Audiobook/Series Review: Beauty in Lies by Adelaide Forrest

Title: Until Tomorrow Comes, Until Forever Ends, Until Retribution Burns, Until Death Do Us Part

Author: Adelaide Forrest

Series: Beauty in Lies
Genre: Dark Mafia Romance
Cliffhanger: each book ends with a cliffhanger and pick back up from the ending of prior book
Narrators: Heather Firth & Fernando Guerra
Narration Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Audiobook Length: each ranging from roughly 8h 30m to 10h 45m
Spice level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Overall series rating: ⭐⭐⭐.5

Binge read this series in two days because this will no longer be included in the Audible Plus category as of May 3rd, 2024.

As always, I will start with the tropes and content warming/trigger warning before moving into my review. 

Tropes:
      ✔️ Dark Mafia Romance (set in Ibiza) 
      ✔️ Extreme morally grey hero (Rafael is absolutely unhinged 🤣)
      ✔️ Age gap (hero stalked heroine until she turns 18)
      ✔️ 'Touch her and you die' hero, 'my wife', 'my husband'
      ✔️ Spicy (breeding, dubcon, primal play/chase, rough, spanking, virgin heroine)
      ✔️ Dual POV 

CW/TW: violence, gore, grief over loved ones, toxic family relationship, NC branding

Isabel Adamik (heroine), Isa, turned 18 and received a supposedly all expenses paid trip to Ibiza with her friends Chloe and Hugo. She proceed to have a whirlwind time with the handsome Rafael.  

Rafael Ibarra aka El Diablo (Hero) is the head of a crime organization based in Spain Ibiza and he's absolutely unhinged. One look at our heroine, he became obsessed and possessive over Isa and stalked her until she turns legal before he made his move. He is definitely a morally grey hero and will do absolutely anything to get what he wants without any boundaries. The sky is not even the limit to him.  

Overall, this was another amazing dark mafia with amazing spice series from Adelaide Forrest and pretty sure one of the most unhinged hero I read from her. However, this wasn't my favourite because the back and forth between the couple was dragged out so long and also, some context such has the forced branding while the heroine explicitly begged him to not do it... it did leave a little bit of bad taste in my mouth and I read a lot of mafia romance and high tolerance to different contents. It definitely got better in Until Retribution Burns (book 3) when they finally decided to work together as a team until the last one, the push and pull came back in a vengeance at the beginning. I got frustrated at some point throughout the series because of how frustrating this couple was. 

The audiobooks were great! The male narrator accent used was a bit of an adjustment at first but it was well-performed! The whole series is included in Audible Plus category until May 3rd, 2024! 

Audiobook review: Mating Fever by Grace Goodwin

Title: Mating Fever
Author: Grace Goodwin
Series: The Interstellar Brides® Series #10 
Genre: Science Fiction Romance
Cliffhanger: No
Narrators: BJ Pottsworth & Audrey Conway
Narration Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Audiobook Length: 5h 26m
Spice level: 🔥🔥🔥
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Published: March 9, 2017

Happy to be back with The Interstellar Brides® Series! These books are pretty much a 'palate cleanser' type of books for me and I read them as standalone. They do mention some characters from previous books but honestly, there are about 24 books in this series now that even if you read it in order... it's hard to keep track! But really, you do not need to read them in order (in my humble opinion). Each story follows one couple and it's a complete story. 

As always, I will start with the tropes and content warming/trigger warning before moving into my review. 

Tropes:
      ✔️ Fated Mates 
      ✔️ Badass heroine (captain in her army unit)/Atlan Warlord
      ✔️ Alpha hero with caretaking
      ✔️ Spicy
      ✔️ Dual POV 

CW/TW: violence (war on page), grief over loved one, toxic family relation

Mating Fever is book 10 in The Interstellar Brides® Series. 

Megan Simmons (heroine) is a badass strong captain of the human army unit. She is on a classified mission to get one of the HIVE's tech. She was saved by Nyko when she was against one of the HIVE's leader. 

Nyko (Hero) is our Atlan Warlord who's stationed in the same unit as the human army that Megan is in. He's close to heat and very attracted to our badass heroine. He was sweet yet the typical alpha hero.

