I read a total of 20 books in December which I am very happy with by I am aiming for 400 books in 2022 so I need to read 33 books a month for that.
The Pool Boy by Nikki Sloane ***.25 - I really enjoyed The Doctor but I’ve put off this series for some reason. I recently read rumours that this romance features an older women and a younger man which isn’t something I normally go for but I am excited to see what Sloane does with it. We are introduced to Erika who is currently going through a middle life crisis after finding her husband Clark cheating on her with his male boss, Derrick. Their divorce over the following ten months is very messy and she is struggling to move on with her life. Erika is also the neighbour of Dr. Lowe from the first book in the series and often finds herself jealous of his girlfriend and this is just Erika being a little lonely.
The Architect by Nikki Sloane ***.5 - Unlike the other two books in this series which have feature age gap heterosexually couples this one is going to feature an M/M/F pairing and I can’t wait to see what Sloane does with this. We are introduced to Lilith whose neighbour Clay approaches her one day about a cat that is injured as she works for a vet’s office and she helps him find the cat. After checking the cat over and determining it has no owner they decide to co-parent the cat since Clay isn’t around much because of work and Lilith can’t own one because of her parents and they name her Noir. This continues for a few weeks allowing a friendship to form between Clay and Lilith but Lilith wants more than a friendship with him and decides to make a move by waiting naked in his home.
Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica ***** - Tender is the Flesh was an amazing novel that really shone in term of its horror and gore elements which are down played but really shine through as well as it psychological elements which left me stunned. We are following Marcos who is in the business of slaughtering humans after a virus left all animals completely inedible to humans. Marcos is a very complex characters as he is grieving for his son Leo that died presumably from something like SIDS and is missing his wife who is dealing with the loss of their son in her own way. He is also dealing with a senile father and a sister who couldn’t care less about him or their father despite how much she acts otherwise.
Genesis by Seven Rue **.5 - I recently read Forbidden and Baby Bird by Seven Rue and loved them so I had high hopes for Genesis that it didn’t really live up to. While the story was interesting I think it suffered from being underdeveloped in terms of writing, characters and the romance which left me feeling unsatisfied and disappointed especially after the stunning duet I previously read from the author. We are introduced to Otis who take custody of his three year old niece after his sister, Evangelina is sent to prison. One of the first things Otis does with the little girl is rename her, Genesis to celebrate her new beginning. At first we follow them through the early years of Otis taking care of Genesis which was surprisingly wholesome to see and wish it would have been expanded on a little.
Comfort Food by Kitty Thomas ****.25 - Comfort Food was a dark story that looks into the psychology of ownership through a twisted romance and I found it to be gripping and engaging from the first page to the last. We are following a self-help guru, Emily Vargas after she is kidnapped and essentially trained to be a sex slave for the unnamed Master. At first Emily is obviously afraid but she quickly settles into a routine with her Master and begins learning what he wants and expects from her and consequently deals with both the rewards and punishment. Unlike most BDSM based romance novels the pain isn’t the punishment it is the lack of human contact so for Emily, chicken noodle soup the food she is fed in her cell becomes a symbol of punishment while any physical contact, pleasurable or painful becomes the rewards.
Jack by Layla Fae ****.5 - Jack was the perfect Halloween erotic read and I am a little sad that I didn’t find it sooner. As it is under 50 pages long my review is going to be extremely short but that is the only downside to this book is that it is so short. I would have loved to have seen this novella extended in something a bit more substantial but it worked great as it is. We are following Suzy who is a witch that performs readings for customers, recently all her reading have be favourable for love except her own and at 36 this is something that has been bother Suzy for a while. After a few drinks she decides to perform a spell to summon her love and ends up summoning the demon Jack. While she is initially frightened of Jack, Suzy soon comes to realise that he doesn’t intend to hurt her in fact, he intends to satisfy every desire she has and she allows it.
Forbidden Fling by Kat Taylor **** - I wasn’t aware before picking this book up that Kat Taylor is a penname of Katee Robert so I was pleasantly surprised to learn that been as most of Katee Robert’s books I have read I have greatly enjoyed. We are following Neveah and her boyfriend, Brad on what is supposed to be a romantic vacation for the pair of them which has turned into a friends and family holiday since Brad’s friends and father, Mr. Jones are also there. We also learn early on that Brad is quite selfish in their relationship especially in the bedroom often leaving Neveah unsatisfied which angers her greatly.
