Posted in Spicy Romance

Her Feral Beasts

By EP Bali

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

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

Her Feral Beasts captured my attention because it is very unique when it comes to paranormal, reverse harem, and shifter books. I liked this uniqueness because sometimes some books feel like “if I have read one, I have read them all.” So to see something newer is nice.

Having said the above, I did feel like I was lost for most of the book. You know there is a secret, but you don’t find out what is until the very end of the book. This secret is what drives A LOT of the behaviors of Aurelia’s mates. We meet 4 in the book, 3 from the start, and the 4th at the end. I figured out who the 4th was pretty quickly, and I have my thoughts about who the 5th is. Her three known mates try to unalive her for a good chunk of the story, and when they end up at the Animus Academy, they make her life miserable. Aurelia eventually stops being scared and is a really strong character. She finds some friends and finally feels what it means to be loved and have a family. She has been mistreated her whole life. I felt some of the toxicity was too much. I know its a bully book, but sometimes I feel that the bullying can go too far and I wonder how are they ever going to pull together for a HEA at the end of the series? This is how I have felt, because I would not forgive ANY of them. They are all jerks. So far, I am not rooting for any of them, but I am rooting for Aurelia.

I am looking forward to seeing how this story takes shape. This series will consist of 5 books, the first 4 with cliffhangers and the final book finishing the series with a HEA. I definitely recommend this book. Just be prepared for a pretty great cliffhanger that will leave you ready for the next book.

Posted in Spicy Romance

We’re All Mad Here

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!