Hello fellow riders/readers!

Here is my post with my fancast/dreamcast of the romantasy series that literally dropped like a gigantic dragon onto the scene in the summer of 2023, the Empyrean series by Rebecca Yarros!

I’d known about Fourth Wing way before it was released, but WOW it is actually insane to see how much this book had blown up since its release date on May 2nd, 2023. It’s literally took over the bookish community, and its had so many people talking!

We loves to see it (for the most part)

The story is about a girl named Violet Sorrengail, who’s off to war college! This war has been going on for over 600 years, and there are four quadrants one can go into for the cause: flyers, scribes, healers, or infantry. As someone with a chronic illness, she’d been under the impression she’d become a scribe like her long lost father, BUT her mother is the head general and surprises her when she’s actually sent off to become a flyer! And to make matters worse, the son of the rebel leader her mother executed back in the day is one of the first people she runs into there as well…

Obsessed. I am obsessed with this book like so many others!

***Also a friendly reminder that these are how I VIEW the characters in these books…I never said you have to agree with me, but you definitely don’t have to be an internet troll and trash my opinions on here. Please keep things respectful, or by all means go make your own website and share your own fancast choices over there! I promise I would NEVER return the favor if someone was rude to me on here…

Warning:: This post does contain MAJOR SPOILERS so read on at your own risk!

To see my review of book 1 – Fourth Wing – Click HERE

To see my review of book 2 – Iron Flame – Click HERE

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Here’s my Fancast/Dreamcast of the Empyrean Series so far:

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Violet Sorrengail: Sophi Knight

Image courtesy of the actress’s IMDB profile

Sophi Knight is exactly how I pictured our FMC of this book series. She’s a young Canadian actress who’s so close to the actual age of the character, but she is 5’7” so maybe a little taller than Violet, but I still stand by this choice! If they can make Tom Cruise look taller than he actually is in his movies, they can do the opposite for her I’m sure!

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Mira Sorrengail: Phoebe Tonkin, or Lyndsy Fonseca

Phoebe Tonkin, image credit not available

Lyndsy, image courtesy of the actresse’s IMDB profile

Both of these actresses are pretty recognizable I’d say; we know Phoebe of course from The Vampire Diaries and The Originals, and Lyndsy has been in so many shows like Kick-Ass and a list of CW/Free form shows too! They’d both be great choices to make a great older sister in Mira in my opinion.

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General Lilith Sorrengail: Rebecca Ferguson, or Lena Headey

Rebecca Ferguson, Image courtesy of facts.net

Lena Headey, image courtesy of yahoo! movies UK

Whoever plays General Sorrengail has to be cold, ruthless, and have a resting bitch face that can shake you to your core. Rebecca Ferguson can for sure do just that. She’s played powerful women before in the new Dune movies and has a calculating, ruthless presence that would be perfect for Violet’s mother! Another amazing choice would be Lena Headey, aka the iconic Cersei Lannister from Game of Thrones.

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Rhiannon Matthias: Keke Palmer

Gotta give this character to my girl Keke Palmer, I would absolutely love to see her as Violet’s bestie and fellow dragon rider!

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Ridoc: Taylor Zakhar Perez

I don’t remember a whole lot of Ridoc’s looks being described, but I’ve seen some fanart of him, and it seems people are viewing him has Hispanic/Latino. I’m all for it! He’s kind of the comedic relief of the friend group, and I adore Taylor who was in the movie adaptation of Red, White, and Royal Blue! One of my absolute favorite books

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Jack Barlowe: Alexander Ludwig, or Arthur Becari

Alexander, image courtesy of mensfashionpost.com

Alright when we met the psychopath Jack in this book, I was having total flashbacks to “The Hunger Games” and pictured Alexander as him. I couldn’t help myself, and it’s didn’t help that Jack was described as blonde 🤷🏼‍♂️ The next guy is a model with probably no acting experience whatsoever, but MAN does he look like Jack Barlowe to me!

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Xaden Riorson: Flamur Ukshini

Xaden has been confirmed by Rebecca Yarros herself that Xaden is POC, and so I pictured this gorgeous guy I’ve been following on Instagram for some time now! He just needs to maybe pack on a little more muscle, but hey, Taylor Launter did it for Twilight!