I listened to the audiobook and loved both narrators. Book 4 to 11, 13, 14, 16, 17, 19-24 in this series are all included in Audible Plus category until May 3rd, 2024! Go and listen to them before it is no longer included in your Audible plan. I have book 6, 8, 9, 11 downloaded in my list, hoping to read them before they are gone! 

Audiobook review: A Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle L. Jensen

Title: A Fate Inked in Blood 
Author: Danielle L. Jensen
Series: Saga of the Unfated #1
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Cliffhanger: Yes
Narrators: Nina Yndis
Narration Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Audiobook Length: 15h 16m
Spice level: 🔥🔥🔥
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Release Date: February 27th, 2024

Ahh, I was looking forward to read Danielle L. Jensen's new fantasy romance series because I loved The Bridge Kingdom (first duology since I haven't had the chance to continue the other duology)! However, A Fate Inked in Blood missed the mark for me. The chemistry between the couple is missing and very lust-forward. From memory, it was similar for The Bridge Kingdom but I shipped that couple and the angst between them was chef-kissed! 

Tropes:

✔️ Mythology

✔️ Forbidden romance

✔️ Force proximity (training and one horse)

✔️ Instalust 

✔️ Viking-esque settings 

✔️ Solo POV 

Content Warning/Trigger Warning: violence (war on page), death, self harm (not healing herself), toxic family relation

A Fate Inked in Blood follows our heroine (Freya), who's a hidden shield maiden blessed by a goddess. She is forced into battle and unwanted marriage with a power-hungry king while she starts to fall for his warrior son, Bjorn.

The plot has every elements I would love and enjoy, however, this was a miss for me. The romance was slow burn BUT it was very insta-lust and didn't really match the whole setting. Every time they are together, it pulled me out of the actual story, and vice versa. 

I listened to the audiobook and it was well-performed by Nina Yndis but I do wish this was dual POVs. 

Audiobook/Book Review: Lukas by Carian Cole

Title: Lukas
Author: Carian Cole
Series: Ashes & Embers #3
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Trope(s): Reverse age gap (36 Ivy/24 Lukas), artsy hero/ single mom of two
Cliffhanger: No

Narrators: Nelson Hobbs & Tatiana Sokolov
Narration Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Audiobook Length: 8h 18m
Spice level: 🔥🔥🔥
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

First published: July 27, 2015

 

"Some things in life, you just can't do over. They're meant to be permanent, whether they're what we expected or not. Doesn't mean they're a mistake."  –Lukas Valentine 

I'm so glad that I finally read this book! I have owned this ebook for ages while it was free on Amazon. This was definitely a rollercoaster type of book in terms of my rating. Lukas started out as a 3-star read, then bumped up to 4 because it was getting good, and eventually dropped back down real quick because of the third act. It has the third act that I absolutely despise (OW drama and the famous "I knew that I couldn't trust you!" trope). Also, how can Ivy do that to our sweet boy Lukas... He deserves better! Deserved a better grovelling too! However, this was published back in 2015 so I guess this was pretty much the standard plot back in the days but still upset about it. 

You'll love this book, if you like:

✔️ Reverse Age Gap

✔️ Artsy/Rockstar Hero

✔️ He falls first 

✔️ Single parent

✔️ Dual POV 

Lukas also tackled some heavy topics so please check any content/trigger warnings before you go into it. There are discussion of depression and thoughts of suicide. Both caused by abandonment issues. Also, a death of a child (which isn't a spoiler if you already read Vandal, which is book 2, because Storm, Vandal, and Lukas have overlapping timeline).

Aside from all this, I do also want to highlight that this was definitely hotter than I expected (ouff!) The alpha, yet tender vibe from Lukas and his dirty talking... damn boy!

If you haven't read or listen to this series, it is included in the Audible Plus category! 

Audiobook/Book Review: The Rule Book by Sarah Adams

Author: Sarah Adams
Series: N/A but The Cheat Sheet is another standalone with characters connected
Genre: Contemporary Sport Romance (NFL)
Cliffhanger: no
Narrators: Hathaway Lee & Will Damron
Narration Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Audiobook Length: 10h 50m
Spice level: 🔥
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
RELEASE DATE: April 2nd, 2024

What a treat! If you do not want to read a whole review and just want the trope... (not gonna blame you because I'm the same honestly), here you go!

