Category: Romance

Some spice, but more romcom/fade to black type of romance

Posted in Romance

Back to You…: The Astonishing fate of John Fisher

Posted on by Little Bee

Richard Plourde

Rating 5 stars

I received a copy of this book from the author, I am voluntarily leaving a review.

This book follows a jerk of a guy named John Fisher. He is one of those people that feels he is entitled and everyone owes him, he never has to take responsibility for his actions/words/thoughts, it is always someone else’s fault. It is told entirely from the POV of John Fisher. We meet John after his successful chemo treatments for leukemia and his break up with his girlfriend. He then is forced off work for a month because he becomes erratic and not the same guy he was several years ago.

During his time off, he goes home because his father reaches out that he was dying (he is not). From there, John goes on a journey with his best friend and a former fling he has been madly in love with his whole life to find the donor who saved his life. He feels in his heart that he and his donor were meant to be together forever. That she was his destiny.

I loved all of the characters in this story. They each brought value and entertainment. John is not really the kind of friend I would have kept along. He often seemed ungrateful and that entitled behavior comes out a lot. It was not until the true end that we see some kind of change in John to make him more likeable. In my opinion, John is not very relatable, but it did not take away from enjoying the overall story. He is the type of person that I do not like to be around. I don’t think I would have helped him the way his friends did. Emma and Daniel were gems of the story! And sweet little Mary really was adorable and I liked how she really impacted John and his changes.

This book made me feel a wide range of emotions. It is beautifully written, though sometimes I got lost in the fluffiness of the words. I am not sure if this was a translation issue or the actual wording chosen. By the end I was crying my eyes out. Overall, it was a sweet story of love, growth, and self-discovery. This story has no spice, if that is something you are looking for. There are no romantic scenes, though there are jokes about it and discussions. This is considered a contemporary romance, romantic fiction. Happy reading!

Posted in Romance

The Angel and the Devil

Posted on by Little Bee

By Zwahk Muchoney

Rating 3.5 out of 5 stars

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The Angel and the Devil follow an angel of wrath, Tzyeriel, and Satan through multiple spicy escapades during Tzyeriel’s time in Hell for a torture assignment. The book makes a point multiple times that the love between Tzyeriel and Satan is incredibly forbidden. Angels are not supposed to “fornicate” at all in general, but especially not with beings of Hell. This does not stop either of them, as they continue to travel all over Hell together. Abaddon, Satan’s former lover, finds about this love affair and notifies Heaven. After some Angels complete an inquiry, it is decided that Satan is cast out of Hell to walk on earth, and Tzyeriel is found guilty and cast out of Heaven. This was not the first time Tzyeriel had a situationship with someone. During that process, the Angels and Archangels learned that Tzyeriel had “free will” like Lucifer did, which is not allowed, and ultimately why he was cast out of Heaven.

Over all, the story was decent enough. Most of my rating is more due to the structure of the book more than anything else. I often got confused with who was saying what and would need to re-read the sections to follow along with the conversation. The spicy scenes are very much fade to black, none of them explicit other than odd phrasings. For instance, “Tzyeriel pushed Satan up against a cold rock wall and had him in a most animalistic fashion.” There are other phrases used to indicate that spicy time was about to happen, but we are not a part of it in any way, shape, or form.

One of the things I also like about this book is that even though it is a short story, it is still packed with a plot. Sometimes short stories lose out on plot because so much gets skipped over. This whole story is really the span of a day or two, but has an overall plot.

Posted in Romance

Yule Know It When You See It

Posted on by Little Bee

By Carly Spade

Rating 4 out of 5 Stars

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Theodora is a romance writer with a monthly column in a magazine. She is teamed up with the new sports writer, Axel Nord, for a co-piece. Theo is rude to him when they first meet and from there they are kind of “frenemies.” As the story goes on, they have small moments where they start liking each other. Eventually, they both fully let themselves dive off the deep end, ultimately ending in a happily ever after.

This story is a holiday rom-com, standalone. While this story a lot of tension, of all kinds, between the two MCs, there is little to no spice until the last 15-20% of the book. It is listed as a slow burn, but it is almost nonexistent. The spicy scenes involved are not fade to black.

I did enjoy reading this book but only give it 4 stars. I liked how when Axel used a word in his language, the author also quickly gave the meaning as well. I enjoyed the Yule/Jul information. I had a hard time connecting with Theodora, but I am not really sure why. The story is well written, I will definitely explore more books by Carly Spade. The story was evenly paced. I loved all the holiday things occurring, from going to hockey games, ice skating, office party, etc. Overall, it is a cute, feel good story, and a perfect year end, holiday read!

Posted in Romance

Make Her

Posted on by Little Bee

By Cassie Alexander

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Make Her is the third and final installment of The Transformation Trilogy. You can find my review for Bend Her (book 1) and Break Her (book 2). This series has been a slow build throughout it. As the books go on, the storyline has picked up the pace. Bend Her really focused on the world building. Break Her focused more on Lisane and Rhaim getting to know each other. Make Her brings both together and has more fast paced action, lots of spice, and you find yourself rooting the whole way through.

I did not care for Lisane throughout most of the story as a whole, however, in Make Her, she really grows and becomes more likeable. She is no longer child like in her thinking. Having the opportunity to experience the world, she learns and gains a better understanding of how sheltered she was, and she knows that is not what she wants anymore. I really appreciated the character development of both Lisane and Rhaim in Make Her. They were hard to relate to or like in the earlier stages of their relationship.

You finally get all the answers as to what is happening in the kingdom and who the “bad guy” is. The grand finale was slightly underwhelming for me. The chapters towards the end of the story, the “aftermath” was also slightly underwhelming. I do not want to give spoilers. Even with that, the story was still great. I just felt I got shorted maybe with the end LOL.

Posted in Romance

Break Her

Posted on by Little Bee

By Cassie Alexander

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Break Her is the second book in The Transformation Trilogy. You can see my review for Bend Her here 🙂 This book picks up after the mean old cliffhanger we got in book one. This book also ends in an even MEANER cliffhanger. Rude. 😀

Bend Her did all the world building, but in Break Her we got more of everything. Lisane is coming into her magic. She also starts figuring out who she is as a person, and we get to take her innocent journey with her. I like that we get to see more of Rhaim and begin building a connection with him as well.

I talk about this often it seems, and probably will until the end of time. But I feel like some things could have been sorted with a conversation LOL. Lisane is very innocent, and I think that is the problem I had with the book. I understand that is very innocent, especially since she was locked away underground her whole life, but I feel she was almost too innocent. Some of the language was hard to get through. In one sentence, Rhaim refers to her “fun zone” as “the places with hair” and literally the next sentence refers to it as a c*nt. Soooo….kind of whiplashy. That is really my only issue that I didn’t care for.

The book overall was really great. I liked we got to see more plot interaction. World building is great, but can be too much sometimes, so seeing them actually exist in the world together was great.

There was a smidgen of more spice in Break Her, however, it was mostly that sexual tension of you waiting for them to just shut up and kiss already. LOL. I look forward to book 3, Make Her. Again, this book ended on a mean old cliffhanger, and I am definitely needing to know what happens!!!!!

Posted in Romance

Bend Her

Posted on by Little Bee

by Cassie Alexander

3.5 out of 5 stars

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Bend Her is a dark, fantasy, romance retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Princess Lisandra was brought to the All Beast (a beastly mage) by her father in exchange for his help. While she was there, she wanted to learn magic, and he taught her through pain and obedience. Throughout the story, she believed she was kidnapped, and Rhaim (the All Beast) never told her otherwise. Most of the story really followed around Rhaim working with the King to kill the Deathless and Lisandra struggling to learn magic. The last couple pages of the book had some spice, but really it was very mild, just a hint.

I had been waiting eagerly for my review copy. The author had been posting prints on Instagram of the characters and I really thought it was going to be deliciously steamy, so I was a little disappointed. There is a lot of world building and working on what becomes their relationship/friendship/situationship through the story. I am hoping that book 2 will lead more into them together or if it will be much of the same. I really want her to gain magic she can control…women cannot learn magic, but there is no real evidence as to why, just that they will burn up and die. But again, no evidence of this written anywhere. Finx, the little cat spider was my favorite character honestly LOL.

The book does end on a cliffhanger and book 2 does not come out until May 2023, so there is a bit of a wait. I do want to continue on with the story. My hopes is sometimes I get caught up on what I want it to be that I miss something to enjoy. A friend of mine who also reviewed this book reviewed the audiobook and she indicates the narrators were fantastic and that helped her love the book even more. So this could very much be a me thing. I wanted something more from the story, but it is hard to point me finger to what. I did like the world building. I did like to know about the battles with the Deathless they sent Rhaim out to battle. There was a short plot twist towards the end that I didn’t really expect so it gave it some nice excitement. I am very happy the author did not kill of Finx or it would be zero stars for me LOL.

Posted in Romance

Death’s Captive

Posted on by Little Bee

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.

Posted in Romance

Death’s Fate

Posted on by Little Bee

By G.K. DeRosa

4 out of 5 stars

I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for my honest review. I was not paid for my review.

Death’s Fate is book 2 following, Death’s Captive. This book picks up at the cliff hanger. I will say, this book was much easier to read, and went much faster. At first it felt like it was going to be much of the same, but I liked seeing Astra and Thane come together in their own way and in their own time. All odds are against them. Fate truly is a cruel mistress. In Death’s Fate the two are on the search for Luna and Hecate to break the curse so that Thane and Astra can truly be allowed to love and be together. You learn more about their relationship from each new regeneration, and it appears in this one, it is the furthest they have gotten to the truth. Without giving spoilers, it appears a “fail safe” if you will is put into place in order to ensure it is the last go around for these two.

This book had more spicier scenes, but they are mostly almost fade to black. You get some snippets and then they are waking up. At least this time, they eventually allow themselves to love each other. I liked that the story came along better. We even get to see one of my favorite bachelors from the Kindle Vella series “Hitched Live” that is now it’s own book called Sweet Revenge (I really liked reading this one), so this made me very happy. I will forever be #TeamSlade all the way.

Once again, we see the same damn descriptive words CONSTANTLY- azure orbs, lupine, and coalescence. I mean it felt like every page. It becomes all I can focus on. I will continue on with this series. After getting past the first book, I enjoyed book 2 much better and felt like I was starting to finally connect with the different characters. Once they start putting the pieces of their history together, it takes off for me. In this story, it really does feel like they are going to make it….or are they? Get your copy of Death’s Fate on February 1st! As a warning, book 2 absolutely also ends on a cliffhanger, so be prepared for that! Per Amazon, it looks like the third book may release April 25, 2023.

Posted in Romance

Shattered Vow

Posted on by Little Bee

By Eva Chase

5 out of 5 stars

Shattered Vow is the first book in the Shadowblood Souls series by Eva Chase. This book follows a group of captives who are forced to train together, caged, and not allowed to live a “normal” life. The story follows a female character (Riva) and five males. After a tragic incident, they get separated. Four years later, Riva makes her way back her men, but do they accept her back?

This is the first in a series, with book 3 coming out in February 2023. While it is a romance read, it is not spicy. It is very slow burn and the only sexy scene occurs much later towards the end of the book. I am not usually a bully romance reader. I tend to stay away from them as much as possible, because I am just not a fan. I will say, I did still enjoy this book. I had hoped for something a little more grander than the incident that kind of set everyone straight again. I thought Jacob’s treatment of Riva for majority of the book was too much and felt forced. Even with this, I still enjoyed the book. I really liked Riva’s character. She was very strong and put up with a lot of shit from these guys without ever faltering. The one sex scene that occurs was okay, I wouldn’t say it was the spiciest I have ever read, but was written well. I wish there was a little more information on the “marking” that happened, but maybe it comes in a later book, since at that point in the story, the characters still did not know what they truly were.

The characters are all part human and part monster. They are trained very hard to highlight and strengthen their gifts. They eventually break out of captivity and set across country to try and find the former head of the program to get answers. All they all want is answers and to be free. Along the way, each person has their own growth development. The story is told from multiple POVs, however, the main POV is usually Riva.

This book does end on a cliffhanger, and boy is it a doozie. The book starts out when they are about 16 years old when they are separated and picks up around 20 years old. During that time, each character had new “powers” show through that were further developed. Riva keeps hers pretty close to her chest as she does not know much about it or how to control it, so when she finally does show it off…..it is very intense. I could not help but smile and laugh all the way through the scene. I really wish I could have seen those guys’ faces afterwards. I am looking forward to reading book 2 to see how they felt about it!

Posted in Romance

A Girl Walks Into a Bar

Posted on by Little Bee

A Girl Walks Into a Bar by Helena S. Paige

Rating: 3 Stars

 

A Girl Walks Into a Bar is a choose your own adventure for adults. I found this book when searching for something for the prompt “choose your own adventure” in the 2019 PopSugar Reading Challenge.

My only real experience with choose your own adventure books was when I was younger with some of the Goosebumps books. I never was really into them, because what if I chose wrong? This book kind of felt like that. You can select what the character does. Sometimes when you select, the book basically tells you no and sends you back to select something else. I would skim through some of the different scenarios, but ended up seeing one fully through, and it was weird.

The book itself wasn’t horrible, it just didn’t blow me away either. I could go back and see through some of the other scenarios the rest of the way, but they seemed to lead to a disappointing night, at least in the one I went with, my character got laid by a rock star with drawn on fake tattoos who wanted her to pee on him (don’t worry, the book basically makes the character ghost the rocker after that). It could be worse. One scenario had her teaching a hot, young bartender all about the birds and the bees with his own private lesson and him failing miserably. There was also a scenario where she was invited to a photo exhibit that was vaginas that looked like flowers. So…up to you really and what you are in the mood for.

This book has adult content, so if that is not what you want, I wouldn’t suggest it. But if you are looking to rekindle your childhood nostalgia and give a choose your own adventure a try as an adult, this one isn’t horrible, depending on which adventure you want to go on.