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Dain Aetos: Leo Suter, or Kilian Isaak

Leo, Image courtesy of the actor’s IMDB profile

This guy is the singular reason why I want to watch that Vikings: Valhalla show…I mean, LOOK at him! And as a grizzly, hairy Viking warrior?! *swoon* he also seemed to fit the character of Dain when he’s all cleaned up, like in this pic. Kilian is a model I discovered on Instagram who’s also got the looks of how I imagine this…..wonderful character.

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Amber: Sydney Zmrzl

Image courtesy of the actress/model’s IMDB profile

This one could honestly be anyone, Amber was a very minor character. So honestly this could come down to just personal preference.

Liam: Chris Bednarik, or Leo Woodall

Chris Bednarik, Image courtesy of the models Instagram profile

Leo Woodall, Image courtesy of Forbes.com

Alright, I would be TOTALLY fine with either of these cute guys playing Liam, and yes, I made sure they both have the dimples too. That was like a requirement! Chris is a fitness model, and Leo was actually in season 2 of “The White Lotus”

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Imogen: Cheree Crowley

I always have at least one WWE person in my fancasts because WHY NOT? When I got the description of Imogen having pink hair, it reminded me when Cheree (aka “Dakota Kai”) had a similar hairstyle as well!

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Garrick: Wolfgang Novogratz

By the time we reach book 3, we have a somewhat decent idea of what Garrick looks like! Rebecca Yarros is stingy with the character descriptions so it’s hard to come up with folks until physical descriptions are dragged out to help describe these characters…

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Bodhi: Zayn Malik

The guy I picked for Xaden kind of looks like Zayn, and since Xaden and Bodhi are actually related, I thought this made sense! I mean, Harry Styles is trying to be an actor…why not Zayn too?

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Tairn (Voice): Chris Hemsworth

Image courtesy of encyclopedia Britannica

If not Liam Neeson, Chris would be an excellent voice actor choice for Tairn! I just imagine him with his deep, booming Thor voice would do wonderfully at this!

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Sgaeyl (Voice): Charlize Theron

Imma give credit to my friend Kat for this pick, and when she suggested it I was immediately like YES. Charlize has such a sexy voice, I remember how she did a crazy good job as the evil queen in “Snow White and the Huntsman” (or literally anything she does), and thought she’d make an excellent voice actor for a dragon like Sgaeyl as well!

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Andarna: (Voice): Mandy Moore

Picking a voice for Andarna was difficult….would you pick an actual child to voice her? I was wondering Ariana Grande for a hot second, but nawww. I love Ari, but she wasn’t who I imagined Andarna sounding like. Then it hit me: TANGLED! Mandy Moore did such a great job as Rapunzel, I think she’d also make a great choice to voice Andarna!

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…now for book 2 – Iron Flame – Here Are New Additions:

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Brennan Sorrengail: Sam Claflin, or Oliver Stark

Sam Claflin, image courtesy of the Wallstreet Journal

Oliver Stark, image courtesy of The Wrap

Honestly, both these actors I could totally picture playing the Sorrengail brother whom we believed to be dead all this time! Both just give me the vibe that Brennan also gives off.

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Syrena Cordella: Lauren Cohan

Lauren has been a WB/CW actress for many, many years with being on shows like “Supernatural” and “Vampire Diaries” so she’d definitely fit in with this new fantasy setting with dragons and gryphons! I think she’d be an excellent casting choice for the lead gryphon rider

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Colonel Aetos: Christian Bale

Christian Bale could crush absolutely any role he plays, and I absolutely know he’d do amazing as Dain’s evil father in this series. Christian has such a wide range of characters under his belt, and some are downright twisted in the head, so I think I’d really enjoy seeing him as the villain in these books.

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Sloane Mairi: Scarlett Leithold

Scarlett is a model, and her statuesque looks totally remind me of Sloane! I’m not sure about her acting abilities in actuality, but as far as looks go, she’s exactly how I pictured this important character whom we meet in book 2, Iron Flame!

