monica ✨ romantasyreader's bookshelf: angsty en-US Thu, 19 Jun 2025 04:00:37 -0700 60 monica ✨ romantasyreader's bookshelf: angsty 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg You Between the Lines 214175139
No one’s more surprised than Leigh when a prestigious MFA program in North Carolina accepts her. A former sorority girl, Leigh’s the first to admit she knows more about the lyrics of Taylor Swift than T.S. Eliot, and she’s never been able to shake the “all-style-no-substance” feedback her high school crush made in their poetry workshop. Bad enough that her tattooed, New Yorker tote bag-carrying classmates have read all the right authors and been published in the country's leading literary journals, Leigh's insecurities become all too real when Will, that same high school crush-turned-nemesis, shows up at orientation as a first-year in the program, too. And now, he’s William, exactly the kind of writer Leigh hates, complete with his pretentious sweater vests and tattered Moleskine.

Leigh’s determined to prove herself—and William—wrong by landing the program’s highly-coveted fellowship. But Will’s dead-set on it, too, and in a small cohort, they can't keep apart for long. When Will submits an intimate poem (that's maybe, probably, definitely about Leigh) to workshop, they’re both forced to realize there’s more to the other than what’s on the page. And what’s between the lines may be even more interesting.]]> 368 Katie Naymon 1538768550 monica ✨ romantasyreader 5
leigh is finding her footing after her parents’ separation and feeling restless at her ad agency job. she applies for a spot in a mfa program and, to her surprise, gets accepted. the surprises keep coming when will, her crush from high school who rejected both her writing and her 6 years ago, is also in the program. when their cohort is up for a prestigious fellowship, they try to stay away from each other. they try to just get it out of their systems. it doesn’t work.

I adored this book so much. leigh is messy, imperfect, and so god damn relatable. will is soft, quiet, and unreadable. but in the little moments in their interactions, we get to see him. and how much he cares for leigh. there’s an undercurrent of nostalgia woven into the pages that hits so hard. the yearning between leigh and will had me giddy, frustrated, sad, happy, and every emotion possible. the two of them are perfectly imperfect and their journey was angsty and beautiful and healing.

leigh’s mental health journey was so well done. she is THE pathological people pleaser and her therapy scenes were so real. her character growth had me misty eyed and I loved every second of it. will’s journey with his insecurities and challenging relationship with his dad hit so hard. it was so complex and moving and I would protect him and his softness forever!!

this book is easily my favorite of january. the two imperfect poets messily falling in love and figuring their shit out are gonna stay with me forever. the two of them saw each other, learned to be vulnerable with each other, and refused to shy away from the hard stuff. even if it hurt. even if it was scary.

thank you so much to forever for the arc!

what to expect
⟢ so much delicious angst
⟢ mfa poets, and sort of rivals
⟢ so much yearning
⟢ anxiety and therapy rep
⟢ finding your people and learning to be vulnerable


|| ]]> 3.59 2025 You Between the Lines
author: Katie Naymon
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2025/06/19
date added: 2025/06/19
shelves: arcs, netgalley, all-the-feels, angsty, college, contemporary-romance, mental-health-rep, slow-burn, top-tier-book, rereads-2025
review:
god this book hurt SO GOOD!!!! angsty romance books are my favorites and katie’s debut was promptly added to the list.

leigh is finding her footing after her parents’ separation and feeling restless at her ad agency job. she applies for a spot in a mfa program and, to her surprise, gets accepted. the surprises keep coming when will, her crush from high school who rejected both her writing and her 6 years ago, is also in the program. when their cohort is up for a prestigious fellowship, they try to stay away from each other. they try to just get it out of their systems. it doesn’t work.

I adored this book so much. leigh is messy, imperfect, and so god damn relatable. will is soft, quiet, and unreadable. but in the little moments in their interactions, we get to see him. and how much he cares for leigh. there’s an undercurrent of nostalgia woven into the pages that hits so hard. the yearning between leigh and will had me giddy, frustrated, sad, happy, and every emotion possible. the two of them are perfectly imperfect and their journey was angsty and beautiful and healing.

leigh’s mental health journey was so well done. she is THE pathological people pleaser and her therapy scenes were so real. her character growth had me misty eyed and I loved every second of it. will’s journey with his insecurities and challenging relationship with his dad hit so hard. it was so complex and moving and I would protect him and his softness forever!!

this book is easily my favorite of january. the two imperfect poets messily falling in love and figuring their shit out are gonna stay with me forever. the two of them saw each other, learned to be vulnerable with each other, and refused to shy away from the hard stuff. even if it hurt. even if it was scary.

thank you so much to forever for the arc!

what to expect
⟢ so much delicious angst
⟢ mfa poets, and sort of rivals
⟢ so much yearning
⟢ anxiety and therapy rep
⟢ finding your people and learning to be vulnerable


||
]]> 32 Days in May 217223452 Return to the Jersey Shore with a new romance by Summertime Punchline author Betty Corrello in which a young woman recently diagnosed with lupus attempts a no-strings fling with a former television star, perfect for readers of Elissa Sussman or Tia Williams. 

Nadia Fabiola wants to lose herself in Evergreen—the Jersey Shore town where she grew up vacationing with her family—and never look back at her glamorous, gainfully employed former self. After a shocking lupus diagnosis turned her life upside down, she’s desperate for a sense of control over her body, her life, and her mental health. Nadia plans on keeping her life small and boring, while continuing to ignore her sister’s relentless questioning.

Nadia’s sister isn’t the only person worried about her. When her rheumatologist not-so-subtly sets her up with his infamous former-actor cousin, Marco Antoniou, Nadia is skeptical. But Marco is gorgeous—despite carrying his own baggage from a very public burnout. After a messy (but fun) first date, they decide that a May-long fling could be just what the doctor no commitment, no strings, just one month of escape.

Their undeniable chemistry starts to feel a lot like something more and while Marco pulls Nadia deeper into his life, she is dead set on keeping her diagnosis from him. But there are only so many days in May, and only so much pretending she can do. As the stress of their whirlwind romance takes its toll on Nadia’s health, she’s forced to decide if a chance at love is worth the risk of trusting someone new.

Travel from the Jersey Shore to Rome and back in this delightfully funny, beautifully honest exploration of love, intimacy, and vulnerability while living with a chronic illness.  ]]> 320 Betty Corrello 0063426471 monica ✨ romantasyreader 4
nadia is sick. and she really doesn’t want to be. when her doctor sets her up with his cousin, she’s not expecting marco to sweep her off her feet. and he’s just as broken as she is.

this was such an emotional and angsty read. the two of them really are two broken people fighting against finding love when it seems pointless. it was supposed to only be for may, after all.

the setting, writing, and journey these two went on was so poignant and i truly could not put this book down. i loved watching them slowly unravel for each other. the third act breakup felt super realistic for them as a couple and i loved how it ended.

what to expect
⟢ only for the month of may
⟢ chronic illness rep
⟢ depression and addiction rep
⟢ jersey shore and italy setting

thank you so much HarperCollins and HarperCollins Audio for the gifted copies! ]]> 3.85 2025 32 Days in May
author: Betty Corrello
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/05/03
date added: 2025/05/07
shelves: arcs, contemporary-romance, netgalley, read-with-ears-2025, angsty, fwb, insta-lovey, mental-health-rep
review:
sad girl summer lovers riseeeeee!!!

nadia is sick. and she really doesn’t want to be. when her doctor sets her up with his cousin, she’s not expecting marco to sweep her off her feet. and he’s just as broken as she is.

this was such an emotional and angsty read. the two of them really are two broken people fighting against finding love when it seems pointless. it was supposed to only be for may, after all.

the setting, writing, and journey these two went on was so poignant and i truly could not put this book down. i loved watching them slowly unravel for each other. the third act breakup felt super realistic for them as a couple and i loved how it ended.

what to expect
⟢ only for the month of may
⟢ chronic illness rep
⟢ depression and addiction rep
⟢ jersey shore and italy setting

thank you so much HarperCollins and HarperCollins Audio for the gifted copies!
]]> <![CDATA[Let Me Love You (All of Me, #2)]]> 204534231
It’s an irrefutable truth that won’t ever change.

Reeve is the air I breathe.

Dillon is the fire that consumes me.

How am I expected to live without a part of my heart?

This is book two of two and it cannot be read as a stand-alone. 130k-word full-length novel. No cliff-hanger and it ends with an HEA.]]> Siobhan Davis monica ✨ romantasyreader 4 4.24 2021 Let Me Love You (All of Me, #2)
author: Siobhan Davis
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/26
date added: 2025/04/26
shelves: contemporary-romance, love-triangle, morally-gray-mcs, read-with-ears-2025, all-the-feels, angsty
review:
this was so angsty and toxic and twisty and I had so much fun with this duet!!!!
]]> <![CDATA[Say I'm the One (All of Me, #1)]]> 44024465
Was it when we were little kids, practically brought up together, after Reeve’s mom died during childbirth and his dad subsequently fell apart? Or when I doodled his name in my school journal at age ten? Maybe it was when we became boyfriend and girlfriend at fourteen or when we shed our virginity at sixteen, pledging our forever?

I was there as his star ascended—like I’d always known it would—and there wasn’t a prouder person on the planet. As the only child of Hollywood’s golden couple, I’ve lived my life in the spotlight enough to know it wasn’t what I wanted for my future. But I sacrificed my own desires, because Reeve’s happiness meant everything to me.

Until he crushed my heart into itty-bitty pieces, forcing me to fly halfway around the world just to escape the gut-wrenching pain.

The opportunity to study at Trinity College Dublin came at the perfect moment, and I jumped at the chance without hesitation. If I’d known fate was meddling in my life, perhaps I would have chosen differently, but my future was cemented the instant I laid eyes on him.

Dillon O’Donoghue was Reeve’s polar opposite in every way, and perhaps, that’s why I felt drawn to him. He was the dark to my light. The thorn in my side, irritating me with his cold disdain, wild recklessness, and a burning rage hidden deep inside him that spoke to a silent part within me. Yet Dillon showed me what it was like to truly live, opening my eyes to endless possibilities.

What happened next was inevitable, and I only have myself to blame. He warned me, and I knew my reprieve was temporary, because there is only so far I can run.

Especially when fate hasn’t finished messing with me yet.

This is a full-length 168K-word second-chance romance novel that is book one of two. It cannot be read as a stand-alone, and it ends on a cliff-hanger. Recommended to readers aged eighteen and older.]]> 580 Siobhan Davis monica ✨ romantasyreader 4
the ending is actually insane. I can’t believe I fell for a BLONDE MAN. ]]> 4.15 2021 Say I'm the One (All of Me, #1)
author: Siobhan Davis
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/25
date added: 2025/04/25
shelves: contemporary-romance, love-triangle, read-with-ears-2025, angsty, second-chance, wtf-the-ending
review:
wtf hahahaha

the ending is actually insane. I can’t believe I fell for a BLONDE MAN.
]]> <![CDATA[A Fate Inked in Blood (Saga of the Unfated, #1)]]> 61063372
Bound in an unwanted marriage, Freya spends her days gutting fish, but dreams of becoming a warrior. And of putting an axe in her boorish husband’s back.

Freya’s dreams abruptly become reality when her husband betrays her to the region’s jarl, landing her in a fight to the death against his son, Bjorn. To survive, Freya is forced to reveal her deepest secret: She possesses a drop of a goddess’s blood, which makes her a shield maiden with magic capable of repelling any attack. It was foretold such a magic would unite the fractured nation of Skaland beneath the one who controls the shield maiden’s fate.

Believing he’s destined to rule Skaland as king, the fanatical jarl binds Freya with a blood oath and orders Bjorn to protect her from their enemies. Desperate to prove her strength, Freya must train to fight and learn to control her magic, all while facing perilous tests set by the gods. The greatest test of all, however, may be resisting her forbidden attraction to Bjorn. If Freya succumbs to her lust for the charming and fierce warrior, she risks not only her own destiny but the fate of all the people she swore to protect.]]> 414 Danielle L. Jensen 1529916453 monica ✨ romantasyreader 5 I ate this book up!!! freya is looking for a way out of her small fishing village and her awful marriage. when on the beach cleaning up her husband’s mess, bjorn comes out of literally no where and asks where her husband is ]]> 3.92 2024 A Fate Inked in Blood (Saga of the Unfated, #1)
author: Danielle L. Jensen
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/13
date added: 2025/04/13
shelves: arcs, netgalley, fantasy-romance, angsty, forbidden-love, high-fantasy, morally-gray-mcs, slow-burn, wtf-the-ending, bodyguard, top-tier-book, read-with-ears-2025, rereads-2025
review:

I ate this book up!!! freya is looking for a way out of her small fishing village and her awful marriage. when on the beach cleaning up her husband’s mess, bjorn comes out of literally no where and asks where her husband is
]]> Enchantra (Wicked Games, #2) 217182344 Ready or Not meets Throne of the Fallen in a spicy, enemies-to-lovers fantasy romance, where an Italian getaway turns deadly after a young woman is trapped in her host family's cursed game.