The Horseman of Sleepy Hollow by Rebecca F. Kenney ***** - The Horseman of Sleepy Hollow is the first book in a standalone series, each book with the exception of Wendy, Darling and Captain Pan I believe are standalone novels based around mythology and legends. This book obviously follows the legend of the Headless Horseman but incorporates mythological creatures such as Dullahan as well which was an amazing touch and it is also pretty low on the smut side of things but what we do get is outstanding. We are following Katrina Van Tassel who is being pressured into marriage by her mother and has two key suitors, Brom Brunt and Ichabod Crane.
Jack Frost by Rebecca F. Kenney ***.5 - The second book in The Immortal Warriors series is following the legend of Jack Frost. We are introduced to Emery who is a climate activist and cinematographer filming in Antarctica. She gets separated from her group and almost dies in a blizzard when she stumbles upon the ice palace belonging to Jack Frost. As she is suffering from the cold she wakes him up from what turns out to be a magical sleep to restore his powers so he can help her which he does giving her the Chill so she doesn’t feel the effects of the cold anymore but she is also gifted with True Sight allowing her to see the supernatural beings normally hidden from humans which she isn’t keen on at first.
The Gargoyle Prince by Rebecca F. Kenney ***.5 - The Gargoyle Prince is the third instalment in The Immortal Warriors series and I can’t wait to see how Kenney handled a literal stone man. We are following Noemie who is the third princess of Normandy in this French steampunk inspired novel, after several assassination attempts she is gifted a new bodyguard by her brother. The new bodyguard turns out to be a new type of gargoyle named Gideon. Noemie’s country has been locked in a war for a long time and while she understands the need to have Gideon around the pair don’t get along at first which was interesting to see and entertaining to read as there is a lot of banter between them.
Confessions on the 7:45 by Lisa Unger **** - Confessions on the 7:45 is a part of my Goodreads 2020 challenge and it wouldn’t have normally been on my radar but I finally decided to pick it up. The novel opens with a prologue of a woman watching a man, stalking him almost until he does something to another woman but we don’t know what it is and this might come into play later. We are introduced to Selena Murphy, her husband, Graham, their two sons, Stephen and Oliver as well as their nanny, Geneva. Selena recently learnt that her husband was cheating on her with Geneva but she isn’t angry about it in fact, she seems resigned as we learn Graham has cheating on her before. Selena has also come to hate her husband recently and she is bottling these feelings up in order to keep a happy, stable environment for her children. Geneva also isn’t happy with the arrangement and encourages Graham to look for work since he has been unemployed for a while. We are also introduced to Anne who is sleeping with her married boss, Hugh who is planning to leave his wife for her but Anne doesn’t seem interested in Hugh at all even disassociating during sex. Switching back to Selena’s perspective she meets a woman on the train home named Martha who I believe is Anne if that’s even her real name and they confess things to each other but Selena is uncomfortable with Martha’s implications of doing away with her lover entirely and we then switch to Pearl’s perspective. It seems like these perspective might be the different identities of one woman, so far I believe that Martha and Anne are the same person and Pearl might be as well.
Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco ***.25 - This is a re-read for me and I remember not really enjoying Kingdom of the Wicked as it didn’t live up to the heights of Stalking Jack the Ripper for me (Even though I’ve only read two books in that series) but since I have heard some good things about Kingdom of the Cursed and it is the December Pick for the Double Booked Book Club I am trying it again. We are introduced to twin sisters, Emilia and Vittoria who come from the di Carlo family of streghe or witches. In the prologue we learn a little about the family history and why the girls are warned about the Wicked, the Princes of Hell. Vittoria and Emilia also seem to be special as they are given protective amulets and told never to let them touch or the seals binding the Princes of Hell would be broken. Being impulsive children the girls obviously do this, Vittoria in particular and it seems to have some meaning later on.
Kingdom of the Cursed by Kerri Maniscalco ***.5 - The first book in the series was a major disappointment for me but I have heard good things about the sequel so I decided to pick it up and this will determine if I read the finale. As I suspected it picks up almost immediately where book one left off with Wrath escorting Emilia to her new home as Pride’s bride. However, the route of getting there isn’t as simple as it seems since they have to pass through the Sin corridor because Emilia is human and this area of Hell is going to test her affinity for each House to determine where she belongs.
Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid ****.5 - Malibu Rising was on my radar when it came out because I have read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones & the Six by this author and loved them both despite little issues I had with them, but for some reason I never picked it up and I am changing that now. All I knew about the book before getting into it was it takes place in August 1983, over the course of a single day following Nina Riva and her family. Something happens over this one day that results in a fire that sweeps across Malibu and I think it will have some of Reid’s signature twists but from the synopsis it is giving me We Were Liars vibes. We are briefly introduced to all of the Riva siblings and their parents in the opening section of the novel which was interesting. Nina has gotten divorced from her cheating husband, Brandon but is still hosting her annual party. Jay and Kit are pretty close since he split from his girlfriend Ashley, Hudson has been sleeping with Ashley even when she and Jay were together but they love each other and plan to announce they are together at the party, so a lot of drama already. They are the children of Mick Riva and June Costa and the way they got together was nice and heart-warming but I have a feeling this is only the beginning and these siblings might be keeping a lot of secrets from each other.
Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman ****.25 - I saw the movie for Call Me By Your Name advertised yet never watching it but I decided to pick up the book and I’ve also got the audiobook narrated by Arnie Hammer who stars in the movie. We are introduced to Elio who is staying at his family’s summer home in Italy and they are playing host to Oliver this summer. From the moment that Oliver arrives, Elio is enamoured with him although for the first week or so he believes that Oliver doesn’t like him when looking back on it he realises that both he and Oliver were flirting from the very day that he arrived. There is a slight age gap between them with Elio being 17 and Oliver is 24 and they have already been making subtle moves and gestures towards each other to gauge their interest but Elio is only resisting them because he isn’t 100% sure that Oliver feels the same way towards him but he is trying to figure it out.
Find Me by Andre Aciman **** - I loved Call Me By Your Name and I can’t wait to see the movie so I couldn’t wait to jump into Find Me straight after. I wasn’t sure where Aciman was going to go with these characters as we get to see Elio and Oliver’s story in full with some snapshots from the next 20 years after the summer they met. I have a feeling that this book is going to go more in depth over what they did with their lives after that summer and in between the snapshots. Elio’s father, Samuel also features heavily in this story and I am excited to see what happens with him as I loved him in Call Me By Your Name. The novel opens with Samuel getting on a train to go see Elio who is currently living in Rome before he heads off to Paris but he has to cancel their meeting that evening as he is covering for a pianist in Naples. On the train Samuel meets a young woman, Miranda and they fall into easy conversation which ends when they arrive in Rome but Miranda invites him to her father’s home and Samuel agrees and they way he has been talking to her and thinking about it makes me think they might have an affair or something like that.
The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix ****.5 - I have read The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix and it was ok, but I have been told that Final Girl Support Group and My Best Friend’s Exorcism are the best works. We are introduced to Lynnette Tarkington and along with Marilyn, Dani, Julia, Adrienne and Heather they make up the final girl support group. All these women survived serial killers or masked killers of some sort in the 80’s that inspired the slasher genre. When Lynette learns of murders at the same place Adrienne was attacked at and later bought where the only survivor is 16 year old, Stephanie Fugate, she knows something is wrong. At their meeting that day they learn that Dani is intending to leave the group and it is the only thing holding Lynette together despite her protests they all learn that Adrienne is dead and any of them could be next.
The Loop by Jeremy Robert Johnson ***.25 - The opening to The Loop was interesting as we are introduced to a podcast debunking myths and false information spread by the media especially surrounding Turner Falls which seems to be the centre of something although we don’t know what. We are also introduced to Lucy who is finishing high school and missing being sat to her best friend, Bucket when something strange happens. A boy in her class seems to have a seizure but he begins spouting crazy things about “them” making him smarter and failing, seeing the truth of things before attacking a classmate. After injuring his classmate he is gunned down by some armed men and I can’t wait to see where this goes.
Dipped in Holly by Dana Isaly ****.5 - I recently read Games We Play by Dana Isaly and adored it and I couldn’t wait to pick up her holiday themed romance following a newly dumped, Holly and a silver fox named Nick. After her boyfriend of five years, Josh, break up with her publicly in a bar, Holly is crying her eyes out when she comes face to face with the owner of the bar, Nick, who immediately stirs some lustful feelings in Holly which she chides herself for given her situation but she doesn’t turn down Nick’s offer a drink. Her now ex-boyfriend does try to break them apart especially when Nick kisses Holly but Nick swiftly tosses his ass to the curb before showing Holly what a real man is.
Melt for Us by Molly Doyle ***** - I adored Scream for Us, the Halloween themed novella Molly Doyle wrote and I couldn’t contain my excitement when it was announced we would have a Christmas themed sequel. In Scream for Us we are introduced to Quinn and her unconventional relationship with the masked men, Ghost, Jason and Michael, the ending of that novella left me blindsided and wanting more so I couldn’t wait to get into Melt for Us. We learn early on that the real names of the three men, Ghost is Damien Sylvester, Jason is Jensen Peterson and Michael is Micah Henderson and they are spending their first Christmas together. They are staying at Damien’s cabin which has been decorated by Micha because Quinn loves Christmas and we get a few sex scenes early on. However, things take a slightly darker turn with Damien letting out a darker side of him and Quinn confessing that the previous Christmas she was raped by a man she was talking too at the time.
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