Tag: Dark Romance

Posted in Spicy Romance

The Enforcer

Posted on by Little Bee

By Delta James

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

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

When I selected to read this book off of BookSirens, it indicates that it can be read as a standalone. This is book 6 in the series, and I felt like there were things I was missing throughout the book, so I am not sure that is wise if you have not read the others.

I will start more with the things I did not like, and end on the things I did. There were moments in this story where I really did enjoy the book, but mostly overall, a lot of parts felt forced and underwhelming. Please keep in mind, I may feel this way because I have not read any other story in this series.

Alicia’s bratitude is a bit on the extreme end. When she is in her feelings and getting ready to make a run for it, she is incredibly rude to her other coworkers/friends, who are showing her a kindness they don’t have to. I did like that you saw her grow and come into herself as she dealt with her trauma and everything happening in the story. I do think her and Brock go well together, but again, parts felt forced, meaning a lot of the conversations felt choppy. A lot of this story is super fast paced and it was hard to really establish a timeline of events in the story. I felt because it was a shorter book, scenes had to be rushed through and I had to go back and re-read pages because I was confused by the conversations as they did not seem to match up with what was happening in the story.

I have mentioned in past that I have issues with repetitive things in stories, such as repetitive descriptors. I became hyper fixated on the the amount of times the story mentions something about “being family” that it almost felt the like the Fast and Furious franchise. It felt like almost every single chapter, someone mentioned being family and Alicia being family.

I did like the uniqueness to the story. I do not want to give away spoilers, but I did like the premise. I wish there were more to it, it just kind of felt like it ended after Ewan was taken into custody. I pegged who the mole was at the beginning, not sure if that was intentional or not. It was interesting to see how certain characters in the story got linked together. This book has DD/lg elements to it. I do wish it had more of that d/s element, such as playing in the club. The book kind of just ended after coming back from a restful vacation. There seems to be a bonus chapter, but it blends in with the last chapter of the book and it threw me off a little bit at first. I do feel if I had read some of the other books and learned more of the dynamics of the characters and Cerberus, that I would have liked everything more.

When there are spicy scenes, they are pretty decent. I like the elements of consent, and enthusiastic consent. I liked that Brock stopped when he thought Alicia was unable to consent after they had gone out and had some adult beverages. Definitely check your trigger warnings, as there are some heavy things happening in the story.

Posted in Spicy Romance

Zodiac Hybrids

Posted on by Little Bee

By Leann Belle

Rating 5 Stars

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

I have read Leann Belle before and I really enjoyed her writing. I was happy to read this mix of paranormal/shifters/zodiac/astrology story and I look forward to reading the other books as they come out. For the record, this is supposed to be a dark academy romance, but I missed some of the darkness I guess LOL. I am sure it will come. I liked each of the dynamics and I enjoyed seeing the first two men get kind of sucked in to Lila’s orbit.

I can’t wait to find out what Lila is and for her to find out also. I like her naivety in this sense and I will enjoy watching her become stronger, because I know she will. These characters are older even though it is an academy story. Lila is 22, Marcus is 26, and Adrian is 34. I am not sure how old Ceto is, but we only got a small introduction to him and I look forward to seeing him more.

Definitely check your triggers, as there are elements that people may not enjoy. This story ends on a cliffhanger, and definitely leaves you wanting for more. There were only a couple of spicy scenes in this story, but they were nice and spicy so they were not out of place. There was good world building and setting the lines of the story.

My only real confusion is the nature of Marcus and Adrian’s feud. I wont give any spoilers away, but it seems trivial, and I didn’t quite understand why Marcus is intent on Adrian losing control. I know Lila is supposed to be a pawn, but with the way it is shaping up, it looks like the guys are the ones in trouble here.

Posted in Spicy Romance

The Ties That Bind

Posted on by Little Bee

By Piper Rhodes

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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

This is a dark romance novelette, roughly 75 pages. Short stories are often hit or miss for me because I feel there are too many plot holes. I did enjoy this dark little story, though I do feel it would have been 5 stars for me if it had a little more. Because it is so short, parts of it felt a little rushed or forced to fit together, when another paragraph might have helped bridge that connection a little more clearly. I feel this would be especially true with the relationship that formed between Elle and Alec. For me, I have a hard time believing in instalove or zappy connections between people in nonparanormal/nonfantasy books so some extra time on them would have helped.

The spice was good, quick lol. This is just another pitfall sometimes with novellas, a little more depth to the spice scenes would have made it feel less rushed. Overall though, I did enjoy the book and would still recommend, just wish there was a little more 🙂

Posted in Spicy Romance

The Spellbroken King

Posted on by Little Bee

By J.A. Keeton

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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

This book is about a human who believes she is magicless, living in a world filled with magic and magical beings. While it is somewhat unclear truly of the nature of her arrest and blame when she is innocent, it starts with her being on the run from this demon bounty hunter (named Ominous). She is trying to get to this town that no magical creature or being can get to. Obviously she has no such luck, and the demon bounty hunter catches her and hauls her off to a cave before their eventual trip back to the governor who had her imprisoned and is OBSESSED with her. It was there, she learned his true identity and he learned she was his fated mate. From there it is a whirlwind of denial, coming together, spicy times, and a bunch of other spoilers.

