Tag: Book Review

Posted in Spicy Romance

Alpha Daddy

Posted on by Little Bee

By R.K. Pierce

Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

I received a copy of Alpha Daddy in exchange for my honest review.

R.K. Pierce has a lot of creativity in that noggin of theirs. Normally, a monster romance writer, she took a dip into Omegaverse, and baby was I along for the ride! I read this book in one day. I loved the grittiness of it.

Jessa has so much spunk, she is easy to connect with and fall in love with. Hiding from her pack that she broke away from, she receives the pity of Alessandro, who is a total DADDY. This is an age gap romance, and Alessandro is about 15-20 years older than Jessa. This is not a Reverse Harem/Why Choose. Jessa fled her pack, and ends up in a solo relationship with one alpha. They are not fated mates. I was confused what “honeyverse” meant, since that was new to me and I read a lot of omegaverse. Essentially, (possible spoiler?), when the Omega claimed the Alpha as their chosen mate, they release a honey scented pheromone. Which drives the alpha crazy and claim them back, if they want. That is really all I know about it. I cant wait to read her next Omegaverse! And she has several coming out.

This book does have a good amount of spice, slow at first, but as the chemistry builds between the two of them, things really take off. This book does not contain any DDlg, and is not that kind of “Daddy.” Jessa pretends to be a beta through most of the book, the outing was predictable, but well written.

Posted in Spicy Romance

Hazel’s Harem

Posted on by Little Bee

By Casiddie Williams

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

I was given a copy of Hazel’s Harem in exchange for my honest review.

Hazel’s Harem is a light hearted Reverse Harem/Why Choose spicy romance. A short bit of information, Hazel was 18 when she got pregnant and left the community to finish her senior year elsewhere. Fourteenish years later, she gets a job back in the community and moves back with her now 13 year old daughter. Hazel keeps bumping into good looking guys and agreeing to dates or sexy times with them. Eventually finding out the two guys are roommates, and later finding out that Hazel’s one night stand that resulted in her daughter, is good friends with them too. So after series of events, she gets to keep everyone.

There is a good amount of spice in the books, including MM scenes. It is a pretty easy read, though it kind of reads like a serial/Kindle Vella more than a novel. I feel there were some unnecessary chapters that could have easily been summarized in a small narrative after the dramatics. Overall, I did enjoy the book. It was overall a fun read. It was interesting to see how everyone blended together by the end.

Posted in Spicy Romance

Unsteady

Posted on by Little Bee

By Everley Falls

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Unsteady is a contemporary omegaverse romance. There are dark themes throughout the book and loads of trigger warnings. Please see more information in the book.

This is the first book in an unfinished series, with a cliffhanger at the end. This book is marked as a slow burn, so low on spice and more on story/plot. I would consider it a no burn more than a slow burn. There are only a couple of scenes, and they are rushed and not really much to write about. Spice in the story is almost kind of written off- the designations don’t really engage in spice activities until they have a fully formed pack.

I really enjoyed Espy in this story. I consumed it so quickly, I had dreams about it, and I still think about it days after I have finished. I hate having to wait a year before the next book comes out because I can’t get it out of my head. Even with no spice, so much creativity went into the plot and character development, that it is alright. I really enjoyed each of the characters in this story. Micah is most definitely my favorite Beta of all time, I think. He had such a fun, carefree personality that it really helped Espy in her healing process.

The story is captivating and well written. I am looking forward to the next book in the series. Just as a point of note, Espy and Leo are BIPOC and often use Spanish words and sentences. I got a lot of use out of the translate function, and while that is fine and what it is there for, sometimes it got in the way having to highlight sentences just right so that the translate would work. Some things, it might be nice to add the translation in the sentence too. But at the same time, I absolutely do not want to diminish or reduce the culture within the book for the characters just to make it easier for me to read 🙂

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

Posted in Spicy Romance

Bee and the Honey Crew

Posted on by Little Bee

By Mona Black

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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

As you might have guessed, I was excited to get a copy of this book because, well, Bee and the Honey Crew 🙂 I will say, while the book was good, there were definitely some disappointments too.

