Book Review #2: Romance/Stalker/Thriller/Erotic Literature

5/5

I love a story with an FBI forensic profiler and this one is just wow. Agent Alexandra Darling is known for affinity for murderers and their victims. She joins the task force assigned to capture a duo of killers and her fascination with their twisted motivations leads not only Alexandra but the reader down a dark and dangerous path. Alexandra discovers that there is a thin line between hunter and hunted, and love and obsession has disappeared. Alexandra must figure how far she’s willing to go for justice.

”Don’t mistake us for good men, Little Darling, there is no line we won’t cross to keep you by our sides.”

If you’ve read a stalker romance before, then some of the material shouldn’t be a surprise. Especially if you’ve read the Trigger Warnings, which everyone should. This type is not for the faint of heart and this book is no different.

5/5

This book follows one of Alexandra’s daughters, Detective Hydessa Darling, who has followed in her mother’s footsteps. Hydessa shares her mother’s affinity for murderers and their victims and is under no delusions of how dark the world can be. She then discovers a blog describing a series of murders she's immediately drawn to them. The blogger continues to evade her, and her investigation leads her to a small tourist island where she goes undercover to find the mystery killer.Nothing is what it seems in this small little island as Hydessa begins her own game of hunter and hunted. This was another quick read just like the first one. This book contains the same Trigger Warnings as “Hunt Me Darling” and it’s just as messed up. I loved this book because of the relationship with Hydessa and her parents, those friends that are family, and most importantly that bond she shares with her sister. Once again, this stalker romance leaves you asking yourself, what I do the same?

5/5

This was a total Tik Tok situation. In true social media fashion, Tik Tok picked up on the kind of books I was reading, the memes I was l liking, etc. and kept serving this one to me. The book cover alone did it for me but it wasn’t until I heard the preview that I was hooked. Jacob Morgan narrates the main character, twenty-nine-year-old Tyler Bell, a Catholic priest in a small town.

This book follows Tyler Bell after he breaks his vow of celibacy with one of his parishioners. While the sex scenes are graphic and rather intense, I didn’t feel as if it was your typical story of a religious figure taking advantage of someone. Tyler’s reasons for becoming a priest are honorable (I can't tell you what they are though). But after meeting a Poppy Danvers, who checks all the boxes for the perfect partner, Tyler begins to question everything he believes in. Can he really give up his fatih for love? Or can he live without true love without sacrificing his love for God? This is the first book in a trilogy but I was only interested in this book. It stands on its own and I don’t think the other characters will have the same impact. Jacob Morgan’s narration is outstanding. I'm not sure if I would have enjoyed this audio book as much if it wasn’t him.

5/5

I really enjoyed this trilogy. I loved the story, the writing, and best of all I loved the Irish men. My favorite book of the three though is Scythe & Sparrow. This one had it all for me and I really enjoyed SPOILER ALERT that Fionn and Rose’s story was happening in real-time with what was going on in the other books.  For me, S&S is my favorite followed by Leather & Lark and then Butcher & Blackbird.

This last book in the Ruinous Love Trilogy is a dark romantic comedy mixed with murder and some series spice. After getting his heart broken, Doctor Fionn Kane moves to a small town in Nebraska where he lives a quite life with no drama or romance, until the circus comes to town. Like the actual circus, where we meet the loveable motorcycle performer Rose Evans from the Silveria Circus. Rose decides to commit a little murder while she’s on break from performing but things go terribly wrong. Rose ends up with a broken leg and stranded in Nebraska in Fionn’s home.

I highly recommend this series, it really has everything you’d want in a book. I did not do Audible with this series but I did listen to a few pages and oh wow! I may circle back to the Audibles later this year. I’ve done that with ACOTAR and it’s like discovering the books all over again.

5/5

I had no idea why these books, of which there four, didn’t show up as recommendations in Amazon. A good friend of mine (THANK YOU PRINCESS!!) told me about them. She told me about the Miles brothers and I told her about Zade Meadows #IFYKYK

This series follows the four billionaires: Jameson, Tristan, Elliot, and Zander.

After being bumped to first class on flight from London, Emily meets the incredibly handsome Jim. Their flight ends up in Boston after some nasty weather grounds them for the night. As you can imagine, Emily decides to throw caution to the wind and enjoy one hot night with Jim. Twelve months later Emily lands her dream job and meets with the CEO on her first day. Guess who it is? Jim or Jameson which is the name he usually goes by.

“Have you ever been so physically attracted to someone that you lose the ability to think around them?”

The banter between the characters had me laughing out loud several times and there are some spicy scenes. It was a fun book although Emily seemed a little over dramatic and I found myself annoyed with Jameson in at several points throughout the book.

5/5

The Takeover follows Tristan. Another billionaire who will never settle down and enjoys waking up alone in his bed. Until he meets Claire, a widowed mom of three boys. Claire is a mom who lives for her children while also trying to save the company she started with her late husband. Tristan and Claire’s first meeting does not go well but that all changes when they end up at the same retreat and spend the weekend together. Claire has no plans to see Tristian when they get back to New York but Tristan has other plans.

This is my favorite of the four books. Tristan instantly won my heart. He’s sexy and funny and his instant connection with Claire’s sons is just…well…just beautiful. All of the characters in this book are amazing and I found myself laughing and crying along with them. I would go back and read this one again. That’s how much I enjoyed it.

5/5

In The Casanova we finally learn more about Elliot and Kate’s story. Kate loves to torment her extremely handsome boss, Elliot, who has a reputation for being a Casanova.

Kate decides to join a dating app under a fake name and meets Edgar. They hit it off and develop a friendship where they laugh and confide in each other. Kate notices Elliot acting different towards her. He’s more attentive and his stares at her a little longer than he should. One day he tells her that her vulnerability is appealing but Kate can’t remember ever being vulnerable with him. Shock and horror, is he reading her emails?

"If I don't look pretty, nobody will notice me . . . and my heart can never get broken again."

Elliot’s was my second favorite brother. I loved the banter between the Elliot and Kate and after Claire’s boys, the supporting characters helped bring everything together.

5/5

Christopher has lived a priviledged life and has never wanted for anything. So why does he feel like something is missing? He decides to take a year sabbatical and go backpacking across Europe. In a crowded, smelly hostile he meets Hayden Whitmore. A beautiful, innocent country girl. She’s unaffected by Christopher’s charm and instantly friend-zones him.

"You'd do all this for a girl?" Masters smirks. "She's not a girl," I spit. "She's the girl."

While I enjoyed this one a little more than The Stopover, it was lacking. Yes, these type of books are meant to have a certain element of predictability, I felt like this was too predictable and wasn’t as good as Tristan’s and Elliot’s stories.