You'll love this book, if you love:

✔️ Second chance romance 

✔️ Sports romance (athlete x agent)

✔️ Fake marriage (Vegas) 

✔️ Grumpy x sunshine 

✔️ Forced proximity 
✔️ Others: 'right one, wrong time', 'it's always been you', 'my wife'
✔️ Dual POV

And even if you don't like some of the tropes listed above, let me tell you it was good! I'm not a huge fan of romcom, second chance, nor the usual over-quirkiness of our heroine in general. However, Sarah Adams made it work for this one and I really enjoyed my time reading this and even laughed out loud a couple of time!

The Rule Book is all about our Nora Mackenzie landing her very first famous NFL tight end Derek Pender, whom also happens to be her ex-college boyfriend (gasp! I literally gasped at that reveal since I didn't read the synopsis.) We get to see this amazing and funny second chance unfold with a very swoon-worthy Derek. Sarah Adams really knows how to write boyfriend material book boyfriend (same goes to Nathan!).

One feedback I had was in regards of Derek's diagnosis of Dyslexia, it was mentioned at the very beginning of the book because he saw a tiktok video (something like that), and then, it was brought up once to Nora and... nothing. I was expecting maybe he would start a foundation or something but the end was very vague about it and wrapped up fairly quickly.

That said, this was such a fun football romance! I had a fun time especially loved these LA Sharks goofball bromance friend group (Nathan, Derek, Jamal, Lawrence, Price).

The audiobook was good and the narrators did a good job! Have you already read or listened to The Rule Book? If you did, let me know your thoughts!

Audiobook Review: Until April by Aurora Rose Reynolds

 

Title: Until April Series: Until Her/Him #10 - (can be read as standalone as I haven’t read the others) Genre: Contemporary Romance Trope(s): childhood friends, alpha hero Cliffhanger: no Narrators: Laura Jennings & Sebastian Grove Narration Rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Length: 6h 53m Spice level: 🔥🔥 Rating: ⭐⭐ RELEASE DATE: October 26th, 2021

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the audiobook. I voluntarily listened and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Until April is book 10 in the Until Her/Him series, which is the spinoff series of Aurora Rose Reynolds’ Until series. The only one I read is Until November (from the Until series) and I didn't read any other books in both series. Still, I didn’t feel lost but the other characters do appear so you might want to read the other books but I was okay reading it as a standalone. 

This book is about April Mayson who worked hard to become a successful realtor and to live her best life. Until her first kiss and childhood friend, Maxim Kauwe, comes back into her life. She now has to deal with Maxim, her ex, and a potential serial killer on realtors on the loose. 

Similar to Until November, the hero in that one was a bit problematic because of his extreme caveman behaviours. Now that I read this one as well, it seems like the author’s MO.  Don’t get me wrong, I love alpha heroes and when they get obsessive and possessive with the heroine. However, the romance happened so randomly and right off the bat. Adding to Maxim’s alphaness/actions, it just rubbed me the wrong way and not to mention April is basically a doormat (she kept saying that she doesn’t like taking orders but then when the hero does, she kept using “following the flow” as excuses). The scene with Maxim and his brother is so childish and stupid (sorry not sorry).

The audiobook was good and the narrators did a good job! Have you already read or listened to Until April? If you did, let me know your thoughts!

Book Review: Thorn (Rosewood High #1) by Tracy Lorraine

Title: Thorn Series: Rosewood High #1 Genre: High school bully romance Trope(s): enemies-to-lovers, bully Cliffhanger: no for the couple but timeline continues Spice level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥  Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

This is exactly what I needed right now to avoid the reading slump that I was going into! Thorn is your typical trashy high school bully romance with a lot of angst. I flew through this one like nobody's business and couldn't put it down.

Thorn is an enemies-to-lovers high school romance between Amalie and Jake. After a tragic accident, Amalie Windsor-Marsh, a British rich girl, lost both her parents and moved from London to the States to stay with her grandmother. Jake (Jacob) Thorn, Captain of the football team and King of Rosewood High, decided that she doesn't belong after their first contact and made it his mission to make her life miserable so that she leaves at their school. 