Bee has always thought she was a Beta, she is a bit of a late bloomer. She has always felt more like an omega, so it was really hard on her when friends and family always badgered her for being not Beta enough. Bee gets away from her small town living, works in a coffee/bookshop, going to school, and sharing an apartment with a mix of Alphas and Betas. She is excited to be somewhere more open to “designation dysphoria”, if you will. This book was pretty much a sweetverse, with not a whole lot of angst, but a little. It is listed as a “candyverse,” though I am not sure what that means. Maybe it is a sweetverse with a little angst! 🙂 Throughout this story, Bee faces many challenges, mostly from within, and trying to find where and how she is supposed to exist in the world.

I really loved all of the friends Bee made. She really found her family and made her tribe in this little neighborhood she moved into. Everyone was so supportive. I really loved the Pack that found her as well. I always like seeing more than one omega in a pack, I like the dynamic it adds to a story. I like that it sticks pretty close to most omegaverse style, except, all the designations can live in harmony and be who they want to be. So that was a nice spin.

My copy was in dire need of editing, lots of misspelled words and incorrect words in the story. It did become kind of distracting, however, this is an ARC, so hopefully it gets cleaned up before release. The writing style felt very rushed for me. I felt like I was running a race when I read it. Also, sometimes I would get lost and have to reread because it felt like I missed something. I do feel like by the end, the story kept going on and on. Maybe some of those chapters could have been edited down a bit and combined and still got the points across about the scenarios the chapter covered.

All in all, I still enjoyed this book. I do recommend it as well. I think it was refreshing in ways of omegaverse because sometimes they can be really daunting. As usual, the angst doesn’t happen until close to the end, and the situation helps propel Bee forward with her pack decisions she is trying to make. This book is heavy on the spice. For majority of the story it is MMMM, and then later MMMMF. It is told from multipoint of view. There is a HEA.

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 Spicy Romance

Craving Madness

Posted on by Little Bee

By RK Pierce

Goodreads/Amazon Rating: 4 Stars, Actual Rating 3.5 Stars

I love whenever I have an opportunity review RK Pierce’s books, the ones I have read, I have generally enjoyed. Craving Madness is a bit of a mixed bag for me. Typically, I enjoy MOST Alice in Wonderland Retellings, so I looked forward to reading this one as well.

Let me start by indicating, my rating is kind of complicated, and maybe slightly bias. When you read so many of the same retellings, I sometimes compare them to others that I really enjoy. So of course, while I went in open minded, I felt Craving Madness was a unique take on Alice in Wonderland, it wasn’t quite my favorite. I think I also had higher expectations for more spicy scenes then what I actually received. The first actual spicy scene was around 74% into the book, which took me a few days to get to, because I felt it was too slow for me and never really captured my interest the way other books do. This is the first book in a series and Pierce spends A LOT OF time worldbuilding, which can be both good and bad. I kinda feel I am still missing some puzzle pieces to really fully click with the book.

I do like its uniqueness in the darkness aspect and the monsters that have taken over Wonderland. Sometimes I felt there were too many words/paragraphs and found myself skimming to more intense parts without missing out on anything important happening.

While I realize, I am just a lowly reviewer, I can see why people have been giving this 4 and 5 star reviews. The FMC is a badass. I like how it was a “dude in distress” that the FMC saved. I like that Alice knows what she wants and while sometimes shy, generally is not afraid to put her foot down with what she wants. I do like the character sketches for Chester (Cheshire Cat) and Dion (I believe he is Tweedle Dee). The little spice we are given, its pretty good spice. Was not expecting the knot! Which I enjoy reading very much. As a point of notice, the book ends in a pretty major cliffhanger. With Craving Madness getting the world building out of the way, my hope for book 2 is higher! With more characters being added to Alice’s “harem,” more spice, and rescuing Wonderland (hopefully).

Posted in Spicy Romance

A Court of Hearts and Hunger

Posted on by Little Bee

By Rebecca F Kenney

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

I received a copy of this book in a PR box from the author. I was very excited to be selected since I am a smaller reviewer and I am not very good at the social media thing. I read this book a while ago, but a lot has happened over the last couple of weeks, so I am a bit late on my review 🙂 This book is a retelling on Alice in Wonderland. It is a unique perspective based in Fae, in the Unseelie Court. This book is beautifully written. I really love reading this author and look forward to reading more.

This book is number 2 in the Wicked Darlings series. The first book description can be found here 🙂 You need to read book 1 before reading book 2. A couple of my favorite characters from the first book are some of the main side characters in A Court of Hearts and Hunger. I enjoy Clara and Fin (the Sugarplum Fairy) so much and I love how much they each grew in this story. I enjoyed meeting some new characters as well: Alice, Riordan (the White Rabbit), and Caer (The Cheshire Cat).

I pretty much read this book in one day, it is very hard to put down. This book does contain trigger warnings. It is a dark read and very spicy. I did end up giving this book 4 stars even though I really liked it. The reason for this is I am salty about the end of the book. I wont give it away. My hope is it resolves itself as part of book 3 🙂 So we shall see.

Posted in Spicy Romance

Heat Clinic

Posted on by Little Bee

by Alexis B Osborne

Rating: 5 Stars

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

I am a little late in my review, because I thought I reviewed this book earlier this month when I had finished it. Oops 😦

I am a huge fan of Omegaverse books. I really enjoyed this Heatverse book. One of the things I loved the most were each of the characters and how they fit like missing puzzle pieces. If I am honest, the Heat Clinic in this book sounds super lovely compared to some of the heat clinics in other books by other authors. Sign me up!

This book has all of the spice very early on and maintains that spiciness all the way through to the end. Sam is probably one of my favorite betas ever. We all need a Sam in our life. I also really like that it centers around an older omega. It felt easier to connect because I felt like her (Emily) before and just kind of giving up on finding that happy ever after.

I highly recommend this book! It is very well written and includes so much laughter and happiness. There really isn’t any angst. Its pure spice and love.

Posted in Spicy Romance

We’re All Mad Here

Posted on by Little Bee

By Leann Belle

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

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

Let me start off by saying, I love a good Alice in Wonderland retelling. I love retellings in general. I like that an author can really do what they want with it and transform it and it still be respectful to the original classic. I also enjoy a good reverse harem. We’re All Mad Here brings these two things together in a twisted, dark, psychotic, steamy romance.

Alices are stolen by the White Rabbit, drugged, and brought to Wonderland, where they go through a series of trials in hopes to get rid of the Red Queen, who is the original Alice. Each time an Alice dies, the world resets. Everyone who died comes back, and they start over. Typically they have gone for young Alices, 18 or 19 years old. But this time, they went for 30 something Alice who is in a rut in her life. She is strong, confident, and smart. Her goal is to just live, to get through the trials. Along the way, she learns a lot more about herself and becomes stronger.

There is a lot of steamy romance in this book and it starts off pretty quickly. I like not having to wait around and watch all the characters awkwardly beat around the bush, so to speak. After each successful trial, each character falls in love with Alice. They want to see her succeed. I really loved Mau, the Cheshire Cat. All of the characters are so twisted, it is nice to see them change and transform because of Alice’s will to live.

This book includes primal kink, CNC, death, and some other potentially triggering topics.

I only gave it 4 stars because something wasn’t connecting for me. I can’t really place it. I felt like I was missing something. A bonus epilogue might be nice, to kind of see what happens after everything is over and through. It is good, I really enjoyed it and I liked the writing style. I am definitely interested in reading more by this author. I am not huge on dark romance, but I feel that what I normally find lacking in dark romances, this one does not lack. The FMC is not wishy washy. This book is quite unique and I do recommend it!

Posted in Spicy Romance

Filthy Punk

Posted on by Little Bee

By Saint Bryde

Rating: 4 Stars

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

Filthy Punk is a short novella, only 52 pages. I have not read any other of this author’s works, but I did enjoy it overall. Novellas are very hit or miss for me. It is very tricky to find that happy balance of plot, character development, and for spicy novellas, spice as well. This is considered a spicy novella that was supposed to be heavier on the spice and less on the plot. I am fine with less plot when it is heavy spice. However, I felt there was plenty of plot and could have used more spice, which is ultimately why I gave 4 stars.

If you are a looking for a quick read, this is a good one to pick up. It includes a tatted bad boy, a prim and proper (but not) FMC, some light bullying, and frenemies to lovers. There is a small layer of character development, but an appropriate amount for a novella. Again, I could have used a bit more spicy time but that is just me 🙂 If you don’t like heavy spice, and a couple of light D/S play is fine, then this would be more along the lines of 4.5-5 stars. The writing style was fine, it felt like I was in the heads of the characters, so it read like they were having a conversation or silent conversation. I did not catch any editing issues.

Thank you for this opportunity!