Dark Romance, Erotica, New Adult, New Adult Romance, Romance

My Review: God Of Malice (Legacy of Gods #1): by Rina Kent

Publish Date: July 14th, 2022
Number of Pages: 576 Pages
Publisher: Bloom Books
Genre(s): Dark Romance, New Adult Romance

Total Star Rating: 4.25 Stars

Not all girls like the hero. I was fated to fall in love with the villain. Because I know, I just know that he’ll put me ahead of everyone. Himself included.”

— Rina Kent, “God Of Malice”

What It’s About:

The Official Synopsis:

~~~

Now here’s a book that, in my humble opinion, lived up to the MASSIVE hype it’s received…

Being a part of the book community, and a growing fan of the Dark Romance sub-genre specifically, it’s probably hard to traverse this particular corner of the community without having coming across the Legacy of Gods series by Rina Kent. It feels like it’s just about everywhere, and there are multiple different sets and editions that go for astronomical resale prices on the BST market too.

I’ll admit seeing that stay pretty consistent also made me super curious about these books and the hype around them…

Okay, so this book definitely starts off with a bang…and then it just devolves into more beautiful chaos from there. This book revolves around Glyndon King and Killian Carson, two college-age students of the ultra british elite. Glyndon is on a cliff looking over the ocean where she’d witnessed a friend drive over towards his unexpected but brutal death. Haunted with those past images stuck in her brain, that’s where a grieving Glyndon meets the enigmatic and chaotic Killian, and like I said…it just gets more and more out of control from there!

Killian was a really fun anti-hero, dark knight sort of character because the dude was a legit psychopath/sociopath, but he still had a ton of charm to him! He gave me Joe Goldberg from YOU vibes sort of in that sense, but he makes Joe look pretty mild in comparison if that says anything. His snark and banter were top tier throughout; I even found myself falling for the villain here.

My only critiques of this book were it felt like it didn’t need to be as long as it was, like it could’ve been condensed somewhat, because I did find myself getting a little impatient towards the 75% mark in this book. My only other critique was all the many other characters introduced, especially right away in like the 3rd or 4th chapter, but I also know most if not all of them are the main stars of the next books in this series. I maybe just wish we were introduced to them more smoothly throughout the book instead of all clumped together…it’s like when you’re introduced to a whole lunch table of new people and their names are listed off back to back; how many of those people’s names do you actually remember after 5 minutes?

I will admit, I was hesitant to start this sooner because of the MASSIVE universe these books are a part of with a lot of Rina Kent books/series. I know the parents of the characters are stars in other series that take place way before these, but luckily I found myself able to get through this book no problem without having read any of the previous books beforehand. Sure, you’d probably get more out of this book if you HAD read them before and learned the stories of the parents, but here’s me saying it’s not entirely necessary. Thank god for that too, because it’s a HUGE commitment to read all the books that take place before the Legacy of Gods series, which then ironically has become the most popular of them.

~~~

Understand this, Glyndon, there’s nothing noble or tender about what I feel for you. It’s violent volcano of obsession, possession, and deranged lust. If you want love, then I do love you, but it’s the unorthodox version of love. I love you enough to let you within my walls. I love you enough to let you talk to my demons. I love you enough to allow you to have a hold over me when I’ve never allowed anyone to have the power to destroy me from inside out.”

— Rina Kent, “God Of Malice”

What I Liked:

  1. The Banter! The back and forths between Killian and Glyndon were just so so good. It felt like it was like a third of the book, and I don’t have any complaints about that at all! I am always a sucker for good snarky banter.
  2. Killian Carson! He is a dark, sexy, psychotic MOFO who actually had quite a bit of depth to him too. That was surprising to me, like he wasn’t a dark character just for the sake of it or for cheap shock value, it felt natural and explored wonderfully in this story with some explanations brought forward to make him feel like a truly well thought out and fleshed out character.
  3. Amazing Cast of Characters! While a lot of them get thrown at you right away, once you start to distinguish them from each other, I did really enjoy each character and the different dynamics that were presented. A lot of easter eggs were definitely planted for the next books too, it was fun to try and catch them with what limited knowledge I had.
  4. The Start of the Book! This book starts off in a really exciting and attention grabbing way, and as someone who gives a book 100 pages to grab my attention before I decide to DNF it and move onto the next, I thought with how this book started was a great way to instantly hook readers!