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Sawyer: Daniel Portman

Image courtesy of the actor’s IMDB profile

This choice I’m not 100% about in all honesty…but I also don’t think there’s much physical description of Sawyer in general in the books, or I’ve missed it when it’s mentioned. Since its a dragon riding college, why not have the guy who played Podrik Payne in the number one dragon show ever made so far, “Game of Thrones” also make an appearance in here?

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Aaric Greycastle: Alexander Breck, or Cody Christian

Alexander Breck, image courtesy of the model’s Instagram profile

Cody Christian, Image courtesy of Bello Mag

Aaric was probably my favorite of the new characters introduced in Iron Flame, especially when we learn his big secret! I pictured him looking like either of these guys or maybe even NASCAR cutie Charles LeClarc!

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Burton Varrish: Christoph Waltz, or Michael Keaton

Christoph Waltz, image courtesy of the actor’s Wikipedia page

Michael Keaton, image courtesy of Deadline

This character was like Umbridge and Joffrey level horrible…an absolute menace who made your blood boil whenever they popped up in the book. Christoph Waltz has a way of playing wonderful villains that are both obnoxious but still absolutely terrifying, just like in “Inglorious Basterds” and “007: Spectre” and who I pictured as Varrish. I could also see Michael Keaton too though, who I feel is more physically intimidating.

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Viscount Tecarus: TBD

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Jesinia Neilwart: Josephine Langford

She looks so sweet and innocent! just how I pictured this silent scribe who always is willing to help out Violet in tight spots.

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Catriona Cordella: Elizabeth Gillies

Ever since she iconically played Jade in the Nickelodeon show “Victorious,” Liz can SLAY the mean girl role and even just has that mean girl look to her (sorry if she’s an actual sweetheart, it’s the eyebrows and she’s just that good of an actress).

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Professor Devera: Rosario Dawson

I saw someone else propose this fancast choice and LOVED it and immediately agreed with it!

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Professor Kaori: Daniel Dae Kim

Despite recently playing the ruthless Firelord Ozai in the live-action version of “Avatar the Last Airbender” I see Daniel playing this professor in all honesty too, who gives me the total opposite vibes of the Lord of the vicious Fire Nation.

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Commandant Panchek: Daniel Brühl

For some reason, this actor from Captain America: Civil War” came to mind for this slimeball of a character, but I say he could definitely look the part!

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…So there you have it for now! Expect more characters and fancast choices to be added as the series develops because this is going to be a 5-book series!

Thanks for Reading!

— Nick Goodsell

Fantasy, New Adult Romance

My Review: Fourth Wing (The Empyrean #1): by Rebecca Yarros

May 22, 2023May 25, 2023 nicholasjgoodsell

Publish Date: May 2nd, 2023
Number of Pages: 512 Pages
Publisher: RedTower Books
Genre(s): Fantasy, New Adult Romance

Total Star Rating: 4.5 Stars

A dragon without its rider is a tragedy.
A rider without their dragon is dead.”
– Rebecca Yarros, “Fourth Wing”

What It’s About:

The official synopsis:

Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders from USA Today bestselling author Rebecca Yarros

Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.

But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away…because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.

With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.

She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.

Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom’s protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.

Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda—because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die.

~~~

I absolutely love it when a book, at least in my opinion, gets as much hype as this one did AND it actually lives up to it all! It may not be the most poetic, or the next literary masterpiece…hell, it may not even be the most original concept to some, BUT there’s no doubt that Fourth Wing will go down as one of the most popular books of the year AT THE VERY LEAST!

I can already sense the Goodreads award being polished for this one!

This had to be the most fun fantasy I’d read in awhile! So many things just worked for this story; all the characters together made a great cast, the vast array of dragons, the forbidden romance, the war college, the four different quadrants people could join for the cause, the bits of history we get of the war….it all just comes together to form such an engaging and addictive story that you won’t be able to put down!

The story revolves around Violet Sorrengail, youngest daughter to General Sorrengail, who’s been raised her whole life to be a Scribe; a historian, a record keeper, librarian, keeper of books and records, etc. She has a chronic illness that made her content to never be a rider like her mother and older siblings, but PLOT TWIST……

Her mom makes her sign up and go for the riders quadrant of the college! and no, that’s not a spoiler…

It’s there where she also meets Xaden Riorson, son of a rebel leader who killed Violet’s older brother, and then his father was executed by Violet’s mother….so yeah, things are about as smooth as the edge of a dagger’s blade on that whole relationship…

This book gave me Eragon meets Divergent meets Hunger Games vibes and it was so much fun overall!

The beginning started off a little slow for me as fantasy books usually do…for some reason I’m just terrible at getting to know the world and the characters, I much prefer when you’re halfway through the story and already familiar with it all. For me, I just thought the book felt very YA, and despite my reading history, I’m just really veering away from YA fantasy as of late. It’s just not doing it for me like it used too. I mean, it’s totally normal for your reading preferences to change over time and as you get older.

BUT, the danger of this war college becomes apparent even in chapter one, and plenty more happens throughout that draws your attention and gets you excited because there are people dying left and right, and they’re not even in the actual war yet!

Once the dragons became a bigger presence in the book, that’s when things became so much more interesting for me! The magic system the author created puts the dragons at the center stage, and is truly a major highlight. It’s definitely one of the most unique concepts of this world by far.

The romance was also a highlight of the book, although that doesn’t really take off until much later than I’m sure a lot of us were hoping…but at least that means no insta-love! Things also got a little spicy, but not as spicy as I personally felt the book was advertised as. “Spicy AF” it was not….but what you got was pretty good I will say! There wasn’t as much as a “Spicy AF” hype term made me think there’d be! Hopefully this means there much more in the next books.

The last chunk of the book………..whoah my gods……so much happens. SO much all at once. Major twists revealed, feelings are shared, and of course there are epic battles in the skies! Your heart will absolutely wrench for some of it too, don’t you worry! You ain’t getting off that easy!

And the final sequence……

Oh look! A picture of me at 1am when I finished the book! I’m fine….everything is fine…

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There is nothing more sacred than the Archives. Even temples can be rebuilt, but books cannot be rewritten.”
– Rebecca Yarros, “Fourth Wing”

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What I Liked:

Dragons! And New Dragon Lore! I loooooove dragons, I never tire of the giant lizards with wings in fantasy books. I mean, they’re the apex predators of any food chain, the top of the pyramid of any mythological creature biome in any fantasy setting. I liked that they had their own set of rules too in this world. Different Colors also meant different personalities and like cats, THEY choose their humans (if they even want to be matched with a human). They’re intelligent and have their own voices and personalities! There’s more to this, but that goes into spoiler territory and I don’t want to do that, but I love that the dragons are so integral to the magic system of this book!
Danger at Every Turn! There’s literally death in chapter 1, and there’s plenty more throughout. You felt the danger that anyone at the college could die, and some really did just as you met them too! It was like Game of Thrones, the stakes just feel so raised and elevated and makes it for a much more exciting book!
Several Twists That Shocked Me! Either I wasn’t paying close enough attention or these really came out of nowhere, but I didn’t see some of these twists the author threw in, and ooooooooooofda did they add so much to the story!!