Ready or not, the game has begun.

Genevieve Grimm has felt adrift ever since her sister became the head of the family. So when a mysterious friend of their mother's invites her to Italy, she accepts. She arrives at his grand palace, expecting passion and magic, decadence and luxury... perhaps even a midnight ball.

She doesn't expect the owner's ruthlessly handsome son to slam the door in her face. Rowin Silver is tall, dark, and exceptionally rude, and invitation or not, he demands Genevieve leave and never come back. But Genevieve follows nobody's orders, especially those of arrogant rich boys. She slips inside—and immediately discovers her mistake.

Rowin and his family are caught in an insidious game of hide and seek, where only one can win. The rest will be trapped in Hell... until the competition begins again.

Genevieve must either join the hunt or forfeit any hope of escaping. But to her dismay, her best chance of survival lies with Rowin. Since lovers may play as a pair, Rowin and Genevieve agree to form an alliance under the guise of a fake courtship. However, as they race through the game's elaborate labyrinth, trapped among gleaming gold and shining marble, their loathing gives way to irresistible attraction. Only Rowin is keeping secrets, especially when it comes to his ruthless family, and Genevieve can't help but wonder if she's trapped in two treacherous games: Enchantra and the one Rowin is playing with her heart.]]> 448 Kaylie Smith 1538770806 monica ✨ romantasyreader 5
this book was so fast paced and fun. vivi is such a baddie and I loved her confidence. rowin was so down bad for her. I also loved all his siblings.

I cannot WAIT for the next one!!

biggest thank you to forever and second sky for the early copy of one of my most anticipated reads of the year!!!!

what to expect
⟢ marriage of convenience
⟢ dangerous games
⟢ immortal shadow wielder mmc!!!!
⟢ found family (literally)
]]> 4.31 2025 Enchantra (Wicked Games, #2)
author: Kaylie Smith
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/09
date added: 2025/04/08
shelves: arcs, fantasy-romance, netgalley, angsty, demons, found-fam, grumpy-sunshine, marriage-of-convenience, morally-gray-mcs, paranormal-romance, vamps, witches
review:
when genevieve got a hexed letter inviting her to the enchantra manor, the last thing she expected was to get sucked into a dangerous game of cat and mouse with a HUSBAND. rowin is said husband and he is a grumpy, shadow wielding immortal keeping so many secrets. I loved all of his siblings and the found family sm. vivi found her place with them!!!

this book was so fast paced and fun. vivi is such a baddie and I loved her confidence. rowin was so down bad for her. I also loved all his siblings.

I cannot WAIT for the next one!!

biggest thank you to forever and second sky for the early copy of one of my most anticipated reads of the year!!!!

what to expect
⟢ marriage of convenience
⟢ dangerous games
⟢ immortal shadow wielder mmc!!!!
⟢ found family (literally)

]]> <![CDATA[A Lesson in Thorns (Thornchapel, #1)]]> 220444387
As Poe begins uncovering the house’s secrets, both new and old, she’s also pulled into the seductive, elegant world of Auden and his friends—and drawn to Auden’s worst enemy, the beautiful and brooding St. Sebastian. And as Thornchapel slowly tightens its coil of truths and lies around them, Poe, Auden and St. Sebastian start unravelling into filthy, holy pleasure and pain. Together, they awaken a fate that will either anoint them or leave them in ashes…
***
From the author of the USA Today bestselling New Camelot series comes an original fairy tale full of ancient mysteries, lantern-lit rituals, jealousy, money, murder, sacred torment, and obsessions that last for lifetimes...

***A Lesson in Thorns is the first of four books in the Thornchapel series.***
]]> 368 Sierra Simone 1464231362 monica ✨ romantasyreader 4 3.61 2019 A Lesson in Thorns (Thornchapel, #1)
author: Sierra Simone
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/06
date added: 2025/04/07
shelves: contemporary-romance, read-with-ears-2025, why-choose, angsty, for-the-love-of-smut, spooky, queer
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Oathbound (The Legendborn Cycle, #3)]]> 214151316
Bree Matthews is alone. She exiled herself from the Legendborn Order, cut her ancestral connections, and turned away from the friends who can’t understand the impossible cost of her powers. This is the only way to keep herself—and those she loves—safe.

But Bree’s decision has come with a terrible price: an unbreakable bargain with the Shadow King himself, a shapeshifter who can move between humanity, the demon underworld, and the Legendborn secret society. In exchange for training to wield her unprecedented abilities, Bree has put her future in the Shadow King’s hands—and unwittingly bound herself to do his bidding as his new protégé.

Meanwhile, the other Scions must face war with their Round Table fractured, leaderless, and missing its Kingsmage, as Selwyn has also disappeared. When Nick is detained by the Order’s Merlins, he invokes an ancient law that requires the High Council of Regents to convene at the Northern Keep and grant him an audience. No one knows what he will demand of them...or what secrets he has kept hidden from the Table.

As a string of mysterious kidnappings escalates and Merlins are found dead, it becomes clear that no matter how hard Bree runs from who she is, the past will always find her.]]> 656 Tracy Deonn 1665951907 monica ✨ romantasyreader 5
Bree is back but fractured. She has to find her path forward. But there are so many obstacles in her way. She is so incredibly strong and she’s hands down one of my favorite fmcs of all time.

I had no idea where the hell this love triangle was going but when I read ”So drown.” my soul actually left my body.

I love love loved!!! the multiple povs we got in this. The world expanded so much and I love every single character.

If you thought the cliffy in bloodmarked was bad HAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAHHAA]]> 4.30 2025 Oathbound (The Legendborn Cycle, #3)
author: Tracy Deonn
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/05
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: fantasy-romance, paranormal-romance, read-with-ears-2025, retelling, all-the-feels, angsty, demons, forbidden-love, found-fam, love-triangle, no-way-ya, slow-burn, wtf-the-ending
review:
Tracy is a queen of the craft. This book was phenomenal!!!!!

Bree is back but fractured. She has to find her path forward. But there are so many obstacles in her way. She is so incredibly strong and she’s hands down one of my favorite fmcs of all time.

I had no idea where the hell this love triangle was going but when I read ”So drown.” my soul actually left my body.

I love love loved!!! the multiple povs we got in this. The world expanded so much and I love every single character.

If you thought the cliffy in bloodmarked was bad HAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAHHAA
]]> Cash (Lucky River Ranch, #1) 216734941 Butting heads leads to knocking boots in this wildly sexy enemies-to-lovers, grumpy/sunshine, small town cowboy romance by Jessica Peterson.

My dad and I have been estranged for years. But as his only living relative, it’s no surprise I inherit his massive cattle ranch when he dies. Something that is a surprise? The stipulation in his will, which requires me to live on the ranch and actively manage it for a year before I can access my inheritance money.

I haven’t stepped foot in Hartsville, Texas, population one thousand, since my parents split when I was six. Now a city girl through and through, I never imagined having to move back to cowboy country. But I need the money to invest in my company, and a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.

There’s just one giant roadblock to my plan: the ranch’s foreman, grumpy cowboy Cash Rivers. I don’t care how good he looks in his Wranglers and chaps. He’s rude, he’s growly, and he wants me gone. I’d fire him in a heartbeat, but I need this cowboy to teach me the ropes of running a ranch.

We’re enemies from the get-go. But turns out, Cash is really good at this ranch thing. He’s got strong hands, an intelligent mind, and let’s just say everything really is bigger in Texas. Working alongside him leads to conversations beneath the stars. Throw in some cheek-to-cheek dancing at the local dive bar, and it all feels so right that I start to fall in love with life on the ranch. And maybe with him, too.

But my stay in Hartsville is only temporary. And you know what they say about cowboys: they may break horses, but they also break hearts. If only Cash hadn’t already lassoed mine…

CASH is the first standalone book in the brand new steamy, interconnected Lucky River Ranch Series.]]> 423 Jessica Peterson monica ✨ romantasyreader 4
when mollie inherits her deceased & estranged father’s ranch, she runs into cash, the foreman who has been running things. the two of them hate each other on sight and the tension was absolutely delicious!! per her dad’s will, she has to stay on the ranch for one year to snag her inheritance. but she didn’t expect to fall in love with ranching or cash.

I loved this sm. the tension between the two of them was sizzling and had me so giddy. AND THE JEALOUSY SCENE. idc if i’m toxic but give me a jealousy scene and I will eat it up every time. plus when it leads the two of them to finally acknowledge their feelings for each other? nomnomnom.

cash is a big acts of service guy but alsoooo a words of affirmation guy. it’s like he was written for me. every time he called mollie honey I actually melted. and the two of them can fucking communicate!!!!! and I appreciated it so much. given the trauma and shared grief the two of them had over the passing of mollie’s father, they really worked through their feelings and were there for each other every step of the way. and I loved that and them.

what to expect
⟡ rancher x city girl
⟡ hate to love
⟡ small town
⟡ found family



SPOILERS BELOW!!!!










the one thing that pissed me off was the pregnancy scare. I didn’t love how that’s what kind of prompted them to finally said “I love you”. like you both knew at the point so why bother. if this was a surprise third act pregnancy I def would’ve dnfd hehe]]> 3.96 2024 Cash (Lucky River Ranch, #1)
author: Jessica Peterson
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/03
date added: 2025/03/03
shelves: contemporary-romance, read-with-ears-2025, angsty, enemies-to-lovers, for-the-love-of-smut, found-fam, he-s-down-bad, small-town-romance
review:
cash & mollie were so cute!

when mollie inherits her deceased & estranged father’s ranch, she runs into cash, the foreman who has been running things. the two of them hate each other on sight and the tension was absolutely delicious!! per her dad’s will, she has to stay on the ranch for one year to snag her inheritance. but she didn’t expect to fall in love with ranching or cash.

I loved this sm. the tension between the two of them was sizzling and had me so giddy. AND THE JEALOUSY SCENE. idc if i’m toxic but give me a jealousy scene and I will eat it up every time. plus when it leads the two of them to finally acknowledge their feelings for each other? nomnomnom.

cash is a big acts of service guy but alsoooo a words of affirmation guy. it’s like he was written for me. every time he called mollie honey I actually melted. and the two of them can fucking communicate!!!!! and I appreciated it so much. given the trauma and shared grief the two of them had over the passing of mollie’s father, they really worked through their feelings and were there for each other every step of the way. and I loved that and them.

what to expect
⟡ rancher x city girl
⟡ hate to love
⟡ small town
⟡ found family



SPOILERS BELOW!!!!










the one thing that pissed me off was the pregnancy scare. I didn’t love how that’s what kind of prompted them to finally said “I love you”. like you both knew at the point so why bother. if this was a surprise third act pregnancy I def would’ve dnfd hehe
]]> <![CDATA[Rose in Chains (The Evermore Trilogy, #1)]]> 221179254 This beautiful DELUXE EDITION hardcover featuring gorgeous sprayed edges with stenciled art is only available for a limited first print run and while supplies last. This is a stunning special edition you will want to add to your collection.

YOUR NEXT ROMANTASY OBSESSION!

The war is over, the dark forces have won, and the hero who was supposed to save them is dead.

Captured as her castle is overrun by the enemy, Briony Rosewood knows that the world as she knows it is changed forever. The dark forces of Bomard have won and her people, the Eversuns, face imminent servitude, imprisonment or death. Her brother, fated to be heir twice over and unite the warring kingdoms, is dead.

Stripped of her Mind Magic and her freedom, Briony and the other survivors are quickly auctioned off to the highest bidders in an auction – and as the heir-apparent’s sister, she fetches the highest price.

After a fierce bidding war, she’s sold to none other than Toven a high ranking Bomardsun – and her long-time and ill-fated infatuation. Scion of a family known for their cruel control of Heart Magic, the Hearsts are ruthlessly ambitious, and Briony knows they will use her however they can to further their own interests.

