorder. I liked how they both grew and learned about each other. I also really enjoyed that their big connection was board games and more specifically chess. While Dario doesn't really think or believe he can love, he tells Posy that she's the one. When she questions it, he mentions how he almost sees everyone as pieces on the chess board, but Posy is the one on the other side of the board. It just made my board game loving heart so happy and was such a touching statement.

I definitely want to reread this when I'm in the mood for dark romance to see how I'll feel about it then. As I was writing this review I'm kind of thinking of changing it to 5-stars since I'm talking about the things I loved about it. I think I'll leave it 4 for now though and add this to my reread tbr. I'm super intrigued by Cate C. Wells's writing style and will definitely check out her other books. It's always fun to find another new author!

Have you read Run Posy Run?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Run Posy Run, Cate C. Wells, 4-stars, 0 days, eBook, 260 pages, published in 2021

Dark Romance Readathon Wrap Up

 Well, things didn't quite go as planned. This past weekend, August 13 - 16 was the Dark Romance Readathon. It was hosted by Temecka, Izzy, Heather, Nayema and Ashley. Instead of doing a bingo board, they had a scavenger hunt which was fun. It helped lessen the pressure of getting a bingo. I also liked that they included both Friday and Monday in the "weekend." As you can tell from my tbr, I was super excited for the readathon and have really been enjoying dark romance lately.

However, my mood has completely shifted and it's not what I want to read right now. I ended up reading one book, but it at least met two of the clues. I thought maybe I'd get another book in late Sunday and Monday, but I could tell that if I picked up another dark romance right now, I would be pushed back into a book slump. I just (weirdly) want to read happy contemporary right now. So there won't be too much to wrap up below, but I'll at least post my few graphics.

🔍 Run Posy Run by Cate C. Wells

Hopefully next time they hold the Dark Romance Readathon I'll be in the mood and able to join. I was really enjoying dark romance lately, but I just need to follow what my mood says so I don't just stop reading as a whole. I really dislike book slumps. It's hard when all you want to do is read and relax but nothing sounds good or ends up hitting the spot. I think I just need a bit of happy and less angst and the contemporary romances I've been picking up lately have really helped keep in a better mindset lately.

Did you participate in the Dark Romance Readathon?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

Devil in Disguise by Lisa Kleypas

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It's time for one the biggest historical romance releases of the year, Devil in Disguise by Lisa Kleypas. This is the 7th, and I think final, book in her Ravenels series. Not only was this one of my most anticipated releases of the year, it is also the August book for the Rake Appreciation Society. The club is hosted by Crystal and Jen and the live show [Link is now up!] is this Thursday. Update: I applied this to the prompt of plants on cover for the 3rd board of Summer of Swoon.

I've mentioned this before, but my favorite hero of Lisa Kleypas (so far) is Marcus, Lord Westcliff. His books is It Happened One Autumn and both him and his estate Stony Cross Park are seen in so many of Lisa's books. This heroine is Merritt, his eldest daughter. She is now widowed and running her late husband's shipping company. She meets Scottish whiskey maker Keir and there's an immediate attraction. Things happen and soon Merritt and Keir are sequestered away while he recovers from some injuries.

I absolutely adored this book and it's one of my top reads of the year, and most likely will stay near the top of the list at the end of the year. This was such a good book and I loved almost every moment. Even though this felt a little more insta-love than usual from Lisa, the way the story progresses and they way that they are able to naturally open up to each other and connect in multiple ways was so beautiful. I could rant and rave about this, but if you enjoy Lisa Kleypas or historical romance, you need to read this book. Even more so with a good chunk of the newer historicals just quite not doing it for me. Also, there is a connection to Sebastian so the devil in the title does match the previous books. I don't want to spoil it, but the way Lisa Kleypas handles the situation and how both Sebastian and Evie react to who Keir is is just so heartwarming.

The only downside I would say for this book is that it's not really a Ravenels. Yes we see characters that we've met in the previous books, the we mostly just interact with Phoebe and a little bit of Garrett and Ransom. Now, here's my crazy take on where this fits. After Chasing Cassandra it would've been fun to have a holiday novella. There we can learn about Merritt becoming a widow. Since the St. Vincents and Marsdens are known to be close and the kids raised as if cousins, we could've have a huge family holiday celebration. That would then lead into a new series, of which this would be book 1, and focusing on either just the Marsden kids, or the wallflower 2nd generation. That's the only thing I would change. This just doesn't fit in with Ravenels to me. That's it, the only thing I didn't like about the book. Well, that and there could've been more Marcus and Lillian, but they are my favorite couple from the wallflowers.

This was such a great read and really made me feel good and had everything that I love in a Lisa Kleypas and just historical romance in general. After my contemporary binge a couple weekends ago, I've been able to come out of a book slump and this book really helped me climb more out of the grips of the slump. I can't wait to gush about the book with everyone else on Thursday at the Rake Appreciation live show!

Have you read Devil in Disguise?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Devil in Disguise, Lisa Kleypas, 5-stars, 1 day, paperback, 384 pages, published in 2021

Chasing Cassandra by Lisa Kleypas

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I have a confession to make. Do I want to make this confession? Not really. Let's be honest; I am a bad historical romance reader. Put me in the dungeon, with the crankiest of dowagers, or whatever historical romance horribleness you can think of. Okay, here it goes. I have never read Chasing Cassandra. Waits for historical romance meteor to strike me down. I know, how could I miss getting to this. Part of the reason is this is book 6 of Lisa Kleypas's Ravenels series. At the time, it was considered to be the last Ravenel book since all of the Ravenels were married off. Of course later we were surprised with the announcement of Devil in Disguise. But I didn't want the series to end. I still have a couple other series that I absolutely adore that I never read the last book in. I have a problem. Send help. Now I have to read Chasing Cassandra. Update: I applied this to the prompt of white on cover for the 3rd board of Summer of Swoon.

Cassandra is the last Ravenel to be married, the twin to Pandora. She's a sweet and pretty girl that always wanted to be married and start a family. She's feeling down though because she's the only one that hasn't found a husband. During the timeline before West and Phoebe (from Devil's Daughter) got together, she asks him if they can get married. West kindly shuts her down. Unbeknownst to them, Tom Severin, who we've seen in the previous books, overhears their conversation and offers to marry Cassandra. She declines, because she wants to marry for love (despite propositioning West).

First off, I knew most of the storyline and know that a lot of people really love Tom. My favorite podcast, Smart Women Read Romance, did an episode last year that made me want to finally read it. Oh boy did this book put me through the ringer. We kind of have a few fast forwards in time, which I'm not always a fan of, especially with how many there were in here. I absolutely loved this book. I connected so much to Cassandra and the struggle with feeling left behind and wanting something so much and it just not coming to you. I really loved that what Cassandra really wanted was to be a mom and have a loving relationship and be a good a wife. I feel like a lot of historicals released recently overly focus on the feminism aspects and women wanting to be more than expected during that time. Which is okay, except a lot of the way that they're executed is disparaging those that don't want those same things. I loved that none of the side characters, including her forward thinking twin Pandora, thought less of Cassandra for basically wanting to be a regency housewife. It just blows me away that it only came out last year and didn't fall into that trend.

I also love how into Cassandra Tom is. While he is drawn to her by her beauty same as everyone else, he quickly sees beyond the surface to who she is as a person. I loved how everything he did was for her and it definitely gave "I'll burn the world for you" vibes, which I absolutely love. This book had me tearing up and laughing. I just love the way that Lisa Kleypas books make me feel and really can't recommend her more.  I loved this book and it's tied for my favorite of the series with Marrying Winterborne, just maybe a smidge ahead. I'm both super excited but also nervous on how Devil is Disguise is going to go. I've heard amazing things and have been trying not to listen to the hype too much, but I'm really hoping it lives up to my expectations. Cross your fingers for me!

Have you read Chasing Cassandra?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Chasing Cassandra, Lisa Kleypas, 5-stars, 1 day, eBook, 374 pages, published in 2020