Forbidden Romance! Like I mentioned earlier, I loved the whole “enemies-to-lovers/forbidden romance” tropes at play here!
I Actually Chuckled At a Few Parts! The author managed to sneak in a few comedic moments, kind of similar to Game of Thrones dark sense of humor, but also with the modern-esque dialogue in a few places too.

What I Didn’t Like:

Spicy AF?…..I mean, yeah there was SOME spice to this, but “Spicy AF” seems a bit of an over exaggeration here when it came to advertising this book. Well…maybe it is spicy to someone who’s never ventured over to the sexier side of reading? Honestly I’d rate this book 2.5 peppers on the spice scale. BUT at the same time, it was also a slow-burn romance. Maybe there’ll be more in the later books (which there will be 5 as of right now as confirmed by the author herself in a TikTok video)
Felt Kinda YA at the Beginning…The beginning was just slow for me to get into at first. Luckily that quickly changes once the dragons become more prominent.
The Question of Why Violet Becomes a Rider is Unanswered….part of me wonders why her mother had her switch from being a scribe to a rider last minute, and maybe that was explained in the book and I missed it, but surely this may have a bigger answer to give us from her mother later on?

Conclusion:

Overall, Fourth Wing was a book that came with a LOT of expectations and hype, and in my honest opinion, it was all lived up to. Surpassed? Perhaps not. but that’s A-Okay in my book! If the first book in a series starts off this strong, that means we’re in for a WILD RIDE as the plot thickens and everything changes and arcs develop!

I absolutely cannot wait for Iron Flame to come out later this year!

Thanks for Reading!

— Nick Goodsell

Erotica, LGBT, Mystery/Thriller, New Adult, New Adult Romance

My Review: Cannon (Brothers of Hawthorne Hall #2): by Leila James

March 7, 2023 nicholasjgoodsell

Publish Date: November 21st, 2022
Number of Pages: 448 Pages
Publisher: Kindle Edition
Genre(s): Erotica, Reverse Harem, New Adult Romance, Mystery/Thriller, LGBT+

**Warning! This Review contains spoilers to the previous book in this trilogy, so continue reading at your own risk! You’ve officially been warned!**

To see my review of book #1 – Kingston – Click HERE

Total Star Rating: 4.25 Stars

Our girl is a fucking diamond – beautiful to look at, but impossible to crush.”
– Leila James, “Kingston”

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What It’s About:

The official synopsis:

A Dark College Bully Romance

Shattered trust, twisted games, and ugly truths …

A female initiate is unheard of at Hawthorne Hall, but after forcing the brotherhood’s hand, they had no choice but to let me stay. My plan should have been simple: Find out what happened to my cousin and best friend in the world, Will.

But nothing is as it seems.

This brotherhood is steeped in tradition and built on loyalty, but the deeper I dig, the more I see fissures in their supposedly tight-knit group. And with the evidence I’ve found, every move I make seems more dangerous than the last. I no longer know who to trust.

Cannon.
Archer.
Kingston.

I don’t want to believe they’re guilty or that they could have harmed Will. But there’s only one way to find out—immerse myself in their world and keep my mouth shut. And hope they don’t break my heart along the way.

The games continue … but who is being played?

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Book two, here we go!!

There’s not a whole lot to honestly add besides what I liked and disliked about this book if I’m being completely honest. There are definitely some new things to add though that I definitely found to be a highlight, so I’ll add that this book for sure improves from book 1!

You continue off literally right where the previous book left off: Elliott is in bed with Kingston after they had some incredibly hot sex and also grew closer by opening up to each other too, but she finds her missing best friend/cousin’s cell phone in his bedside table!

Duh Duh DUN!!!

Suddenly the trust she’d been building with Archer, Kingston, and Cannon is instantly shattered and she’s back to square one.

Who can she trust?

What do they know?

Where is Will now?

Do they know who she is?

Questions are popping up left and right, kind of like the dicks in this reverse harem/why choose story. but one thing that I’m entirely certain about is the spice definitely increases! it gets hotter, more intense, and oh yeah…there’s more, but you definitely have to read more to find out for yourself!

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What I Liked:

The Spice Gets HOTTER & HOTTER! The Spice does not let up in this second installment despite how book 1 ended! THANK GOD!
MM ROMANCE! I won’t spoil who it involves, but I will say that I LOVE the addition of some hot male-on-male action going down as the plot thickens. I kind of wasn’t expecting it to be who it ended up being, well at least for one of the characters, but it was an addition to the story that I was all for!