What I Didn’t Like:

  1. Too Many Introductions At Once…Way too many characters were introduced to me all at the same time and all right away in the very beginning of the book…It felt like a dark college romance version of like Game of Thrones or something…I eventually got them all figured out and distinguished, but man was it overwhelming at first!
  2. Part of Multi-Series Universe…This could be a good or bad thing depending on the kind of reader you are, but the fact that this series is the very latest in a LONG line of other books/series that are all connected was a major yellow light/yield sign that made me hesitate for like a year before finally deciding to dive in. Luckily it’s not required to have read all of them before starting LOG series, but it enhances your overall experience reading this too, and part of me does feel the FOMO of not having read from the very chronological beginning

Conclusion:

Overall, this was one hell of a way to start a series, and I can say I am HOOKED and I will definitely be reading on to see how the other books are! Killian was a perfect addictive psychopath and Glyndon was the perfect angel who could make him see the light as well as explore her dark side too…

This book is perfect for fans of opposites attract, dubcon/noncon, mafia/secret societies, dark college romance type stories with lots of banter and spice to boot.

Like I mentioned above, this is one of those massively hyped/popular books that actually lived up to all the hype! I definitely recommend it if this sounds like your kind of book to dive into.

Thanks for Reading!

— Nick Goodsell

Fantasy, New Adult Romance, Romance

My Review: A Kingdom of Stars and Shadows (Stars and Shadows #1): by Holly Renee

Publish Date: July 11th, 2022
Number of Pages: 290 Pages
Publisher: Holly Renee Publishing
Genre(s): Fantasy, Romance

Total Star Rating: 3.25 Stars

It doesn’t matter that you are destined to be his. Every part of you is begging to be mine.

— Holly Renee, “A Kingdom Of Stars and Shadows”

What It’s About:

The official synopsis:

~~~

This is a great option if you want something more on the fantasy side but you either are not a fan of intensely dense worldbuilding or you just want something quick and almost mindless to read with some good spice…but with fantasy! Basically, it’s a great romantasy guilty pleasure option that’s also a super short and quick read.

Compared to what I’ve read and enjoyed in the past, the vibe of this book felt very much like the spicy, underdeveloped child of A Court of Thorns and Roses and From Blood and Ash, where it definitely is able to stand on its own as a story, but the comparisons between even just these two is very apparent.

It wasn’t bad by any means, in fact the spicy scenes were pretty good I’ll admit, it just felt like the world wasn’t very unique or original…I mean, we don’t even get a map of the world, and that’s like an unofficial requirement for me with fantasy books!

The story revolves around Adara, who’s this thing called “Starblessed” where she has markings across her body and she’s prophesized to save the kingdom. She’s brought before the royal family and becomes betrothed to the Prince, Gavril, but also shares a secret and (very tempting) attraction to his half brother, Evren.

Evren is WHERE IT’S AT, by the way…add him to your list of shadow daddy’s is all I can say!

Most of this book revolves around Adara and Evren, who kind of sneak around and it’s pretty hot and forbidden, and luckily it’s not cheating because Adara has absolutely NO romantic feelings for Gavril whatsoever…but his mother, Queen Kaida, is not about to have whatever plan she clearly has underfoot to be ruined just because the STARBLESSED doesn’t love her betrothed…then all the while there’s a growing threat of Vampyres (yes that’s spelled correctly) on the edge of the kingdom that we may need to worry about later on…

Like I said, this wasn’t bad by any means, but I wouldn’t call it great either…It feels like those stories that mix in a ton of the popular tropes from other books, blends it together, and is presented as something else. The plot is fairly predictable, the characters are pretty generic, BUT the forbidden romance and the spicy scenes are what kept my attention grabbed, so I’ll say I was entertained nonetheless.