The only reason this didn't get a 5 star was due to the ending. The last "conflict" got wrapped up pretty quickly to lead onto the next instalment. The timeline continues so I definitely need to read this in order even though it follows different couples.

Have you already read Thorn? If you did, let me know your thoughts and if it's worth continuing this series!

Book Review: A Scoundrel of Her Own by Stacy Reid

Title: A Scoundrel of Her Own
Series: Sinful Wallflowers #3 - (can be read as standalone)
Genre: Historical romance
Trope(s): childhood sweethearts, friends-to-lovers, class difference, forbidden love, self-made hero
Cliffhanger: no
Spice level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
RELEASE DATE: December 28th, 2021

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

UGH~ I loved Ophelia and Devlin so much! I love them individually and when they come together, I just can’t take the cuteness (I literally squealed out loud a few times which has been a while). They are THAT book couple that everyone is routing for a HEA. I like how they openly speak about their feelings/intentions about each other without any miscommunication and their love for each other was so strong and steady throughout the story.

A Scoundrel of Her Own is the conclusion to Stacy Reid’s bestselling Sinful Wallflowers series. It starts with how Lady Ophelia Darby met our hero Devlin when they were kids and Devlin saved her. This is a friends-to-lovers romance with so much angst and longing from both characters. I normally don’t really like reading friends-to-lovers because usually the reason why they aren’t together already is stupid but this one has a good legit reason and realistic (for the set period of time). Ophelia is the daughter of a powerful marquess meanwhile Devlin is commoner and they can never be together due to society norms. Fast forward fifteen years later, Ophelia’s father thought he was on his deathbed and revealed a secret that changed her life and can’t be ignored which led her to re-encounter with the boy who saved her when she was young.

It’s been a while since I have swooned so hard for a hero but also, the couple. Devlin Niall Byrne has his heart set on Lady Ophelia since he was twelve. He has been working so hard and became a self-made man just to be worthy of his Fifi. After finding her, he still persevered and never gave up on pursuing her despite their class difference.

Devlin: “Then never apologize to me. I’ll always help you put back the pieces.” 

(queue the ugly cry and swooning)

I haven’t read My Darling Duke nor Her Wicked Marquess but after reading A Scoundrel of Her Own, I went and got both on my Kindle! If you can’t already tell… I 100% recommend this book and you should totally go grab your copy on release day (Dec 28th)! Even if you haven’t read the previous two instalments, this can be read as a standalone.

If you also read it, comment down below what are your thoughts? Or if this book interests you!

BOOK REVIEW: Return All by Eve Dangerfield

 

Title: Return All
Series: Rebirth #2 - (can be read as standalone)
Genre: Contemporary sport romance
Trope(s): childhood sweethearts, rich heroine, friends-to-lovers, professional football player
Cliffhanger: no
Spice: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥/5
Rating: ⭐⭐/5
Release Date: December 14th, 2021 

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a conflicting one. Return All is about a second-chance romance between our heroine, Mara, and our hero, Derek. They both grew up in this small town and were high school sweethearts. Then they got separated and ten years later, Derek is this famous football player while Mara is this rich girl and no one knows how she got rich. 

Here is what I liked and what put me off: Liked:

• The chemistry between Mara and Derek!

• The daddy kink 

Disliked:

• I didn't vibe with the author's writing (a lot of "!" at the end of the sentences, and I know the author is Aussie but some choice of words just made me cringe, i.e. "missus", "bloke", "footy", etc. I don't know, it just sounded weird and childish for me and I know some Aussie and they absolutely don't speak like that).

• The constant brand names thrown in (I get it... she is rich but you don't need to say every single brand that exists in the world for every single piece of clothing... it was just overdone)

• All characters were in the late twenties but acted very immature 

• The reveal about how she got rich wasn't that impactful... it was like "oh really? that's it?" very anticlimactic. Lastly, Derek didn't grovelling in my opinion. He broke the daddy/little girl's trust and just expected her to come back and never address it.

If you also read it, comment down below what are your thoughts? Do you like it or do you agree with my dislikes?