Yet despite the horrors of her new world and the role she must learn to play within it, all is not lost. Help – and hope – may yet arise in the most unlikely of places…]]> 464 Julie Soto 1538771225 monica ✨ romantasyreader 4
briony and toven are enemies and their relationship is tense and a sloooooow burn. given the close 3rd person from briony’s perspective, we don’t get a lot from toven. it’s a lot of tense hands, a tense jaw, etc. but in the little moments and the flashbacks, we see literal breadcrumbs from him.

my biggest complaint with this book is the pacing. it felt so slow to me. and the addition of the flashback chapters and their placements made it feel really choppy.

I did have a good time though. just be forewarned there’s like no real romance in this one and the cliffy is a big one.

thank you so much forever pub for the arc!!

what to expect
⟢ adapted dramione fanfic
⟢ she gets auctioned off to him
⟢ ENEMIES to lovers
⟢ slow agonizing burn]]> 4.39 2025 Rose in Chains (The Evermore Trilogy, #1)
author: Julie Soto
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/28
date added: 2025/03/01
shelves: arcs, enemies-to-lovers, fantasy-romance, netgalley, angsty, dark-romance, morally-gray-mcs, slow-burn, witches, wtf-the-ending
review:
(full transparency, I dnfd the auction.) going into this, I was completely unsure what to expect for a fic to trad fantasy adaptation. julie was able to create an entirely new world with lore, magic, and characters that felt both unique and known, if that makes sense. it feels like the dramione dynamic but I do think this book can stand on its own.

briony and toven are enemies and their relationship is tense and a sloooooow burn. given the close 3rd person from briony’s perspective, we don’t get a lot from toven. it’s a lot of tense hands, a tense jaw, etc. but in the little moments and the flashbacks, we see literal breadcrumbs from him.

my biggest complaint with this book is the pacing. it felt so slow to me. and the addition of the flashback chapters and their placements made it feel really choppy.

I did have a good time though. just be forewarned there’s like no real romance in this one and the cliffy is a big one.

thank you so much forever pub for the arc!!

what to expect
⟢ adapted dramione fanfic
⟢ she gets auctioned off to him
⟢ ENEMIES to lovers
⟢ slow agonizing burn
]]> Phantasma (Wicked Games, #1) 204593914 Welcome to Phantasma. There are only two rules to the game: Stay alive. And don’t fall in love.

When Ophelia’s sister disappears, there is only one way to save her. Ophelia must enter Phantasma, a deadly contest inside a haunted mansion, and claim its prize—a single wish.

Phantasma is a maze of twisting corridors and lavish ballrooms, of demons and temptations. Ophelia will face nine challenges, each more dangerous than the last. There can only be one winner, and the other contestants will stop at nothing to eliminate their rivals.

Every day the house creates new monsters. But just as Ophelia’s fears threaten to overwhelm her, a mysterious stranger offers her a bargain.

Charming, arrogant and infuriatingly attractive, Blackwell claims he can guide her through the lethal trials ahead. All he asks in return is ten years of her life.

Ophelia knows she shouldn’t trust him. Blackwell doesn’t seem dangerous, but appearances can be deceptive. Worse still, she feels a dark and irresistible attraction drawing them closer and closer.

Her life is on the line. But in Phantasma, the only thing deadlier than losing the game is losing your heart . . .]]> 497 Kaylie Smith 1538769255 monica ✨ romantasyreader 5
When Ophelia’s mother dies, her and her sister, Genevieve, need a way to pay off her debt. And when Ophelia realizes that her dear sister ran off to phantasma- the trials of hell- to do so, she does what big sisters do and goes after her.

But Ophelia needs help to survive, so she enters a blood bargain with Blackwell, a phantom living in the manor without his memories. And so begins the deadly game.

I started this last night, and could not stop thinking about it. I NEEDED to finish it. Blackwell and Ophelia were addicting af.

I’m a slut for trials, and the stakes were so high in this. I’m not a horror girl, but this book was spooky, gorey, and so much fucking fun.

The plot was engaging, the romance was scorching, and I am thoroughly obsessed.

Ophelia’s character development and strength were soooo good. And I cannot even begin to describe how obsessed I am with Blackwell. His mouth? I’m honestly surprised this is trad pubbed bc holy shit the spice.

I can’t wait for Genevieve’s story!!! I’m counting down the minutes.

what to expect
✨ deadly trials
✨ reluctant allies to lovers
✨ gothic horror
✨ witches, ghosts, and devils]]> 4.04 2024 Phantasma (Wicked Games, #1)
author: Kaylie Smith
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/24
date added: 2025/02/24
shelves: angsty, demons, fantasy-romance, for-the-love-of-smut, forbidden-love, morally-gray-mcs, spooky, witches, paranormal-romance, mental-health-rep, read-with-ears-2025, rereads-2025
review:
Deadly trials of hell, a witch out to save her sister, and a mysterious ghost bargain made for one hell of a book.

When Ophelia’s mother dies, her and her sister, Genevieve, need a way to pay off her debt. And when Ophelia realizes that her dear sister ran off to phantasma- the trials of hell- to do so, she does what big sisters do and goes after her.

But Ophelia needs help to survive, so she enters a blood bargain with Blackwell, a phantom living in the manor without his memories. And so begins the deadly game.

I started this last night, and could not stop thinking about it. I NEEDED to finish it. Blackwell and Ophelia were addicting af.

I’m a slut for trials, and the stakes were so high in this. I’m not a horror girl, but this book was spooky, gorey, and so much fucking fun.

The plot was engaging, the romance was scorching, and I am thoroughly obsessed.

Ophelia’s character development and strength were soooo good. And I cannot even begin to describe how obsessed I am with Blackwell. His mouth? I’m honestly surprised this is trad pubbed bc holy shit the spice.

I can’t wait for Genevieve’s story!!! I’m counting down the minutes.

what to expect
✨ deadly trials
✨ reluctant allies to lovers
✨ gothic horror
✨ witches, ghosts, and devils
]]> <![CDATA[Children of Fallen Gods (The War of Lost Hearts, #2)]]> 52617662
Tisaanah bargained away her own freedom to save those she left behind in slavery. Now, bound by her blood pact, she must fight the Orders’ war -- and Max is determined to protect her at all costs.

But when a betrayal tears apart Ara, Max and Tisaanah are pushed into an even bloodier conflict. Tisaanah must gamble with Reshaye’s power to claim an impossible victory. And Max, forced into leadership, must confront everything he hoped to forget: his past, and his own mysterious magic.

All the while, darker forces loom -- far darker, even, than the Orders’ secrets.

As Tisaanah and Max are ensnared in a web of ancient magic and twisted secrets, one question remains: what are they willing to sacrifice for victory? For power? For love?]]> 636 Carissa Broadbent monica ✨ romantasyreader 4
actual rating 4.5]]> 4.14 2021 Children of Fallen Gods (The War of Lost Hearts, #2)
author: Carissa Broadbent
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/20
date added: 2025/02/20
shelves: fantasy-romance, read-with-ears-2025, all-the-feels, allies-to-lovers, angsty
review:
Higher stakes, more violence, more heartbreak, I can’t take it I love this series sm.

actual rating 4.5
]]> <![CDATA[What Lurks Between the Fates (Of Flesh & Bone, #3)]]> 75328789
For weeks, we retraced our steps back to Mistfell and the lingering shadow of the Veil at the boundary between realms. Traveling through the kingdom, I denied the evidence in front of me, unable to fathom that I wasn't the lost princess of Faerie. Instead, it is Fallon who must fear the consequences of her heritage. Which leaves me with a single, unanswered question.

Then, I awoke, caged high above the throne of the Queen of Air & Darkness. Mab is the Queen who keeps all of Alfheimr held squirming within her clawed grasp. She uses the children of Faerie to sustain the magic granted to her by the cursed gem atop her crown, which has carved her from the girl she once was into a dark vessel, obsessed with power. She thrives on cruelty, and wields our love as an instrument for pain.

Now, I'll play the games of the Fae.

I'm a curiosity, my presence an enigma that was never foreseen. I may not be Mab's daughter, yet she still keeps me close, as she forges me into a weapon against humans and Fae alike. Mab may not own me yet, but she controls the life of the man I love. There is nothing I wouldn't do to see him freed.

Even if I have to become the villain to do it.

What Lurks Between the Fates is book three in a series and ends in a cliffhanger. It features content that may be offensive or triggering to some readers.]]> 484 Harper L. Woods monica ✨ romantasyreader 4
Estrella is becoming a complete and total baddie and I’m obsessed. Her journey from book 1 to now is ugh so good!!! Caldris is Daddy Death and so far down on his knees for Estrella he’s basically kissing her feet. The side characters are great. The world building is immersive. I’m wholly obsessed.

this one has a major cliffy and I can’t wait to start the next one!

what to expect with this series
⟢ fantasy romance
⟢ fae and fated mates
⟢ morally black main characters


TWs
•murder, gore, torture
•misogynistic society, sexism, classism
•attempted SA
•suicidal thoughts

actual rating 4.5

|| ]]> 3.69 2023 What Lurks Between the Fates (Of Flesh & Bone, #3)
author: Harper L. Woods
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/09
date added: 2025/02/11
shelves: arcs, angsty, dark-romance, fae, fantasy-romance, fated-mates, high-fantasy, morally-gray-mcs, spooky, wtf-the-ending, read-with-ears-2025, rereads-2025
review:
This book was so wild, so dark, so steamy, and SO painful. this series gets get better and better. Estrella and Caldris are fighting for their lives. Literally. The villain in this series is straight up EVIL and I hate her. The world building, court politics, and lore are steadily expanding in each book in the series and I’m living for it!!

Estrella is becoming a complete and total baddie and I’m obsessed. Her journey from book 1 to now is ugh so good!!! Caldris is Daddy Death and so far down on his knees for Estrella he’s basically kissing her feet. The side characters are great. The world building is immersive. I’m wholly obsessed.

this one has a major cliffy and I can’t wait to start the next one!

what to expect with this series
⟢ fantasy romance
⟢ fae and fated mates
⟢ morally black main characters


TWs
•murder, gore, torture
•misogynistic society, sexism, classism
•attempted SA
•suicidal thoughts

actual rating 4.5

||
]]> Unloved (The Undone, #2) 214195481 The USA TODAY bestselling follow-up to Peyton Corinne’s “unputdownable and unforgettable” (Bal Khabra, author of Collide) TikTok sensation Unsteady follows hopeless romantic Ro and player—on and off the ice—Freddy as they forge an unexpected bond that slowly turns into a life lesson in self-worth and the healing quality of love.

Matt “Freddy” Fredderic is all smiles—at least on the surface. On the ice, he’s the star left winger for the Waterfell Wolves with a stellar reputation in bed and a potential future in the NHL. But in the classroom, he’s barely scraping by on a 2.0 GPA, retaking failed classes and struggling with a rough mix of dyslexia, dyscalculia, and ADHD. Now tied to an NHL contract upon graduation, Freddy needs help to pass biology with a professor he has a tumultuous past with.

Ro Shariff is a hopeless romantic with terrible luck in love—and now, Freddy’s newly assigned tutor. Trying to convince herself that she’s very happy with her on again/off again boyfriend, Ro is desperate for real affection. As her tutoring sessions with Freddy lead to late-night phone calls and a deep understanding of each other’s hidden pains, a real friendship strikes up between them.

And, inevitably, a wistful secret pining hidden by them both. Ro can’t stop thinking about her first kiss her freshman year with Freddy—a spine-tingling moment that Freddy doesn’t seem to remember. Meanwhile, Freddy can’t let go of Ro’s drunken heartfelt confessions from the night she doesn’t remember.