~~~

Why not? Because you are betrothed to my brother or because your thighs just tightened around mine as you imagined it yourself.” I opened my mouth to argue, but he wasn’t finished. “It doesn’t matter that you are destined to be his. Every part of you is begging to be mine.

— Holly Renee, “A Kingdom of Stars and Shadows”

~~~

What I Liked:

  1. The Romance/Spice! I mean, this is what drew me into the story to begin with. I was promised some good spicy time, and I will say that this book definitely delivers in that.
  2. How Quick It Is! This one is actually a toss-up, because I like how quick it was, but I also critique the lack of worldbuilding, so the lack of it obviously has to do with how short and sweet this book is…I guess it falls under the like category more because the shorter pace of this story was actually a nice change of pace from the other Romantasy stories that are heavy and dense in the worldbuilding and history and lore.
  3. Evren! Like I said before, add this man to your book boyfriend or shadow daddy list, because DAYUMMMMMM! I also love a dirty talking bastard, and he defs doesn’t hold back on that either.

What I Didn’t Like:

  1. Adara Is Whiny…Kind of like how I don’t like Frodo in a lot of parts of LOTR, Adara was very whiny and kind of bratty in some parts of the story that made me not like her as much as other Romantasy FMC’s. Like I get it, you’re taken against your will and then betrothed to a fae prince whom you have no feelings for…but being a whiny brat to everyone isn’t going to make your situation any better.
  2. Too Predictable…The plot does feel very predictable in this, and that has to do with the familiar tropes we see in Romantasy in general and the lack of uniqueness this story gives us compared to others.
  3. No Map…YES, my petty ass will continue to stay on this small tidbit as I have with plenty of other books on my website…it really bugs me when a fantasy book doesn’t have a map to reference of this fantasy world we explore.

~~~

Conclusion:

Overall, a good option to have as a quick guilty pleasure read and that can scratch that Romantasy itch without having to make a big and heavy commitment. If the other books are as short as this one, I feel like I can say you could easily get this whole series under your belt while you’re waiting for that bigger, badder book to be published from that other series you’re reading!

*looks over at Rebecca Yarros and a certain Dragon Riding series she writes…

It was decent enough to keep my attention, and hey, I’ll admit that I definitely want to keep going with these books. I’ve found that the story usually becomes more it’s own thing as it develops in later books, and usually the first book is filled with the most cliché’s and familiar tropes so here’s hoping that the story manages to surprise me and keep me engaged as it goes on in the next book!

Thanks For Reading!

— Nick Goodsell

Erotica, LGBT, New Adult, New Adult Romance

My Review: Fair Catch (Leighton U #3): by CE Ricci

Publish Date: August 30th, 2024
Number of Pages: 444 Pages
Publisher: Deserted Press LLC
Genre(s): MM romance, LGBT+, New Adult Romance

*Please Note, each book in this series is a standalone story, so no worries as much about spoilers*

To see my review of book 1 – Iced Out – Click HERE

To see my review of book 2 – Caught Stealing – Click HERE

~~~

Total Star Rating: 4 Stars

What It’s About:

The official synopsis:

~~~

If you’re a fan of CE Ricci books, I feel like this one will continue to not disappoint you in her MM romance-type books!

This title felt different than all the other books I’ve read by her because of its slower burn with the couple of Kason and Hayes. There was spice for sure, but the big difference for me was that there were a lot more softer moments between them too. Their relationship dynamic shifted very organically from reluctant roommates to friends to lovers, and it was freakin’ adorable to see them slowly grow closer and closer to each other and gain that intimacy and trust between them, which makes sense since one of the characters turns out to be demisexual!

The demisexual representation was a huge highlight for me, one because its an asexual orientation that I feel like I’m possibly myself and that it was a huge reason for how this relationship dynamic was handled and also how it was explained too.

~~~

What I Liked:

  1. The Demisexual Representation! Demisexuals are slowly getting more and more recognition in romance books, and this book is the second one I’ve come to notice with this specific sort of representation.
  2. The Slowburn Romance! This romance in this book was at much slower pace than the other CE Ricci books I’ve read, and I think that really makes this one stand out more too
  3. The Softer Romantic Moments! Like it being one of the slower paced books she’s written, it’s also probably the softest book she’s written too. At least, it is amongst the books of hers I’ve written.
  4. Sneaking in the Easter Eggs for the Next Books! Considering I know who the couple is for the next book, I liked the subtle set up for it that you can catch in this book too, and will probably intertwine a little bit too!

What I Didn’t Like:

  1. The Parents Involvement in the 3rd Act Breakup… I will admit, the snooty rich parents coming between the couple and making them choose between them and inheritance wasn’t the most creative method to have the third act breakup between these guys in my honest opinion. It feels like a very played out or kinda cliché conflict.

~~~

Conclusion:

Overall, another great story by one of my favorite authors! It wasn’t my absolute favorite by her, but it was still a great book nonetheless!

Thanks For Reading!

— Nick Goodsell

Romance

My Review: The Spanish Love Deception (Spanish Love Deception #1): by Elena Armas

Publish Date: February 8th, 2022
Number of Pages: 448 Pages
Publisher: Atria Books
Genre(s): Romance

Total Star Rating: 3.25 Stars

‘I’ll give you the world,’ he said against my mouth. ‘The moon. The fucking stars. Anything you ask, it’s yours. I’m yours.’”

– Elena Armas, “The Spanish Love Deception”

What It’s About:

the official synopsis:

Catalina Martín desperately needs a date to her sister’s wedding. Especially since her little white lie about her American boyfriend has spiraled out of control. Now everyone she knows—including her ex and his fiancée—will be there and eager to meet him.

She only has four weeks to find someone willing to cross the Atlantic and aid in her deception. New York to Spain is no short flight and her raucous family won’t be easy to fool.

Enter Aaron Blackford—her tall, handsome, condescending colleague—who surprisingly offers to step in. She’d rather refuse; never has there been a more aggravating, blood-boiling, and insufferable man.

But Catalina is desperate, and as the wedding draws nearer, Aaron looks like her best option. And she begins to realize he might not be as terrible in the real world as he is at the office.

~~~

Around the time this book was released, it had gotten A LOT of hype surrounding it, and I’d had several fellow bookstagrammers gushing about how hot this guy named Aaron Blackford was….Predictable me was intrigued and had to look into this dude, and it turned out he was the main guy in this book! Since I was such a big fan of The Hating Game by Sally Thorne, which has a very similar premise when compared to this book, I had to give this book a try!

The story revolves around Catalina, who is desperate to hire an actor to play her boyfriend for her sisters wedding back over in Spain where her family still lives. She’s been lying and saying what a dreamboat her guy is when in actuality, he’s about as real as me ever having abs…not gonna happen. Aaron Blackford, who’s the hot office grump, offers to be said stand-in boyfriend, but with a rivalry between the two, Catalina is not THAT desperate as to use her mortal enemy! But as the wedding date draws closer, she gives in and they start to spend time in order to pass as an actual couple.

To be honest, this book started off incredibly slow…like I was really questioning why this book was getting so much hype as it was! It wasn’t like it was badly written, it was more about how it felt like there were too many scenes leading up to them actually leaving for Spain for the wedding. I felt like a few chapters of that content could be cut and it wouldn’t terribly detract from the story all that much. This book is 448 pages, but it could’ve easily been at least 100 pages less in order for us to get the message.

When they finally get the Spain and really start pretending, THAT was when the story picked up for me! The sexual tension was finally showing itself, and if it wasn’t obvious by then, it became SUPER obvious that Aaron had it bad for Catalina! She was definitely feeling it too, but she couldn’t decide if Aaron was faking it, or if it was worth going further and making things real because lets remember: their rivals…

Throughout the book, Aaron is this introverted, stoic, but smoking guy, but when he starts to talk dirty….oh man! My heart, my body, my soul is his! He’s HAWT! And I totally saw what other readers were saying about him!

If you like those office “enemies-to-lovers” kind of story’s, again just like The Hating Game, you’ll probably like this book too! It’s got some really cute moments, and I can definitely assure you that Aaron Blackford is a definite hot piece of male romance novel ass!

What I Liked:

  1. Aaron Blackford Is GOALS! I really can’t gush about him enough! When he starts revealing his true feelings to Cataline, my heart is fluttering alongside hers….and when he’s talking dirty to her, just YESSSS YES YEs! I’m also a huge sucker for when the grumpy stoic guy admits he’s had feelings for much longer than we originally knew about!
  2. The Smut Towards The End of The Book! Aaron Blackford can get down and dirty with his words AND his body, and he could have me anyway he wanted me if he ever decided to swing this way…if it wasn’t obvious by now, Aaron Blackford is the main highlight of this book for me!

What I Didn’t Like:

  1. The Story Could’ve Been Shorter…Like I said earlier in this review, the book didn’t need to be over 400 pages in all honesty. The first half of this book really dragged, and I felt like quite a few scenes could’ve been cut and the story wouldn’t suffer at all for it.
  2. The “Enemies-to-Lovers” Trope Could’ve Been More Obvious…as far as office rivals go, I felt like the author didn’t go far enough with this aspect of Aaron and Catalina’s love story. There wasn’t as much aggravation between the two or hilarious banter as I was hoping for! Plus, Aaron offered to be her fake boyfriend which kind of killed their rivalry from my perspective…maybe if it was a more “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine” kind of deal between the two, I’d have found it more believable
  3. The Reason For Their Rivalry Could’ve Been Stronger…When the reason they became rivals in the first place was revealed, part of me was let down because it just didn’t feel like it was a big enough deal, AND it just felt like a simple miscommunication, which I’m not a fan of when it comes to adding conflict…

Conclusion:

Overall, this wasn’t the greatest office rivalry, “enemies-to-lovers” style of story with some fake dating thrown in there too with the grumpy-and-sunshine type of characters…I do love these tropes in my romance stories, but it definitely could’ve been executed stronger than what it actually was.

Besides my critiques of the story, it was for sure still pretty enjoyable! Like I said earlier, the story really does pick up in the back half of the book, and ESPECIALLY when we get to see the spicier side of Aaron Blackford when he loosens that tie a little bit–or a lot!

Do I plan to read other books by this author?

Maybe! It’ll depend on what the story is about, and how long the book is…I may skip if its something thats over 400 pages, just to save me some time!

Thanks for Reading!

— Nick Goodsell

Fantasy, New Adult Romance, Paranormal, Romance

My Review: Tricky Magic (Tricky Magic #1): by L.L. Campbell

Publish Date: December 18th, 2021
Number of Pages: 445 Pages
Publisher: Self Published
Genre(s): New Adult Romance, Fantasy, Paranormal, Erotica

Total Star Rating: 3.75 Stars

Fears evolve and grow, welcoming another. One whose power will balance yours in destruction. You feed his fire as he feeds your chaos. You will turn worlds upside down,

– L.L. Campbell, “Tricky Magic”

What It’s About:

The official synopsis:

Ellea is a Witch, a mix of both the respected Seers and the feared Tricksters. On top of that, she has also spent her whole life in the shadows of her parents’ infamous attempted destruction.

After Ellea’s frequent and feared vision of the future shifts into something darker and more terrifying than before, she runs to a town that used to be a haven for her as a child.

But things are no longer as they seem. The world of supernaturals is so much more than she thought and after a run in with a mysterious hunter, she finds her and her powers spiraling.

Will the town of Glenover be the place she finally leaves her fears behind and embraces a new future? Or will her powers become destructive and result in her own destruction by the frustratingly handsome hunter?

~~~

This book had been calling to me for some time…

There was like this gut feeling or calling or siren’s song that had me drawn to it that I can’t entirely explain…all I can explain about it is that it was telling me to read this book for some reason.

Before doing so, I’d heard several mixed reviews about the book from my reading inner circle and a few others, but anything negative didn’t fully deter me, and I’m glad it didn’t because for the most part I did end up enjoying this book!

For some reason I was expecting this to be a medieval fantasy setting with the talk of witches, demons, and other paranormal creatures, but I was a little surprised to see that this actually takes place in modern, contemporary times. Not that this detracted me from the story at all, it gave me Vampire Diaries and/or True Blood kind vibes, which I love, so it works!

The story is definitely more character driven, so the plot will be slow at times, but theres plenty of spice throughout, and the slow burn between Ros and Ellea really drives the story forward, plus interactions with the rest of the cast make it actually kinda fun too! There’s Billy, who’s Ellea’s familiar in the form of a black dog and has a few zinger one liners and is supposed to be this ancient being with a lot of mystery surrounding her history, so color me intrigued…theres Belias, who’s Ros’s cousin who’s definitely got something wicked planned, watch out for him… there’s Sybil, an ancient witch who’s only in one scene, but leaves quite an impression…

Actually there’s quite a bit of characters who are only in a handful of scenes, and I have no idea if they’ll be important players later on in the series or if they’re just done now? It’s really hard to say right now, and hopefully reading book two answers that for me and–possibly–other readers.

And I’d actually add onto that saying that there’s actually A LOT that gets left up in the air that you may want answers to but you won’t get, all that is determined by whatever direction the author wants to take this story in, but consider me curious to see what happens next!

~~~

My life has been spent looking for ways to change, ways to control this monster that I am destined to become. And I am getting tired of it.

– L.L. Campbell, “Tricky Magic”

What I Liked:

  1. The Spice! Okay, there is a decent amount of spice in this book including a four way like right away kinda to my surprise, and another good thing about all of it is that it doesn’t feel like it overtakes the plot at all! Like, sometimes you can tell when an author makes a story total PWP (Porn Without Plot), but the author kept a decent balance here with it!……and the shadow play!!! Azriel fans will appreciate that part a whole lot!
  2. Rosier! Hello new book boyfriend addition! Ros is absolutely a new favorite of mine who I can’t wait to see more of his perspective in the next book! He’s grumpy, swoon-worthy, protective, cheeky, and isn’t afraid to get down and dirty in more ways than one!
  3. There’s LGBT Side Characters! Sam and Devon are a gay couple in this story, and their relationship seems so easy going and calming, aka the complete opposite of Ellea and Ros, so I’m here for them! I have no idea how important they’ll be in the series, but if anything happens to them…..oooooooooo we don’t want to go there!

What I Didn’t Like:

  1. Not Clear Magic System…With witchcraft and demon summoning and other supernatural creatures in the vicinity, obviously theres going to be a magic system involved right?…well technically there is, but it’s not really developed as much as some of you readers may like, and I felt like it wasn’t explored enough in the story. HOWEVER, for a large part of this book it also wasn’t completely necessary to use it, so maybe it’ll be more fleshed out in book 2!
  2. Pacing Can Be Slow…This story is character driven with mostly the development/growth of Ellea, so yes, the pacing is a bit slower in some beats. It’s not as action packed as some of us would perhaps like, so I can see some of you getting bored with it in this regards.
  3. The Unexpected Ending…This kind of continues off the pacing issue, but the shocking ending felt like it kind of came out of nowhere and I wasn’t expecting it, but only because I also felt like there wasn’t really the proper build up to it? It felt like it was slapped right into the end of the story and yeah, it did raise the stakes and make things harder for Ros and Ellea, but I felt it wasn’t the best approach…

Conclusion:

Overall, I did for the most part enjoy this book! It’s not heavy or dense, and it’s perfect for anyone looking for some spicy paranormal romance with a witchy aesthetic and a hot hot hot slow burn! The pacing was fairly slow, but the characters keep you interested, and the author certainly puts a few questions in your head about them and the plot of the story and where everything is going, so now it’s up to L.L Campbell to keep the ball rolling.

The series has some potential to get better with each and every book, for me it really depends on where the author plans to go with this series as you don’t get a lot of answers for those questions that pop up, so I’m definitely putting some pressure on the sequel coming out in Fall 2022 to pass the baton and keep things moving!

We Shall See!

Thanks for Reading!

— Nick Goodsell