This is a dark romantic fantasy. It is an ARC, so there were a few typos, but overall it is well written. There were some things that left me a little confused, and more clarity would be nice, but overall, I read it fast and enjoyed it. The book starts right out at her being hunted, and it really wasn’t until the end that everything gets pieced together, so sometimes that was a bit off-putting, or could be for readers.

It was interesting watching how Ominous reacts after becoming fated mates. He was absolutely appalled because she was a human and was planning on bringing her back anyways and forgetting all about her. As time went on, he could no longer even stand to be away from her and felt very protective of her. He definitely started having the “she’s mine,” and “touch her and d!e” vibes.

This book definitely has some nice twists and turns, even though it kind of has a slow buildup. I look forward to reading more in this world. There were some side characters who I think could do with getting their own fun fated mate as well 😉

Posted in Spicy Romance

Prince of the Undying

Posted on by Little Bee

By Karen Kincy

Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars

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

Let me start out with saying, I was really looking forward to reading this book. I liked the idea of a dark, fantasy romance, around a mercenary and a necromancer. And while that is what you get with Prince of the Undying, it falls really short of the mark. This story was previously released under the name Shadows of Asphodel, and was revised and rewritten with a professional editor. Throughout this book, I felt like there were so many gaps, like something was missing. There would be bits of conversations that went from point A to Point C and skipped over Point B altogether.

I felt Ardis fell flat. There were so many missed opportunities to build upon her character. More history regarding her sword would have been nice. Especially why everyone was so afraid of it, surely it had to be more than just blood magic? Why did her mom need a sword like that? Does this information come in later books since this is book 1? Wendel was nice. Fell flat at times. His erratic decisions seemed to sometimes come out of nowhere. I found myself confused about the bulk of the story. The Archmages seem like the bad guys as much as the Order of Asphodel. Why did everything start to begin with? What era in time is this? It has steampunk vibes, but leaves me confused because it feels like multiple points in time in world history.

The book has a good amount of spice in it. Once they start with the spicy times, it happens quite often. The ending definitely made me feel things and it ends abruptly but not really cliffhangerish, more of a to be continued. Definitely check your triggers, because there are a lot of dark elements. After all this, you are probably wondering why I gave it three stars instead of lower? This is a fairly quick read, at least it feels like it. The story stays fast paced the whole way through. I like when stories are like that sometimes, especially fantasy books. Aside from the parts that seemed to end quickly and like I missed things, the story idea is a good one. It is unique. I know it was revised once, but I think just a little more expansion on some of the things that happen and the characters, and I think it could be a really great book. It holds a lot of promise.

Posted in Spicy Romance

Contract of the Crown

Posted on by Little Bee

Elle Lacerta

Rating 4 out of 5 stars

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

This book is the first in a 5 book series that is dark/fantasy romance. For the quick and short of it, Iris is sold off to the Caed kingdom, specifically Roman. In order for her to gain access to the Academy, she has to serve him, in all the ways you can think of. She has daily chores and then “nightly” chores. She is given over to this ruling family to help pay off her father’s gambling debts.

First, I want to start out on the things I was not a fan of. While I get this was a short story, sometimes it was hard to keep up with how much time had passed, or did not pass. There seemed to be a massive jump between the time she is plotting their demise and her in bed with Rowan and the two falling in love with each other. I thought maybe something had gotten cut out or I missed it, but I felt lost during those parts. This is also true in the scene with Alex, and the level of anger Rowan had felt. I was a little confused there to, everything happens so fast. Also, the language used at first was incredibly flowery. I have ADHD and I found myself really struggling to get through the sentences, especially with words that are not entirely common ways to describe things. However, with that said, given the type of fantasy setting this book is referring to, the over descriptive words seems appropriate. It changes a bit throughout the book and is not a problem after that.

I like Iris, though I am a bit confused by her. She is a spitfire, a little bratty, but also really confusing. I am hoping as the story continues through, we will get more backstory on her and Rowan to understand them better. There is plenty of spice, some was fade to black (which is why I thought I missed something, because it is not clearcut fade to black). The scenes are not very long, but still spicy. I like how the BDSM elements are not overbearing. Sometimes the “Doms” in the book are incredibly toxic all around, and even though these Vampires are incredibly toxic, I feel like this is acceptable in fantasy romance novels that include the paranormal.

The book ends on a cliffhanger, but the books are set to release weekly, so if you pick it up, you should not have to wait long 🙂 I look forward to seeing the trajectory of the overall story. At this point, I am not sure where it is going…but I definitely know who the bad guys are!

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

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 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.