The Three Guys Had More Character Development! This time around the three guys Archer, Kingston, and Cannon had some development tossed their way, and they’ve became much more three dimensional and more dynamic. You start to see more of their personalities now that you’ve become familiar with them, and while some of them you’ll still like more than others, a lot more starts to make sense around them all the same too!

What I Didn’t Like:

Elliott Continues To Be a Damsel…I mean, I guess this sort of makes sense since she’s digging around for clues and answers to something that is obviously being covered up, but it’s getting repetitive by this point that she gets herself into trouble, then has to rely on her men to help her get out of it. At least after it usually leads to spice, but again…it’s getting repetitive
Another Hall Getting Attention?…There was a LOT of emphasis on a rival fraternity/hall in this book with a masquerade auction event, like way more emphasis than I honestly cared for. It ended up the head of that house had some history with Kingston and the situation with his dead sister…so I could see this becoming a bigger subplot into the next book, or even a spinoff sort of thing, and part of me wonders if I even care?…
I Still Think There’s Not Enough Emphasis On The Mystery…I’m still wishing there was more to the mystery, like more surprising twists and reveals and an intricate plot that reveals way more is going on than we believed, but instead we get more instances of Elliott getting into trouble and needing Archer, Cannon, or Kingston to save her. At least the spice is abundant!
….SPUNK BUNKERS?!?!…Absolutely the worst way to describe testicles I’ve ever heard. NEVER AGAIN

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Conclusion:

Overall, a better sequel than what book 1 had to offer, but I feel like these books are still just missing that extra something to make them absolutely spectacular! that extra ooomph to really set it apart and make it better than it already is!

They’re not bad books by any means, in fact, I’d say they’re like an addictive, sexy binge-worthy Riverdale, Elite, Euphoria-esque show you can’t help but get sucked into! I’ve enjoyed reading these tremendously; just because I have a few personal critiques doesn’t mean I didn’t like it! I’ll definitely be reading the third and final book to see what could possibly happen next!

Thanks for Reading!

— Nick Goodsell

LGBT, New Adult, New Adult Romance, Romance

My Review: Hat Trick Heart (Thunderclap #1): by Ella Market

January 17, 2023January 23, 2023 nicholasjgoodsell

Publish Date: October 4th, 2022
Number of Pages:
Publisher: Independently Published
Genre(s): New Adult Romance, Sports Romance, Reverse Harem

Total Star Rating: 3.75 Stars

‘. . . there are team superstitions. The traditional shoulder check line or locker room song.‘ He pauses, and I force myself to look up at him, his blue eyes piercing me in a way that makes me squirm in my seat. ‘You, Macey, are a team superstition.’”
– Ella Market, “Hat Trick Heart”

What It’s About:

The official synopsis:

When your agent calls and tells you that your publisher wants “something new,” you do the only thing you can do:
Draw from real life experience.

Successful romance writer Macey Veronica’s life has revolved around hockey for as long as she can remember. When a blast from the past is forced in to her life again, six year old secrets are uncovered, and Macey V finds herself wondering how to fit feelings for three alpha hockey players into her one heart.

Max, Rafe, and Andy were the closest that three people could be without sharing blood while playing hockey together in college. Macey was their center, their grounding point, and they would have given her the world if asked. One fateful graduation party forced a rift between two that irrevocably changed everything…. Until years later when they find themselves all playing for the Tampa Thunder.

Macey loves them all, and always has. But is that enough to get them through this next chapter? Or will their pride prove to be too much to overcome?

—
Hat Trick Heart is a standalone reverse harem romance where the main character gets a guaranteed HEA with multiple love interests. It is intended for audiences 18+ for explicit language and sexual content, including MM, MMF, and MMFM scenes.

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Okay, here is me trying to get caught up on book reviews that are LONG overdue….whoops! what ‘cha gonna do? Sometimes they just fall through the cracks when you get into a certain reading groove, BUT here I am trying to make up for it!

So I actually read this book back in November–again, whoops–but better late than never!

Do you like Hockey?

Do you like Hockey PLAYERS?

Do you like Hockey Players who are up for sharing the main character?

Do you like reverse harems/why choose romances?

Do you like Philipino representation?

Do you like second chance, found family, and/or friends-to-lovers tropes?

…If you said YES to all of these, or even most of them, then I definitely say you need to give this debut novel a shot! Pun slightly intended there….you know, shooting a puck? a shot at goal? okay…….