While Freddy is determined to protect Ro from his reputation and prove to her how worthy of love she is, Ro wants to show Freddy that despite what others have led him to believe, he’s worth more than just his body. Together, with gentle affection and true admiration, they will show each other how easy it is to love the right person, no matter their flaws.]]> 461 Peyton Corinne 1668068508 monica ✨ romantasyreader 5
peyton’s second book is emotional and packed with her signature angst™️. it’s for the readers who might not know where they fit in, who feel difficult or impossible to love, and who just need to find a safe place to land. ro and matt were those things for each other and their love story is impossibly perfect.

when I picked up unsteady, I was truly blown away by peyton’s ability to weave in difficult and challenging topics surrounding mental health. and I was incredibly lucky and grateful to be a small part of the process for unloved. thank you for trusting me and bringing these two characters to life with such care. you’re a rockstar and I can’t wait to watch what you do next ♥️

what to expect
⟢ friends to lovers
⟢ slow burn
⟢ tutor x athlete
⟢ adhd and learning differences rep
]]> 4.23 2025 Unloved (The Undone, #2)
author: Peyton Corinne
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/05
date added: 2025/02/06
shelves: all-the-feels, angsty, arcs, contemporary-romance, friends-to-lovers, slow-burn, sports-romance, college, mental-health-rep
review:
this book is so special. ro and matt are two characters trying to figure out who they are and how they fit in. ro is navigating an abusive relationship and juggling school and tutoring. matt is hiding behind smiles and what his body can do for others while masking his learning differences and adhd. the two of them find each other as friends first, and their slow burn is perfect and delicious.

peyton’s second book is emotional and packed with her signature angst™️. it’s for the readers who might not know where they fit in, who feel difficult or impossible to love, and who just need to find a safe place to land. ro and matt were those things for each other and their love story is impossibly perfect.

when I picked up unsteady, I was truly blown away by peyton’s ability to weave in difficult and challenging topics surrounding mental health. and I was incredibly lucky and grateful to be a small part of the process for unloved. thank you for trusting me and bringing these two characters to life with such care. you’re a rockstar and I can’t wait to watch what you do next ♥️

what to expect
⟢ friends to lovers
⟢ slow burn
⟢ tutor x athlete
⟢ adhd and learning differences rep

]]> <![CDATA[The North Wind (The Four Winds, #1)]]> 202934233 Inspired by Beauty and the Beast and the myth of Hades and Persephone, this lush and enchanting enemies-to-lovers fantasy romance is perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas, Jennifer L. Armentrout, and Scarlett St. Clair.

Wren of Edgewood is no stranger to suffering. With her parents gone, it’s Wren’s responsibility to ensure she and her sister survive the harsh and endless winter, but if the legends are to be believed, their home may not be safe for much longer.

For three hundred years, the land surrounding Edgewood has been encased in ice as the Shade, a magical barrier that protects the townsfolk from the Deadlands beyond, weakens. Only one thing can stop the Shade’s fall: the blood of a mortal woman bound in wedlock to the North Wind, a dangerous immortal whose heart is said to be as frigid as the land he rules. And the time has come to choose his bride.

When the North Wind sets his eyes on Wren’s sister, Wren will do anything to save her—even if it means sacrificing herself in the process. But mortal or not, Wren won’t go down without a fight…

The North Wind is a stand-alone, enemies-to-lovers slow-burn fantasy romance, the first in a series sprinkled with Greek mythology.]]> 448 Alexandria Warwick 1668065169 monica ✨ romantasyreader 4
Enemies to lovers, forced marriage, a dash of hidden identity, and delicious slow burn!!! I had fun with this one. ]]> 3.50 2022 The North Wind (The Four Winds, #1)
author: Alexandria Warwick
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/27
date added: 2025/01/27
shelves: read-with-ears-2025, enemies-to-lovers, fantasy-romance, forbidden-love, marriage-of-convenience, mistaken-or-hidden-identity, morally-gray-mcs, slow-burn, angsty
review:
They fucking HATED each other hahahaha

Enemies to lovers, forced marriage, a dash of hidden identity, and delicious slow burn!!! I had fun with this one.
]]> Onyx Storm (The Empyrean, #3) 209439446
Now Violet must journey beyond the failing Aretian wards to seek allies from unfamiliar lands to stand with Navarre. The trip will test every bit of her wit, luck, and strength, but she will do anything to save what she loves—her dragons, her family, her home, and him.

Even if it means keeping a secret so big, it could destroy everything. They need an army. They need power. They need magic. And they need the one thing only Violet can find—the truth. But a storm is coming...and not everyone can survive its wrath.]]> 527 Rebecca Yarros 1649374186 monica ✨ romantasyreader 4 What the actual fuck 4.16 2025 Onyx Storm (The Empyrean, #3)
author: Rebecca Yarros
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/21
date added: 2025/01/22
shelves: fantasy-romance, read-with-ears-2025, angsty, college, enemies-to-lovers, forbidden-love, morally-gray-mcs, wtf-the-ending
review:
What the actual fuck
]]> Deep End 212808709 A competitive diver and an ace swimmer jump into forbidden waters in this steamy college romance from the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis.

Scarlett Vandermeer is swimming upstream. A Junior at Stanford and a student-athlete who specializes in platform diving, Scarlett prefers to keep her head down, concentrating on getting into med school and on recovering from the injury that almost ended her career. She has no time for relationships—at least, that’s what she tells herself.

Swim captain, world champion, all-around aquatics golden boy, Lukas Blomqvist thrives on discipline. It’s how he wins gold medals and breaks records: complete focus, with every stroke. On the surface, Lukas and Scarlett have nothing in common. Until a well-guarded secret slips out, and everything changes.

So they start an arrangement. And as the pressure leading to the Olympics heats up, so does their relationship. It was supposed to be just a temporary, mutually satisfying fling. But when staying away from Lukas becomes impossible, Scarlett realizes that her heart might be treading into dangerous water...]]> 464 Ali Hazelwood monica ✨ romantasyreader 3
I loved Lukas like so much. Honestly he was the best part for me.

There’s a lot of separation in this book given they’re both D1 athletes, which I didn’t love.

The “mental health rep” …. I just. You can’t cure trauma with magic dick. You can’t cure trauma with lying and not disclosing things to your therapist. There was just a bunch of things in this area of the book I truly couldn’t vibe with.

Also…. THE OW THIRD ACT CONFLICT. seriously????????

Thank you Berkley and NetGalley for an arc! ]]> 3.89 2025 Deep End
author: Ali Hazelwood
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/12
date added: 2025/01/12
shelves: arcs, berkley-romance, netgalley, contemporary-romance, sports-romance, all-vibes-no-plot, angsty, college, for-the-love-of-smut, forbidden-love, mental-health-rep
review:
ugh this was not my fav.

I loved Lukas like so much. Honestly he was the best part for me.

There’s a lot of separation in this book given they’re both D1 athletes, which I didn’t love.

The “mental health rep” …. I just. You can’t cure trauma with magic dick. You can’t cure trauma with lying and not disclosing things to your therapist. There was just a bunch of things in this area of the book I truly couldn’t vibe with.

Also…. THE OW THIRD ACT CONFLICT. seriously????????

Thank you Berkley and NetGalley for an arc!
]]> <![CDATA[Paint It All Red (Mindf*ck, #5)]]> 33361549
Will Logan choose them? Or will we watch them burn together?

It's time to fuck with their minds.
It's time to finish it all.
It's time to paint it all red...

Monsters don't usually wish for happily-ever-afters.]]> 177 S.T. Abby monica ✨ romantasyreader 5

This was such a dark, twisted, fun and suspenseful series!

Lana AND Logan’s (because he had some shit to go through) journey throughout this series was such a rollercoaster. The author did a fantastic job of invoking sympathy and anxiety in all 5 books.

Usually I’m not a huge fan of epilogues, but this one takes the cake for me.

Read it!!!

Edited to add that supporting cast (looking @ Hadley!!) were also superb. ]]> 4.56 2016 Paint It All Red (Mindf*ck, #5)
author: S.T. Abby
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/11
date added: 2025/01/11
shelves: dark-romance, morally-gray-mcs, angsty, contemporary-romance, read-with-ears-2025, rereads-2025
review:
4.5 stars for the whole series.


This was such a dark, twisted, fun and suspenseful series!

Lana AND Logan’s (because he had some shit to go through) journey throughout this series was such a rollercoaster. The author did a fantastic job of invoking sympathy and anxiety in all 5 books.

Usually I’m not a huge fan of epilogues, but this one takes the cake for me.

Read it!!!

Edited to add that supporting cast (looking @ Hadley!!) were also superb.
]]> All the Lies (Mindf*ck, #4) 33361546
But that's never happened to me...

I've never felt conflicted on any case. Right is right and wrong is wrong. It's simple. Black and white. There's no such thing as a gray area.

But fuck this case. I don't even know what side I'm on anymore. I don't understand how this town can continue to function without breaking under the weight of all the lies they've spun and lived.

Every time I find a shard of truth, my gut twists, my heart beats faster, and I hate this place a little more. Every time I think I've heard the worst, another truth is dug up from the ashes of more burning lies.

Worst of all, I don't even know who to trust anymore. My head is all messed up.

I pride myself on being impossible to fool.
I'm an expert at knowing when someone is lying to me.
I never believed in being blinded by love...until Lana.

**BE WARNED: Some flashbacks can get intense to readers with a sensitive trigger. Skip the blocks in italics if that's the case.]]> 141 S.T. Abby monica ✨ romantasyreader 4 Crap crap crap crap crap CRAP 4.52 2016 All the Lies (Mindf*ck, #4)
author: S.T. Abby
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.52
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/10
date added: 2025/01/10
shelves: dark-romance, for-the-love-of-smut, morally-gray-mcs, forbidden-love, wtf-the-ending, angsty, contemporary-romance, read-with-ears-2025, rereads-2025
review:
Crap crap crap crap crap CRAP
]]> Scarlet Angel (Mindf*ck, #3) 33304878
Logan Bennett makes me want to have a future not tainted by the constant hunger for revenge. Doesn't mean I can stop. Doesn't mean I want to stop. It just means I want more...one day.

But how do you make a good man love the monster inside you without stripping his soul away as well? He is all the best parts of me right now, resurrecting bits of my heart I forgot could even exist.

He makes me feel something other than cold.

He also thinks I'm weak and fragile. Something I laugh about to myself, while secretly soaking in all his protectiveness and concern.

If anyone touches him, harms him, or even threatens him, then they should probably run. Because his girlfriend is a little bit crazy. They just don't know it yet.]]> 139 S.T. Abby monica ✨ romantasyreader 4 4.39 2016 Scarlet Angel (Mindf*ck, #3)
author: S.T. Abby
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/09
date added: 2025/01/09
shelves: dark-romance, for-the-love-of-smut, morally-gray-mcs, forbidden-love, wtf-the-ending, angsty, contemporary-romance, read-with-ears-2025, rereads-2025
review:

]]> Sidetracked (Mindf*ck, #2) 33271162 Or at least I was...until her.

****
LOGAN

I've had tunnel vision for one main goal for so long, that I forgot there was a whole other world just outside. Until Lana.

She's everything I never expected, and I love the fact I can never guess her every move or reaction. It's part of the reason I keep falling. But I also know she shuts me out, hides things from me she feels she can't share.

One day, I hope she trusts me enough to share.

It isn't until my job puts her at risk that I realize just how fierce she is, but it doesn't stop me from doing all I can to protect her. I should walk away to protect her better, but I can't. Instead, I'm forced to find other ways to keep her safe.

I just hope it's enough.

Though she is fierce, she's still fragile...

Right?]]> 115 S.T. Abby monica ✨ romantasyreader 4 4.37 2016 Sidetracked (Mindf*ck, #2)
author: S.T. Abby
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/09
date added: 2025/01/09
shelves: dark-romance, for-the-love-of-smut, morally-gray-mcs, forbidden-love, wtf-the-ending, angsty, contemporary-romance, he-s-down-bad, read-with-ears-2025, rereads-2025
review:

]]> Unexpected (Sun Valley #1) 63129350
Amelia Hanlon has worked hard to perfect her new life after tragedy destroyed her old one. When a single night ends her relationship and reunites her with the past she’s been running from for years, it’s all she can do not to panic as her world shatters around her.

Again.

Nicolas Silva is perfectly content with his bachelor lifestyle. Books, boxing, and nameless women warming his bed are all he cares about—until a red-haired wildfire waltzes into his life and burns everything he thought he knew to the ground.

He’s cocky, too handsome for his own good, and everything Amelia does not need.

Or so she thought.]]> 478 E.J. Blaise monica ✨ romantasyreader 4 4.5 ✨ <br /> “ 3.96 2022 Unexpected (Sun Valley #1)
author: E.J. Blaise
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2022/12/31
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves: all-the-feels, angsty, college, contemporary-romance, for-the-love-of-smut, friends-to-lovers, fwb, sports-romance, mental-health-rep
review:
4.5 ✨
“
]]> <![CDATA[Just for the Summer (Part of Your World, #3)]]> 195820807
Emma hadn't planned that her next assignment as a traveling nurse would be in Minnesota, but she and her best friend agree that dating Justin is too good of an opportunity to pass up, especially when they get to rent an adorable cottage on a private island on Lake Minnetonka.

It's supposed to be a quick fling, just for the summer. But when Emma's toxic mother shows up and Justin has to assume guardianship of his three siblings, they're suddenly navigating a lot more than they expected--including catching real feelings for each other. What if this time Fate has actually brought the perfect pair together?]]> 432 Abby Jimenez 1538704439 monica ✨ romantasyreader 5
this book hit so hard for me. emma is a traveling nurse hopping from place to place and never setting down. justin is about to become a single guardian to his three younger siblings and needs stability. when a reddit AITA post brings them together, they realize that they both have a curse: every person they date and breakup with finds their The One immediately after them. their solution? four dates, a kiss, and a breakup. just for the summer.

abby’s writing and her character building is honestly exquisite. every character she brings to life is full of life and nuance, and emma and justin are some of the best characters that are going to stay with me for a very long time. because of emma’s upbringing, she’s closed off and aloof. justin just needs her to meet him where he is. and their story is one of building trust and friendship while fighting the insane connection the two of them share.

this book had me in giggles one minute and tears the next. it is heavy, emotional, and full of so much heart. abby’s mental health rep is always so spot on, and she blew me out of the water with this one. emma is a deeply flawed fmc, and her journey was so powerful. and justin was literally perfect. these characters are so nuanced and written with such intentionality I didn’t have a choice to fall in love with them.

thank you so much to abby, NetGalley, and forever pub for an arc.

I can’t recommend this enough.

]]> 4.34 2024 Just for the Summer (Part of Your World, #3)
author: Abby Jimenez
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/03/08
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves: arcs, all-the-feels, angsty, contemporary-romance, single-parent, slow-burn, top-tier-book, netgalley, mental-health-rep
review:
another abby book, another forever favorite.

this book hit so hard for me. emma is a traveling nurse hopping from place to place and never setting down. justin is about to become a single guardian to his three younger siblings and needs stability. when a reddit AITA post brings them together, they realize that they both have a curse: every person they date and breakup with finds their The One immediately after them. their solution? four dates, a kiss, and a breakup. just for the summer.

abby’s writing and her character building is honestly exquisite. every character she brings to life is full of life and nuance, and emma and justin are some of the best characters that are going to stay with me for a very long time. because of emma’s upbringing, she’s closed off and aloof. justin just needs her to meet him where he is. and their story is one of building trust and friendship while fighting the insane connection the two of them share.

this book had me in giggles one minute and tears the next. it is heavy, emotional, and full of so much heart. abby’s mental health rep is always so spot on, and she blew me out of the water with this one. emma is a deeply flawed fmc, and her journey was so powerful. and justin was literally perfect. these characters are so nuanced and written with such intentionality I didn’t have a choice to fall in love with them.

thank you so much to abby, NetGalley, and forever pub for an arc.

I can’t recommend this enough.


]]> Still Beating 86113758
When Cora Lawson attends her sister's birthday party, she expects at most a hangover or a walk of shame by the end of it. She doesn't anticipate a stolen wallet, leaving her stranded and dependent on her sister's fiancé, Dean Asher―her archnemesis and perpetual thorn in her side.

And she really doesn't anticipate getting knocked out and waking up chained in a madman's basement, Dean in his own shackles beside her.

After fifteen years of teasing, insults, and never-ending pranks, the ultimate joke seems to be on them. The two people who always thought they'd end up killing each other must now work together if they want to survive long enough to escape.

But Cora and Dean don't know that their abductor has a plan for them. A plan that will alter the course of their relationship, blur the line between hate and love, and shackle them to each other long after they are freed from their chains. They're in this together―no matter what their unexpected bond might cost them.]]> 336 Jennifer Hartmann 1728290597 monica ✨ romantasyreader 5
this book was perfect. I loved every single second and the two main characters had me sobbing, giddy and fall head over heels for them. while this is a “dark romance,” I don’t think that it’s a dark romance between the characters. dean is actually the sweetest and I love him for cora sm. the situation that they’re in and healing from is hella dark tho.

this book was so so good and if you’ve been on the fence about reading consider this your sign to finally pick it up!

the audiobook is also amazing for those who read with their ears.

read if you like
✨ dark romantic suspense
✨ forbidden love





tws
rape
kidnapping
emotional torture
emotional cheating
death of a pet]]> 4.20 2020 Still Beating
author: Jennifer Hartmann
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2023/10/10
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves: all-the-feels, angsty, contemporary-romance, dark-romance, forbidden-love, slow-burn, top-tier-book, romantic-suspense, mental-health-rep
review:
as I sit here trying to formulate my thoughts for a coherent review I am ✨struggling✨

this book was perfect. I loved every single second and the two main characters had me sobbing, giddy and fall head over heels for them. while this is a “dark romance,” I don’t think that it’s a dark romance between the characters. dean is actually the sweetest and I love him for cora sm. the situation that they’re in and healing from is hella dark tho.

this book was so so good and if you’ve been on the fence about reading consider this your sign to finally pick it up!

the audiobook is also amazing for those who read with their ears.

read if you like
✨ dark romantic suspense
✨ forbidden love





tws
rape
kidnapping
emotional torture
emotional cheating
death of a pet
]]> Lotus 57359837
To the rest of the world, he was the little boy who went missing on the Fourth of July. But to Sydney Neville, he was everything. Her heart hasn't been the same since her best friend disappeared, but she's learned to build her life around that missing piece.

Twenty-two years later, the last thing Sydney expects is for Oliver Lynch to return. Having been captive underground for decades, he's unfamiliar with the strange new world that awaits him―but he's alive. He's here. And no matter how he's changed, he and Sydney both still feel the connection that runs between them.

But as their reborn friendship begins to feel like something more, Sydney and Oliver realize there are still jagged, painful truths creating space between them. The walls Sydney's built don't want to come down, and as Oliver hunts for his missing memories and lost time, he realizes his nightmare is not yet over.

With nothing as it seems, is there space for love to bloom in this dark place?]]> 344 Jennifer Hartmann monica ✨ romantasyreader 4
this was such a fun take on second chance and childhood best friends. again, it was so angsty to the point I was ready to pull out my hair (in the best way possible). it’s also a slow burn, which really fits the character arcs of syd and oliver. when they finally got together I had tears in my eyes because it was so sweet & perfect.

AND THE ENDING?! idk what I was expecting for the third act but it was NOT that. I was on the edge of my seat and could not put the book down.

I have to say that sydney did hold it back from me giving this 5 stars. she was extremely commitment-phobic and her reasoning while valid felt a little drawn out for me.


read if you like
✨ dark-ish romance
✨ angst
✨ second chance-ish
✨ childhood best friends to lovers
✨ romantic suspense
✨ slow burn ]]> 4.14 2021 Lotus
author: Jennifer Hartmann
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/17
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves: all-the-feels, angsty, contemporary-romance, dark-romance, friends-to-lovers, romantic-suspense, mental-health-rep
review:
lotus was another angsty romance taking place in the same world as still beating. it follows oliver after he escapes his kidnapper of 22 years, and sydney, his childhood best friend.

this was such a fun take on second chance and childhood best friends. again, it was so angsty to the point I was ready to pull out my hair (in the best way possible). it’s also a slow burn, which really fits the character arcs of syd and oliver. when they finally got together I had tears in my eyes because it was so sweet & perfect.

AND THE ENDING?! idk what I was expecting for the third act but it was NOT that. I was on the edge of my seat and could not put the book down.

I have to say that sydney did hold it back from me giving this 5 stars. she was extremely commitment-phobic and her reasoning while valid felt a little drawn out for me.


read if you like
✨ dark-ish romance
✨ angst
✨ second chance-ish
✨ childhood best friends to lovers
✨ romantic suspense
✨ slow burn
]]> Unsteady 201283772
During last year’s Frozen Four, the Waterfell University hockey captain, and NHL legacy, took a brutal hit that left him with a concussion and a new discomfort on the ice. Plagued by nightmares and panic attacks every time he attempt to skate, Rhys wonders if he’ll ever play again — if he’ll ever want to.

Sadie Brown is staying focused this semester — no matter what.

Currently drowning in debt, custody hearings for her younger brothers and skating practices, she's just trying to make it to the next day. A spitfire figure skater known for her bad attitude and frequent disappearing acts, she has a reputation on campus. And it’s not a pretty one.

When she accidentally witnesses one of the golden boy hockey captain’s panic attacks and attempts to help him, a strange sort of understanding strikes up between them.

No questions asked. Just comfort.

But Rhys finds himself drawn to Sadie. Where he feels empty, a shell of the man and player he was before, Sadie is so full of everything it bursts from her; every emotion she feels seems like it’s blasted at max. Rhys is desperate to feel anything, Sadie wants to stop feeling so much.

But healing doesn’t mix with secrets, and they’re both skating a thin line, unsteady .]]> 386 Peyton Corinne monica ✨ romantasyreader 5
unsteady follows rhys & sadie. both of them are kinda broken and trying to keep it together. she’s a top figure skater, and he’s the captain of the hockey team, and when sadie walks in on him having a panic attack, he gets addicted to her.

I cannot express how much I loved this book. sadie is so so strong, and rhys is putting in so much work to help himself and everyone around him. the two of them together with their banter, tension!!!!, and character development was everything. I have a unique view of mental health rep because of my profession as a psychologist, and when I tell you that the mental health rep was flawless, I mean it with my whole heart. I cried, swooned, laughed, and was giddy throughout this.

strong fmcs are my favorite. golden retriever mmcs are my favorite. sports romance is my FAVORITE. peyton did all my favorite tropes with a unique spin that I just could not put down. and as a debut?! I’m in awe of her!

thank you so so much for an arc. It’s out today ]]> 4.03 2023 Unsteady
author: Peyton Corinne
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/21
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves: arcs, angsty, college, contemporary-romance, fwb, slow-burn, sports-romance, grumpy-sunshine, top-tier-book, rereads-2024, found-fam, mental-health-rep
review:
loved this even more the second time ~

unsteady follows rhys & sadie. both of them are kinda broken and trying to keep it together. she’s a top figure skater, and he’s the captain of the hockey team, and when sadie walks in on him having a panic attack, he gets addicted to her.

I cannot express how much I loved this book. sadie is so so strong, and rhys is putting in so much work to help himself and everyone around him. the two of them together with their banter, tension!!!!, and character development was everything. I have a unique view of mental health rep because of my profession as a psychologist, and when I tell you that the mental health rep was flawless, I mean it with my whole heart. I cried, swooned, laughed, and was giddy throughout this.

strong fmcs are my favorite. golden retriever mmcs are my favorite. sports romance is my FAVORITE. peyton did all my favorite tropes with a unique spin that I just could not put down. and as a debut?! I’m in awe of her!

thank you so so much for an arc. It’s out today
]]> <![CDATA[Falling for Meadow (Perks & Benefits #4)]]> 201146751
We were two kids with dreams that were too big for our town in the Scottish Highlands. We planned on forever, but when the day arrived, she left me waiting at the airport with just a text message telling me that she wasn't coming.

So I picked up the pieces and built a new life—a better life—all on my own. I spent years chasing and achieving every measure of success I'd set for myself. And if the memory of my first love was never far from my mind, so what? I wasn't going back to Scotland, to her, or to anything that reminded me of where I came from. Even the tragedy of losing my best friend—Meadow’s older brother—didn't pull me back.

Now, two decades later, this prodigal son has returned to Thistlehill, determined to make up for lost time by saving the distillery that's been in my family for generations while my parents go on their long-awaited retirement honeymoon.

It was meant to be an easy three months.

Yet, there she is. Meadow. My Doe. Right next door. Except this time, she’s a single mother, and she’s opening a restaurant like she always wanted.

Meadow can still see straight through me, down to everything I’ve tried to run away from. And while she's not the same woman I remember, she’s more irresistible than ever, and I can’t keep my old feelings at bay. Which is the most terrifying thing of all. Because no matter how many years or how many miles we’ve put between us, I'm starting to realize that I might have found my heart where I left right here in the Highlands.

Falling for Meadow is book four of the Perks & Benefits series but can be read as a standalone.]]> Kels Stone monica ✨ romantasyreader 5
thank you sm kels & denise for an arc!

(ps I cannot wait for your new sports romance series!)

read if you like
✨ second chance
✨ small scottish town
✨ single guardian
✨ groveling and acts of service

Merged review:

meadow and ollie’s second chance romance pulled on my heart SO HARD. meadow is so strong caring for her late brother’s daughter and ollie is figuring his life out when back in the small scottish town for the first time in years. they were each other’s first loves but life got in the way. and the way they found themselves back together was so emotional and perfect.

thank you sm kels & denise for an arc!

(ps I cannot wait for your new sports romance series!)

read if you like
✨ second chance
✨ small scottish town
✨ single guardian
✨ groveling and acts of service]]> 4.02 Falling for Meadow (Perks & Benefits #4)
author: Kels Stone
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.02
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/07
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves: arcs, all-the-feels, angsty, contemporary-romance, cozy-reads, fluffy-af, he-got-money, second-chance, single-parent, small-town-romance, mental-health-rep
review:
meadow and ollie’s second chance romance pulled on my heart SO HARD. meadow is so strong caring for her late brother’s daughter and ollie is figuring his life out when back in the small scottish town for the first time in years. they were each other’s first loves but life got in the way. and the way they found themselves back together was so emotional and perfect.

thank you sm kels & denise for an arc!

(ps I cannot wait for your new sports romance series!)

read if you like
✨ second chance
✨ small scottish town
✨ single guardian
✨ groveling and acts of service

Merged review:

meadow and ollie’s second chance romance pulled on my heart SO HARD. meadow is so strong caring for her late brother’s daughter and ollie is figuring his life out when back in the small scottish town for the first time in years. they were each other’s first loves but life got in the way. and the way they found themselves back together was so emotional and perfect.

thank you sm kels & denise for an arc!

(ps I cannot wait for your new sports romance series!)

read if you like
✨ second chance
✨ small scottish town
✨ single guardian
✨ groveling and acts of service
]]> Unromance 212924099 not a meet-cute but a chance encounter with a charming man whom she will sleep with exactly once and go on her way. Easy enough...until she runs into him again at a Christmas market straight out of a Hallmark holiday movie. ]]> 343 Erin Connor 153875942X monica ✨ romantasyreader 5
mason is a cinnamon roll and I loved him with my WHOLE HEART. even though he agreed to the rule of no feelings, he can’t help himself from falling in love with the chaotic bi disaster that is sawyer. and she wasn’t far behind him but she really had to open up and let him in. I love prickly and imperfect fmcs, and if you do too you’ll love her.

the tension, banter, and romance in this was steamy and perfect! even though sawyer was “I’m not going to fall for him” she found herself impossibly head over heels for mason. and honestly how could you not? he was perfect.

I loved the writing and acting portrayals in this book! it added a lot for me and felt super realistic.

my one problem - even though unsurprising - was the 3rd act breakup ]]> 3.74 2025 Unromance
author: Erin Connor
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/09
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves: arcs, netgalley, angsty, contemporary-romance, friends-to-lovers, groveling-on-his-knees, he-got-money, he-s-down-bad, queer, rom-com, mental-health-rep
review:
what happens when a hopeless romantic actor and a romance writer who doesn’t believe in love have a one night stand and then make a list to ruin romance tropes? they fall in love, of course.

mason is a cinnamon roll and I loved him with my WHOLE HEART. even though he agreed to the rule of no feelings, he can’t help himself from falling in love with the chaotic bi disaster that is sawyer. and she wasn’t far behind him but she really had to open up and let him in. I love prickly and imperfect fmcs, and if you do too you’ll love her.

the tension, banter, and romance in this was steamy and perfect! even though sawyer was “I’m not going to fall for him” she found herself impossibly head over heels for mason. and honestly how could you not? he was perfect.

I loved the writing and acting portrayals in this book! it added a lot for me and felt super realistic.

my one problem - even though unsurprising - was the 3rd act breakup
]]> <![CDATA[Alluring Darkness (Kings of Blackwater, #1)]]> 194021816 The deadliest man on campus is out for blood. And I have just painted a giant target on my back.

Hitman. Assassin. Contract killer. Hired murderers have many names. And Blackwater University trains them all.

My brother is the last chance my family has to restore our name after a devastating failure. He was on track to become one of the best hitmen of his year, but he made a mistake. He crossed Eli Hunter. The most dangerous student on the entire campus.

So I made a desperate choice. I enrolled in Blackwater University to take my brother’s place as Eli’s target. Every wicked and depraved act he was going to inflict on my brother, I will endure instead.

Eli Hunter is going to do everything he can to drag me into the depths of hell. But little does he know that hell is about to become my own personal playground.]]> 354 Raven Wood 9198802542 monica ✨ romantasyreader 4
I ate this up. Couldn’t find much of a plot the vibes are immaculate. ]]> 3.83 Alluring Darkness (Kings of Blackwater, #1)
author: Raven Wood
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 3.83
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/02
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves: angsty, college, contemporary-romance, dark-romance, enemies-to-lovers, he-s-down-bad, mafia, morally-gray-mcs, romantic-suspense
review:
morally black assassins in training???? enemies!!!! to lovers!! bully romance?

I ate this up. Couldn’t find much of a plot the vibes are immaculate.
]]> The Unmaking of June Farrow 66087062
It’s been a year since June started seeing and hearing things that weren’t there. Faint wind chimes, a voice calling her name, and a mysterious door appearing out of nowhere—the signs of what June always knew was coming. But June is determined to end the curse once and for all, even if she must sacrifice finding love and having a family of her own.

After her grandmother’s death, June discovers a series of cryptic clues regarding her mother’s decades-old disappearance, except they only lead to more questions. But could the door she once assumed was a hallucination be the answer she’s been searching for? The next time it appears, June realizes she can touch it and walk past the threshold. And when she does, she embarks on a journey that will not only change both the past and the future, but also uncover the lingering mysteries of her small town and entangle her heart in an epic star-crossed love.

With The Unmaking of June Farrow, Adrienne Young delivers a brilliant novel of romance, mystery, and a touch of the impossible—a story you will never forget.]]> 320 Adrienne Young 0593598679 monica ✨ romantasyreader 2 it’s me, hi, i’m lowering my rating, hi.

June really felt like a passive participant in this story. The mystery was good but I guessed the twist after putting pieces together pretty early on.

I wish there was more character and relationship development than what we got.

The writing and prose were beautiful but I felt like something was missing. I truly disliked more things than I liked about it.

actual rating 2.5.]]> 4.12 2023 The Unmaking of June Farrow
author: Adrienne Young
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2023
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/30
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: magical-realism, angsty, historical, slow-burn
review:
it’s me, hi, i’m lowering my rating, hi.

June really felt like a passive participant in this story. The mystery was good but I guessed the twist after putting pieces together pretty early on.

I wish there was more character and relationship development than what we got.

The writing and prose were beautiful but I felt like something was missing. I truly disliked more things than I liked about it.

actual rating 2.5.
]]> <![CDATA[Iron Flame (Part 2 of 2) [Dramatized Adaptation] (The Empyrean, #2)]]> 206033178
Now the real training begins, and Violet’s already wondering how she’ll get through. It’s not just that it’s grueling and maliciously brutal, or even that it’s designed to stretch the riders’ capacity for pain beyond endurance. It’s the new vice commandant, who’s made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is–unless she betrays the man she loves.

Although Violet’s body might be weaker and frailer than everyone else’s, she still has her wits―and a will of iron. And leadership is forgetting the most important lesson Basgiath has taught her: Dragon riders make their own rules.

But a determination to survive won’t be enough this year.

Because Violet knows the real secret hidden for centuries at Basgiath War College―and nothing, not even dragon fire, may be enough to save them in the end.

Adapted from the novel and produced with a full cast of actors, immersive sound effects and cinematic music!]]> 11 Rebecca Yarros monica ✨ romantasyreader 3
Also OW drama is fucking dumb. ]]> 4.70 Iron Flame (Part 2 of 2) [Dramatized Adaptation] (The Empyrean, #2)
author: Rebecca Yarros
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.70
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/29
date added: 2024/12/29
shelves: angsty, fantasy-romance, forbidden-love, found-fam, high-fantasy, morally-gray-mcs, rereads-2024, wtf-the-ending
review:
Even more mad at Xaden on the reread.

Also OW drama is fucking dumb.
]]> <![CDATA[Iron Flame (Part 1 of 2) [Dramatized Adaptation] (The Empyrean, #2)]]> 206033125
Now the real training begins, and Violet’s already wondering how she’ll get through. It’s not just that it’s grueling and maliciously brutal, or even that it’s designed to stretch the riders’ capacity for pain beyond endurance. It’s the new vice commandant, who’s made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is–unless she betrays the man she loves.

Although Violet’s body might be weaker and frailer than everyone else’s, she still has her wits–and a will of iron. And leadership is forgetting the most important lesson Basgiath has taught her: Dragon riders make their own rules.

But a determination to survive won’t be enough this year.

Because Violet knows the real secret hidden for centuries at Basgiath War College–and nothing, not even dragon fire, may be enough to save them in the end.]]> 11 Rebecca Yarros monica ✨ romantasyreader 3 4.71 Iron Flame (Part 1 of 2) [Dramatized Adaptation] (The Empyrean, #2)
author: Rebecca Yarros
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.71
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/29
date added: 2024/12/29
shelves: all-vibes-no-plot, angsty, enemies-to-lovers, fantasy-romance, forbidden-love, found-fam, high-fantasy, morally-gray-mcs, rereads-2024
review:
Violet is insufferable but the voice acting made this way more palatable.
]]> <![CDATA[Fourth Wing (Part 2 of 2) [Dramatized Adaptation] (The Empyrean, #1)]]> 199149906
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.]]> 0 Rebecca Yarros monica ✨ romantasyreader 5 4.76 2024 Fourth Wing (Part 2 of 2) [Dramatized Adaptation] (The Empyrean, #1)
author: Rebecca Yarros
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.76
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/28
date added: 2024/12/28
shelves: angsty, enemies-to-lovers, fantasy-romance, forbidden-love, found-fam, high-fantasy, morally-gray-mcs, rereads-2024, wtf-the-ending
review:
The last line of this book is insane lol
]]> From Air (Wildfire, #1) 210670779 Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author Jewel E. Ann parachutes into the burning, hazardous heart of love in a sexy yet dramatic romance set in Big Sky country.

When Jamie Andrews moves in with a house full of firefighters, things start heating up fast. Battling the wilderness of rural Montana, these guys are always charging into danger—for a living, for duty, for the rush—and since Jamie is a psychiatric nurse, they fascinate her analytic mind. She can’t help but fixate on Calvin, a grumpy, enigmatic smoke jumper ten years her senior. She makes playfully tormenting him her pet project, trying to get him to open up. It turns out he gives as good as he gets.

When something smoldering between them sparks, they’ll have to keep it quiet, which makes Jamie start to wonder about Calvin’s secret, the one he won’t explain. She’ll learn more after life pulls them apart. But as she follows the truth like a trail of flame into the dark, will it lead her to hearth and home with Calvin…or will it all go up in a blaze?
]]> 328 Jewel E. Ann 1662523688 monica ✨ romantasyreader 4
I literally binged the audio in a few hours. I was so completely locked in. Fitz is the ultimate sad boy and I can fix him I swear!!!

jaymes is a traveling psychiatric nurse and she lands in missoula with three roommates. there’s one house rule: don’t sleep with your roommates. but jaymes and fitz can’t help themselves. they fall hard but everything possible keeps getting in their way. he’s a wild land firefighter and she’s a traveling nurse, and neither want to give up their dreams.

aside from the forbidden/forced proximity deliciousness, this book had so many layers and twists I did NOT see coming. I thought I was picking up a firefighter romance but it was so much more than that. THE ANGST absolutely destroyed me in the best way.

I loved watching him melt for jaymes.

what to expect
⟢ firefighter x nurse
⟢ roommates
⟢ forbidden
⟢ age gap
⟢ grumpy x sunshine
]]> 4.24 2024 From Air (Wildfire, #1)
author: Jewel E. Ann
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/26
date added: 2024/12/27
shelves: age-gap, angsty, contemporary-romance, forbidden-love, fwb, grumpy-sunshine, insta-lovey
review:
THIS WAS SO TWISTY??????

I literally binged the audio in a few hours. I was so completely locked in. Fitz is the ultimate sad boy and I can fix him I swear!!!

jaymes is a traveling psychiatric nurse and she lands in missoula with three roommates. there’s one house rule: don’t sleep with your roommates. but jaymes and fitz can’t help themselves. they fall hard but everything possible keeps getting in their way. he’s a wild land firefighter and she’s a traveling nurse, and neither want to give up their dreams.

aside from the forbidden/forced proximity deliciousness, this book had so many layers and twists I did NOT see coming. I thought I was picking up a firefighter romance but it was so much more than that. THE ANGST absolutely destroyed me in the best way.

I loved watching him melt for jaymes.

what to expect
⟢ firefighter x nurse
⟢ roommates
⟢ forbidden
⟢ age gap
⟢ grumpy x sunshine

]]> <![CDATA[Heartless Hunter (The Crimson Moth, #1)]]> 127305713
Spending her days pretending to be nothing more than a vapid young socialite, Rune spends her nights as the Crimson Moth, a witch vigilante who rescues her kind from being purged. When a rescue goes wrong, she decides to throw the witch hunters off her scent and gain the intel she desperately needs by courting the handsome Gideon Sharpe – a notorious and unforgiving witch hunter loyal to the revolution – who she can't help but find herself falling for.

Gideon loathes the decadence and superficiality Rune represents, but when he learns the Crimson Moth has been using Rune’s merchant ships to smuggle renegade witches out of the republic, he inserts himself into her social circles by pretending to court her right back. He soon realizes that beneath her beauty and shallow façade, is someone fiercely intelligent and tender who feels like his perfect match. Except, what if she’s the very villain he’s been hunting?

Kristen Ciccarelli’s The Crimson Moth is the thrilling start to a romantic fantasy duology where the only thing more treacherous than being a witch… is falling in love.]]> 406 Kristen Ciccarelli 1250866901 monica ✨ romantasyreader 4
Rune and Gideon are enemies playing a dangerous game. They both need information from each other but revealing themselves would mean death for Rune.

The tension in this is so gooooood. They’re both constantly conflicted and the cat and mouse game literally kept me on the edge of my seat. The twists and turns were unreal.

I did find it a bit predictable but I still had a great time. Can’t wait for book 2!! ]]> 4.15 2024 Heartless Hunter (The Crimson Moth, #1)
author: Kristen Ciccarelli
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/24
date added: 2024/12/25
shelves: angsty, enemies-to-lovers, fantasy-romance, forbidden-love, high-fantasy, mistaken-or-hidden-identity, no-way-ya, witches, wtf-the-ending
review:
I don’t know why I put this off so long but I’m happy I finally read it!!

Rune and Gideon are enemies playing a dangerous game. They both need information from each other but revealing themselves would mean death for Rune.

The tension in this is so gooooood. They’re both constantly conflicted and the cat and mouse game literally kept me on the edge of my seat. The twists and turns were unreal.

I did find it a bit predictable but I still had a great time. Can’t wait for book 2!!
]]> They Never Learn 124948406 From the author of the “raw, ingenious, and utterly fearless” (Wendy Walker, USA TODAY bestselling author) Temper comes a dynamic psychological thriller about two women who give bad men exactly what they deserve.

Scarlett Clark is an exceptional English professor. But she’s even better at getting away with murder.

Every year, she searches for the worst man at Gorman University and plots his well-deserved demise. Thanks to her meticulous planning, she’s avoided drawing attention to herself—but as she’s preparing for her biggest kill yet, the school starts probing into the growing body count on campus. Determined to keep her enemies close, Scarlett insinuates herself into the investigation and charms the woman in charge, Dr. Mina Pierce. Everything’s going according to her master plan…until she loses control with her latest victim, putting her secret life at risk of exposure.

Meanwhile, Gorman student Carly Schiller is just trying to survive her freshman year. Finally free of her emotionally abusive father, all Carly wants is to focus on her studies and fade into the background. Her new roommate has other ideas. Allison Hadley is cool and confident—everything Carly wishes she could be—and the two girls quickly form an intense friendship. So when Allison is sexually assaulted at a party, Carly becomes obsessed with making the attacker pay...and turning her fantasies about revenge into a reality.

Featuring Layne Fargo’s trademark “propulsive writing style” (Kirkus Reviews) and “sinister, of the moment” (Chicago Review of Books) suspense, They Never Learn is a feminist serial killer story perfect for fans of Killing Eve and Chelsea Cain.]]> 349 Layne Fargo monica ✨ romantasyreader 5
this was such a dark and engaging read!! scarlett has been killing men who do bad things for 16 years. carly is a student who just started at the same university. as the two of their stories progress, I was truly on the edge of my seat the whole time.

layne’s characters are so impressively written. she can get into their heads and capture their voices and it really is so engaging. the suspense and twists had my jaw dropping and rushing to turn the pages.

big recommend if you love feminist and queer stories about angry women fucking shit up for the asshole men around them.

actual rating 4.5]]> 3.85 2020 They Never Learn
author: Layne Fargo
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/19
date added: 2024/12/19
shelves: angsty, college, morally-gray-mcs, queer, spooky, thriller
review:
I’m not a big thriller reader, so take that with a grain of salt. but after reading the favorites by layne fargo, I loved the way she writes and immediately want to jump into her backlist. and I’m so happy I did.

this was such a dark and engaging read!! scarlett has been killing men who do bad things for 16 years. carly is a student who just started at the same university. as the two of their stories progress, I was truly on the edge of my seat the whole time.

layne’s characters are so impressively written. she can get into their heads and capture their voices and it really is so engaging. the suspense and twists had my jaw dropping and rushing to turn the pages.

big recommend if you love feminist and queer stories about angry women fucking shit up for the asshole men around them.

actual rating 4.5
]]> <![CDATA[The Serpent and the Wolf (Dark Inheritance Trilogy, #1)]]> 207297940 Perfect for fans of Raven Kennedy and Thea Guanzon, Rebecca Robinson’s thrilling romantasy debut combines high-stakes political intrigue and a steamy, slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers romance.

All her life, Vaasa Kozár has been sharpened into a blade.

After losing her mother—her only remaining parent—to a mysterious dark magic that has since awakened within her, Vaasa is certain death looms. So is her merciless brother, who aims to eliminate Vaasa as a threat to his crown. In one last political scheme, he marries her off to Reid of Mireh, a ruthless foreign ruler, in hopes that he can use her death as a rallying cry to finally invade Reid’s nation. All Vaasa has to do is die.

But she is desperate to live. Vaasa enters her new marriage with every intent to escape it, wielding the hard-won political prowess and combat abilities her late father instilled in her. But to her surprise, Reid offers her a deal: help him win the votes to rise in power, and she can walk free. In exchange, he will share his knowledge about the dark magic running through her veins—and help keep it at bay.

This proposal may be too good to refuse, yet Vaasa and Reid’s undeniable attraction threatens to break the rules of their arrangement. As her brother’s lethal machinations take form, everything is at stake: Vaasa must learn to trust her new husband, but how can she, especially when their perfect political marriage begins to feel like the real thing?]]> 352 Rebecca Robinson 1668052482 monica ✨ romantasyreader 3
I usually love politicking in books but this was like soooo heavy on that. there wasn’t too much action because of that. I started kinda getting bored around the 80% mark.
then the romance starts to really kick in, but then shit predictably hits the fan.

the character development was really good. vaasa went from an afraid, volatile, and full of grief. by the time the book ends, she’s strong, forgiving, and so fucking strong. HOWEVER!!!!!

the fucking ending?????? the cliffy?????? I am beyond raging rn. ugh ugh ugh ugh.

❗️ just an aside, reid is described as having brown skin. I saw a commissioned art piece on the author’s instagram and he was white in the piece. gave me the ick.

what to expect
⟢ forced marriage
⟢ enemies-to-lovers
⟢ witches
⟢ found family ]]> 4.00 2024 The Serpent and the Wolf (Dark Inheritance Trilogy, #1)
author: Rebecca Robinson
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/16
date added: 2024/12/16
shelves: angsty, enemies-to-lovers, fantasy-romance, forbidden-love, found-fam, high-fantasy, marriage-of-convenience, morally-gray-mcs, slow-burn, witches, wtf-the-ending
review:
honestly, this started off so strong. vaasa was forced to marry the “wolf” of a rival kingdom. on their wedding night, she holds a knife to his throat and escapes. but he didn’t give up on her and hunts her down to bring her back. there’s a slooooow burn of not only the romance but also the changing of vaasa’s alliance and found family. because vaasa is a witch and she finally found a coven.

I usually love politicking in books but this was like soooo heavy on that. there wasn’t too much action because of that. I started kinda getting bored around the 80% mark.
then the romance starts to really kick in, but then shit predictably hits the fan.

the character development was really good. vaasa went from an afraid, volatile, and full of grief. by the time the book ends, she’s strong, forgiving, and so fucking strong. HOWEVER!!!!!

the fucking ending?????? the cliffy?????? I am beyond raging rn. ugh ugh ugh ugh.

❗️ just an aside, reid is described as having brown skin. I saw a commissioned art piece on the author’s instagram and he was white in the piece. gave me the ick.

what to expect
⟢ forced marriage
⟢ enemies-to-lovers
⟢ witches
⟢ found family
]]> Variation 210482187 New York Times bestselling author of Fourth Wing comes a new contemporary romance about the summer a celebrated dancer returns home and unearths years of family secrets with the Coast Guard rescue swimmer she never forgot.

Elite ballerina Allie Rousseau is no stranger to pressure. With her mother’s eyes always watching, perfection was expected, no matter the cost. But when an injury jeopardizes all she’s sacrificed for, Allie returns to her summer home to heal and recover. But the memories she’s tried to forget rush in and threaten to take her under.

As a Coast Guard rescue swimmer, Hudson Ellis knows that hesitation can mean the difference between life and death. He’s always prided himself on being in the right place at the right time, especially when it came to Allie Rousseau…until the night he left for basic. After the biggest regret of his life, the secrets he keeps mean he can never be with the one woman he wants more than his next breath.

When Hudson’s niece shows up on Allie’s doorstep, desperate to find her birth mother, Allie finds herself in an unimaginable position. Allie and Hudson’s past and present might be endlessly complicated. The thread that tied them to each other all those years ago may have unraveled, but the truth could pull them back together, or drive them apart forever.]]> 459 Rebecca Yarros 1662514697 monica ✨ romantasyreader 4 4.19 2024 Variation
author: Rebecca Yarros
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/20
date added: 2024/11/20
shelves: all-the-feels, angsty, contemporary-romance, fake-dating, friends-to-lovers, groveling-on-his-knees, second-chance, sports-romance
review:
This had me in the first half but the last 15-20% or so I was just so mad at Allie. Get it together girl HE LOVES YOU AND HAS FOR 11 YEARS!!!!
]]> The Lovers 204316928 A second chance at love is in the cards for two women working a stylish California wedding in this charming debut romance.

If Kit Larson believes one thing, it’s that the cards never lie. She’s seen it proven time and time again as a tarot reader and mystic influencer. But unfortunately the cards didn’t warn her about her most recent breakup or her parents’ divorce, so when Kit is offered a gig at another influencer’s boho-chic Joshua Tree wedding she accepts for the distraction. And distract it does when she finds out her high school crush, Julia, is the wedding planner.

Julia Kelley is her agency’s most sought-after wedding planner, and for a good reason—she's a perfectionist. Control means never showing others the vulnerable, blobby mess she really is deep down inside. Having an ex-girlfriend in the bridal party is a problem, sure, but reconnecting with the beautiful tarot reader who broke her heart as a teenager is so much worse.

Kit’s cards once told her that she and Julia were Twin Flames, two halves of the same soul. With wedding events pushing them together, their spark reignites . . . and so does a chance at being lovers.]]> 352 Rebekah Faubion 0593640861 monica ✨ romantasyreader 4
kit and julia were best friends growing up. on a dare, they got their tarot reading and found out they’re twin flames. and right before they go away to college, julia admitted she loves kit. and kit freaks out and ghosts. now several years later, julia is a wedding planner for a remote wedding in the dessert, and kit is the tarot entertainment and what follows is a super sweet story of the two of them finding their way back to each other.

i adored this book so much. julia was so strong and knew herself and what she wanted. kit was slowly learning and gaining confidence to be who she is and to love out loud. the premise was super fun and I’m realizing I love a chaotic wedding as a backdrop for a love story (see: the ex vows and tell me not).

my one problem with this is a common thing that happens in queer love stories: third act coming out drama. it’s very specific to queer stories and I just wish there was another way authors would set up a third act craziness. it really cheapens the story for me.

what to expect
⟢ sapphic romance
⟢ childhood friends to lovers
⟢ second chance
⟢ forced proximity

Thank you Berkley romance for a gifted copy!

TW internalized biphobia, public outing]]> 3.62 2024 The Lovers
author: Rebekah Faubion
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/17
date added: 2024/09/23
shelves: arcs, berkley-romance, netgalley, queer, all-the-feels, angsty, contemporary-romance, friends-to-lovers, second-chance
review:
second chance romance is a forever favorite! the angst and yearning are unmatched.

kit and julia were best friends growing up. on a dare, they got their tarot reading and found out they’re twin flames. and right before they go away to college, julia admitted she loves kit. and kit freaks out and ghosts. now several years later, julia is a wedding planner for a remote wedding in the dessert, and kit is the tarot entertainment and what follows is a super sweet story of the two of them finding their way back to each other.

i adored this book so much. julia was so strong and knew herself and what she wanted. kit was slowly learning and gaining confidence to be who she is and to love out loud. the premise was super fun and I’m realizing I love a chaotic wedding as a backdrop for a love story (see: the ex vows and tell me not).

my one problem with this is a common thing that happens in queer love stories: third act coming out drama. it’s very specific to queer stories and I just wish there was another way authors would set up a third act craziness. it really cheapens the story for me.

what to expect
⟢ sapphic romance
⟢ childhood friends to lovers
⟢ second chance
⟢ forced proximity

Thank you Berkley romance for a gifted copy!

TW internalized biphobia, public outing
]]> <![CDATA[Fragile Sanctuary (Sparrow Falls #1)]]> 209773182
He’s everything I’m not: grumpy, rude, and more than a little attached to his solitude. It doesn’t matter how many times I try to kill him with kindness; the man simply won’t crack.

Until he sees me shatter.

Because when my world comes crashing down around me, Anson is the one catching me as I fall. And as so-called accidents start plaguing every part of my life, it’s Anson who steps in to keep me safe.

As he does, I can’t help but feel a flicker of heat. And it only takes a single moment for that spark to ignite into flames, engulfing us both.

But Anson’s a man with secrets, and they have a price. When they’re revealed, neither of us will make it out unscathed…]]> 366 Catherine Cowles 1951936582 monica ✨ romantasyreader 5
they were so perfect separately and as a couple. I loved meeting all the new side characters and the big family vibes of the small town. rhodes is incredibly strong and that’s my fav type of fmc. and when anson finally has his “fuċk it” moment I MELTED.

the suspense was sooo good in this one. I couldNOT figure out who the big bad was. catherine did such an amazing job at keeping me guessing until the very end.

]]> 3.87 2024 Fragile Sanctuary (Sparrow Falls #1)
author: Catherine Cowles
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/05
date added: 2024/08/08
shelves: arcs, all-the-feels, angsty, contemporary-romance, grumpy-sunshine, romantic-suspense, siblings-best-friend, small-town-romance, found-fam
review:
anson and rhodes are in sparrow falls and both of them have tragic pasts. rhodes is coming back to face hers, but anson has been running away from his. he’s sworn off any type of connection with anyone because he’s afraid to get hurt again. but rhodes knocked down all his defenses and he can’t help but fall for her, especially since both of their pasts are coming back to haunt them.

they were so perfect separately and as a couple. I loved meeting all the new side characters and the big family vibes of the small town. rhodes is incredibly strong and that’s my fav type of fmc. and when anson finally has his “fuċk it” moment I MELTED.

the suspense was sooo good in this one. I couldNOT figure out who the big bad was. catherine did such an amazing job at keeping me guessing until the very end.


]]> <![CDATA[The Flame King's Captive (Fire and Desire, #1)]]> 138008127
I was a dead king’s sacrificial bride, until his murderer claimed me as his. Zabriel invaded my country of Maledin on the back of a monstrous, fire-breathing dragon and took me prisoner.

The lethal Zabriel towers over me in steel plate armor, and he could easily crush the life out of me—but the Flame King isn’t interested in harming me. Instead, he destroys everyone who has hurt me in a storm of fire and vengeance.

There’s malignant rot deep within my country. My family has vanished along with whole villages of people. As I desperately try to find those who are missing, my body and heart awaken under a powerful and alarming force.

Zabriel sets my soul ablaze every time he growls, “Mine.” He calls me Omega. The rarest. The most vulnerable. The one he craves to possess and protect.

When evil forces in Maledin threaten everyone I know and love, there’s only one person who is strong enough to help me defeat them, and the only place where I’m safe from an ancient foe is in the arms of the Flame King.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: The Flame King’s Captive is a slow-burn non-shifter MF omegaverse romance set in a fantasy world of magic and dragonriders. Zabriel is a jealous and possessive Alpha, and Isavelle is a sweet but strong virgin Omega heroine. This is the first book in the Fire and Desire trilogy. It contains steamy content that increases with each subsequent book and ends on a cliffhanger.]]> 468 Chloe Chastaine monica ✨ romantasyreader 3
I loved the dystopian, villainous religious society that’s the big bad. I even loved Zabriel.

However, Isavelle was insufferable. I understand she has religious trauma and her whole world was uprooted when she realized she was an omega with a fated mate. But girl. Be a little more open-minded? Be a little KINDER????

I’m def curious where this series is going and I’ll try book three but man did I dislike her. ]]> 3.86 2023 The Flame King's Captive (Fire and Desire, #1)
author: Chloe Chastaine
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/04/20
date added: 2024/08/08
shelves: angsty, fantasy-romance, fated-mates, for-the-love-of-smut, high-fantasy, omegaverse, witches, found-fam
review:
This started off great. Right into the action, tension, violence, all good.

I loved the dystopian, villainous religious society that’s the big bad. I even loved Zabriel.

However, Isavelle was insufferable. I understand she has religious trauma and her whole world was uprooted when she realized she was an omega with a fated mate. But girl. Be a little more open-minded? Be a little KINDER????

I’m def curious where this series is going and I’ll try book three but man did I dislike her.
]]> <![CDATA[Pack Darling: Part Two (Pack Darling, #2)]]> 57993571
My body has other plans.

Now that I’m awakened, I can’t survive another heat alone.

Problem is, I hate alphas, hate packs, and really super hate the so-called mates I can’t forgive and can’t forget.

Now my biological clock’s ticking too fast to handle, and I can’t wait on Wyvern Pack to figure out their damage.

I’ll take care of my own needs.

And if you can’t give me what I want, then get out of my way.

Because this omega bites back.

♥ Burn: Medium

♥ Heat: High (spicy MM + MMFMMM scenes)

♥ Alert: Growly alpha males, no shifting

♥ Warning: Contains MM content, frequent cursing, references to past assault that may be disturbing, and a few alphaholes who need to grovel for redemption.]]> 350 Lola Rock 1943858829 monica ✨ romantasyreader 5 3.88 2022 Pack Darling: Part Two (Pack Darling, #2)
author: Lola Rock
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/20
date added: 2024/08/08
shelves: angsty, fated-mates, morally-gray-mcs, omegaverse, slow-burn, why-choose, paranormal-romance, found-fam
review:
This entire book was angsty groveling and I ATE IT UP.
]]> Losers: Part I (Losers, #1) 60916772 I was supposed to have it all.

I’d been Prom Queen, Cheer Captain - high school’s most savage Queen Bee. I could have everything I wanted.
Except them. The freaks, the weirdos, the school’s ultimate losers: Manson, Jason, Lucas, and Vincent. Our hatred for each other couldn’t keep us apart, not even when my own mistake got Manson expelled and made me the ultimate villain to the rest of them.

One night was supposed to be enough.

I couldn’t resist forever. For one night I gave myself over to the men I wasn’t supposed to want and satisfied the darkest parts of my soul. But some things are meant to stay in the dark. One night, and it was over.

Nothing more than a game.

Now, with college behind me, our worlds collide yet again. Four men, all willing to share me as their plaything until my debt to them is paid. Another game to satiate my dark cravings, the twisted rules of which bring us all even closer than before. But games aren’t meant to last.

When the debt is paid and the game is done, what if I don’t want to walk away?

Although not required, it is recommended to read the novella, The Dare, prior to reading Losers.

This book is First Person, Multi POV.

This is an 18+ polyamorous bisexual romance between one woman and four men, including MF, MM, and group scenes. Reader discretion is strongly advised, this is a dark read. This book contains graphic sexual scenes, intense scenes of BDSM, graphic violence, and strong language. A full content note can be found in the front matter of the book.]]> 594 Harley Laroux monica ✨ romantasyreader 4

rtc ]]> 4.23 2022 Losers: Part I (Losers, #1)
author: Harley Laroux
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2023/11/17
date added: 2024/08/08
shelves: angsty, buddy-reads, contemporary-romance, dark-romance, enemies-to-lovers, forbidden-love, morally-gray-mcs, small-town-romance, why-choose, found-fam
review:
lol that was wild


rtc
]]> Iron Flame (The Empyrean, #2) 90202302 “The first year is when some of us lose our lives. The second year is when the rest of us lose our humanity.” —Xaden Riorson

Everyone expected Violet Sorrengail to die during her first year at Basgiath War College—Violet included. But Threshing was only the first impossible test meant to weed out the weak-willed, the unworthy, and the unlucky.

Now the real training begins, and Violet’s already wondering how she’ll get through. It’s not just that it’s grueling and maliciously brutal, or even that it’s designed to stretch the riders’ capacity for pain beyond endurance. It’s the new vice commandant, who’s made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is–unless she betrays the man she loves.

Although Violet’s body might be weaker and frailer than everyone else’s, she still has her wits—and a will of iron. And leadership is forgetting the most important lesson Basgiath has taught her: Dragon riders make their own rules.

But a determination to survive won’t be enough this year.

Because Violet knows the real secret hidden for centuries at Basgiath War College—and nothing, not even dragon fire, may be enough to save them in the end.]]> 623 Rebecca Yarros 1649374178 monica ✨ romantasyreader 3 chaotically spoiler free

This is such a lower rating than what I wanted to give. I’m feeling stuck between 3-3.5, but I can’t give it higher than that. I rate my books based on enjoyment usually, and I decidedly did not enjoy this.

Violet & Xaden’s relationship gave me a headache. The action was great but aside from some reveals and fighting, nothing really happened I feel? I hated the introduction of some characters. We didn’t need more villainous characters. Where is the found family vibes I loved in book 1?! Everyone is keeping secrets I wanted to hang my head against the wall.

Listen, Rebecca did an amazing job foreshadowing. The action is totally there. But!!! I am just so sad about the ending. I can’t understand the choices made. I can’t see where this is going and how it’s going to get better. The lack of multiple povs is such a disservice.

I loved book 1 to the moon but this one? I’m disappointed. I’m sad.


•⿒⿒

It’s 1am and I need to digest. I don’t know how to rate this. How DARE Rebecca write that as an ending? I’m beyond mad.]]> 4.33 2023 Iron Flame (The Empyrean, #2)
author: Rebecca Yarros
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2023/11/08
date added: 2024/08/08
shelves: angsty, buddy-reads, enemies-to-lovers, fantasy-romance, forbidden-love, high-fantasy, morally-gray-mcs, wtf-the-ending, found-fam
review:
chaotically spoiler free

This is such a lower rating than what I wanted to give. I’m feeling stuck between 3-3.5, but I can’t give it higher than that. I rate my books based on enjoyment usually, and I decidedly did not enjoy this.

Violet & Xaden’s relationship gave me a headache. The action was great but aside from some reveals and fighting, nothing really happened I feel? I hated the introduction of some characters. We didn’t need more villainous characters. Where is the found family vibes I loved in book 1?! Everyone is keeping secrets I wanted to hang my head against the wall.

Listen, Rebecca did an amazing job foreshadowing. The action is totally there. But!!! I am just so sad about the ending. I can’t understand the choices made. I can’t see where this is going and how it’s going to get better. The lack of multiple povs is such a disservice.

I loved book 1 to the moon but this one? I’m disappointed. I’m sad.


•⿒⿒

It’s 1am and I need to digest. I don’t know how to rate this. How DARE Rebecca write that as an ending? I’m beyond mad.
]]> <![CDATA[Entangled (A Twisted Tale, #1)]]> 60905888
I fell in love with them thirty-five million heartbeats apart and an ocean away.

One shaped me at the scratch of a pen and the other remade me with the strum of a note.

And the truth is that I loved them both, desperately.

I never foresaw our worlds colliding. How the past and present would crash together and leave us with nothing but a blinding kaleidoscope of pain. How the threads of all of our fates were already so inextricably intertwined from the moment of those first meetings.

And maybe my selfishness is unforgivable… of being unable to choose.

But they were both selfish enough to love me too. Even when they shouldn’t have.

That’s what they don’t tell you about love though. That it can be a selfish thing, never ending in its demand for the infinity of that one person. Or, in my case, two.

And maybe that makes it okay… or maybe it just makes all of our actions all the more unforgivable.

Maybe we all should have been better.

I’ll let you decide.


*Entangled is book one of A Twisted Tale trilogy, which is a modern day retelling of Helen of Troy. It is new adult/contemporary romance and is recommended for 18+.*]]> 361 R. Phillips monica ✨ romantasyreader 4 "These stars of ours were written in darkness and bound with light. Ensuring my soul would seek yours for eternity. