Posted in Spicy Romance

The Grim Reaper’s Lawyer

by Mea Monique

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

The Grim Reaper’s Lawyer was the book of the month read for The Spicy Book Club. This review may contain spoilers, but also not really. It focuses on Joyce, who is a defense attorney, which she hates. She is falling out of love with her career, and decides to say fuck it all the way off, and quits. She finishes up her last case, which she lost, and her client promptly killed her. She was collected by a Grim Reaper named Aiden and taken to Eden. Aiden is being charged with violating 3 rules from the Reapers’ Code of Conduct, which she rejects doing and spends several days in “hell”, which is really only a few minutes.

This story follows their love/hate, grumpy/sunshine, story. Aiden is kind of a jerk, but also a total daddy…I mean baddie. I mean baddie. When he finally says “to hell with it” (quite literally) and allows them to purse the steam that has been building, it is hot. The story is a slow burn up until they decide to pursue a sexual relationship with each other. The agreement provided to Joyce is, she wins Aiden’s case, she goes to Heaven, instead of Hell (which she was slated for).

Joyce meets a variety of characters that become great friends. Each character brings out a fun side of Joyce that really makes you fall in love with her. The book is hilarious from start to finish. It does end on a cliffhanger and I have no idea when book 2 comes out as this book did not release until December 2022. The book is easy to figure out and ends how you want it to, but the journey was still fun!!

I tell you what, the book had an opening quote that I am STILL thinking about and had to share— “For those who feel that you must water yourself down for others- Let them choke.” Man, what words to live by!! I needed this when I was younger.

Overall, I would say the spice level is around a 3.5-4. I felt it took a bit too long to get to anything sexy, but when it did, it was quite a bit. Those two were like rabbits…but I guess it is the year of the rabbit isn’t it LOL. They could not keep their paws off of each other and Aiden is a total Dom. So we ship and approve.

Having said all of this, it was enjoyable. I laughed so much during the story. It was a very light read and I am looking forward to more in this series and from this author!

Posted in Romance

Death’s Captive

By G.K. DeRosa

3 out of 5 stars

I read this book because I realized I committed to an ARC of book 2 when I hadn’t read the first one yet. This story is about Atropos and Thanatos, and a curse put on them by Hecate and Luna to be star crossed lovers for all eternity. They are currently living as Astra and Thane. Astra is a human female while this time around Thanatos has appeared as Thane, the son of the alpha demon wolf. Just so happens, Thane sees Astra, and she is his fated mate. This is book 1 in an unfinished series. Book 2, Death’s Fate, is about to be released.

I was very confused through most of this book. Most of it was because I was not familiar with these two particular Greek myths. I know of the Three Fates, but I did not make the connection for quite a while. I felt the story was too muddled and very repetitive. The bulk of the story was the same scene over and over again until the end, which ends on a cliff hanger. I was not a fan of this story at all. I had to force myself through it so I could read my ARC.

I will mention this in my review for book 2 as well, but, maybe it is my ADHD, but I notice repetitions in words and I hone in on it like a hawk. So, I am quite honestly over the following descriptive words: azure orbs/eyes, lupine, and coalescence. Literally do not want to see them anymore. Surely there are other words…. we get it, he is a wolf and has wolfish features when he is a wolf. Again, it could be my ADHD that I noticed it way too many times.

So why did I give it 3 stars instead of lower? No, not because I was given a free ARC. I fully recognize that maybe I did not like this particular writing style, or something just didn’t connect with me. I really like Azar and the stories she has produced. I kind of got a late start with this realm, but the writing style of this book was very different from the introduction to G.K. DeRosa that I got. Reading other people’s reviews, it looks like, while it is not fully necessary, I should have read another series first to learn more about these two. There are snippets of memories throughout the story from their past times together.

There is a lot of sexual tension in the book with no explosion, and it was kind of a let down. I have read some spicier bits from her, so it was kind of a let down. It feels like DeRosa is just kind of dipping her toes in but not really ready to jump in. The one scene we had was very short and Astra tucked tail and RAN. So, that is where we are left.