It was a lighter toned, equally fun and sexy romance novel that anyone who’s a fan of multiple love interests or Hockey in general can easily get into! It’s also an easy read to pick up and get into whenever and wherever without getting lost; whether you’re reading at the beach, or in the waiting room at the doctor’s office, on your lunch break, or literally just whenever you can squeeze in some quick reading time!

The story revolves around Macey Veronica, a romance author on the cusp of writing her next big hit, and it just so happens to be somewhat replicating her very REAL life romance that’s developing between her and her three best friends: Max, Rafe, and Andy.

The three of them just so happen to ALL be professional hockey players, and Rafe was actually out of the picture for a few years and there’s a mystery as to why exactly. There’s definitely some history that gets rehashed and comes to a boil with three alpha personalities.

There was also a nice balance of history with Max and Macey, who’ve been best friends since they were 8 years old, who then met Rafe and Andy in college, and I’m personally glad there wasn’t a whole lot of time wasted with them all being awkward and second guessing the whole “can we be more than friends? Will this ruin our relationship? Do I view them as someone other than a friend?” I mean, those thoughts all make sense and are entirely valid, but when the book is advertised as an RH romance that’s defs going to have some spice, we ain’t looking for that uncertainty, we want to see things freakin HAPPEN! I’d say the author did just the right amount of time of them being just friends and them making the jump to take things horizontally and even further.

The book is told in four perspectives and is also told in just the right amount of balance between the four of them too in my opinion. Each character besides Andy has their own little subplot that they’re dealing with while the romantic relationship between them all develops, but honestly that’s okay in my opinion. He’s the more easy going of them all, and I don’t think he needed to add more drama to the story, there was plenty already going on. He felt like the bridge and/or mediator between them all, and I think maybe why so many others who’ve read this book consider him their favorite! I’m totally speculating on how friends and some strangers read this book, but you know…I could see it!

Besides these four, there’s also a few side characters who catch some of the spotlight–and reader’s hearts–like Macey’s gal pals and the hot young head coach, so it definitely gives you the idea that the story here isn’t entirely done and there’s more to be explored besides just Macey’s little line of men that have her heart! If the author herself says the coach looks like model Chase Mattson, I’m all for getting a closer look into his love life!!

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What I Liked:

Reverse Harem, ‘nuf said! Reverse Harems, or “why choose” romances, are becoming more and more popular in the bookish community. Why pick just one love interest when you could have several? Now whether sharing is going on or they’re competing against each other for time and affection depends on the book/group dynamic, but in this book it’s all amongst a group of friends who turn to lovers, but with two side relationships too. It’s certainly an interesting set-up to say the least, and I gotta say Macey is the luckiest girl in the world to have it this good with three pro hockey players!
An Actual Hockey Fan Wrote This! A good hockey romance also NEEDS actual hockey playing content in my opinion…otherwise it’s not really a sports/hockey romance specifically, it’s just a regular romance and the guy (or gal) just happens to be a hockey player. Sports romance stories need actual sports being played within the pages to count as an actual sports romance, and it’s good to know that this author not only provides actual sports content in this book, but that she actually has a vast knowledge of it and is a huge fan of it in her personal life too! It helps the reader feel the story is more authentic when the author actually knows what they’re writing about in this case.
Low Angst, Low Thoughts! What I mean by this is just that it’s nice to have a book like this that’s just easy, breezy, and doesn’t require a whole lot of thought and concentration. The beach reads that you can take just about anywhere and pick up and not get lost. The low angst is because most of the story is about the four main characters and how they come to terms with their poly relationship and explore it, thus adding to some spicy scenes to enjoy for the readers who enjoy that kind of extra seasoning in their books *wink*wink.*

What I Didn’t Like:

Max Needed to Be More Open to Trying New Things…This isn’t really a critique, more like a personal preference…and also SPOILERS AHEAD……………….okay, so Max is cool with the whole “sharing” Macey part, but most likely mainly because he gets to be seen with her in public like they’re a regular couple. He’s even cool with being in bed with the other guys, and even maybe MAYBE get s a little curious….but then that’s it! NO MAX, explore that curiosity!!! Go with that feeling, and take it further! He admitted watching Rafe and Andy was kind of hot at one point, and here I’m like “yes, but there could be something even hotter…” Basically I wanted to see more bisexual curiosity/exploration from Max with the other guys…like let one of them suck your dick or top one of them! Respectfully and consensually, of course!
The Mom And What’s Her Deal?…I will admit the whole issue with the mom of that super fan and the whole conflict that came because of it felt a little out of left field and should’ve been explored further in this book. It could’ve made more sense if she wasn’t in like only one scene in the whole dang book! Like maybe she’s a rival author/publisher to Macey and the company she works for or something! I don’t know, even just having her in more scenes would make this aspect of the story stronger in my opinion!

Conclusion:

Overall, this was a fun, easy, and defs sexy reverse harem/why choose Hockey romance that I think anyone could get into if they love sports romance and RH’s in general! It’s mainly a lighter, sweet tone of a book too, so I’d say it’s even a good one for someone who’s never gone down the RH rabbit-hole and is curious to give it a try.

I’d say it’s an impressive debut novel, and Ella Market is for sure an author to keep an eye on because things can only go up from here, and there’s also an X-mas novella with all these characters if you can’t get enough of them in this fabulous book that’s called Hat Trick Holiday, PLUS the sequel coming out later this year: Power Play Pieces!

Much Excite!

Thanks for Reading!

— Nick Goodsell

Fancasts/Dreamcasts

My Fancast/Dreamcast: The Extracurricular Activities Trilogy by Neve Wilder

November 11, 2022July 7, 2023 nicholasjgoodsell

Whaddup readers, it’s time for another Fancast/Dreamcast post, and this time it’s for what has to be the spiciest, steamiest, sexiest set of books I’ve read this year! Neve Wilder totally gained a fan in me with how hot these books got, they’re seriously some of the best MM new adult romance I’ve read out there, not that my list is incredibly extensive in this regards, but someday!

BEWARE OF SPOILERS IF YOU HAVENT READ THESE YET

Each book featured a different couple, and book 1 actually started off as a collection of short stories in a newsletter that gained major popularity before being brought together and published as one full length novel. Nate and Eric star in book 1, Chet and Mark star in book 2, and Sam and Jesse star in book 3!

If you want some spicy MM romance action, I can’t recommend these books enough!

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To see my review of book #1 – Want Me – Click HERE

To see my review of book #2 – Try Me – Click HERE

To see my review of book #3 – Show Me – Click HERE

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Here is my Fancast/Dreamcast for the Extracurricular Activities Trilogy:

Nate: Ryan Ball

Ryan is a model that is total eye candy on Instagram, and exactly how I imagine the down to earth and slightly awkward Nate to look like in book 1. If he looked like this, I can see why Eric became so into him!

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Eric: Charlie Matthews

Image courtesy of dnamanagementgroup.com

Eric is described as being dark haired with green eyes and a hot build even if he’s on the slimmer side, so this model Charlie Matthews is immediately who I thought of to play Eric!

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Mark Farrow: Zane Phillips

I’ve recently discovered Zane Phillips, and I’m obsessed…He might be the only reason I have to check out The Legacies on the CW network, even though I believe The Vampire Diaries DID NOT need a second spin-off show! It also helps that he’s gay in real life too, so he’d be perfect for a role in these books if they were to make it into a film/show!

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Chet Pynchon: Eric Guilmette

I’m basically making this fancast into a men’s appreciation catalogue, but honestly who’s complaining??? I don’t remember much of what Chet is described as, but I’m obsessed with Eric over on Instagram, so I honestly just pictured him as Chet in my head. This one may or may not be all that accurate, but hey, I’m good with using Eric to my imagination with these books!

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Sam: Matt O’Brien, or Andre Lamoglia

Matt O’Brien, image courtesy of the model’s Instagram account

Andre Lamoglia, image courtesy of popbuzz.com

Sam is basically described LITERALLY as a human golden retriever/yellow lab, and whoever would play him needs to look the part! Matt is guy I found on social media who I imagine Sam looking like, BUT there’s also a new hottie named Ivan on the Spanish Netflix drama, Elite, who’s played by Andre, and I get serious heart-eyes whenever he smiles, just like how I’d imagine I would for Sam!

Jesse: Alex Espenshade

Jesse is a sassy skinny ginger who was also really hard to cast! No one came to mind right away for me as to who I could picture playing him! This male model has an adorable look to him that I could see Jesse as, but consider this a place holder until I find someone who I deem more perfect!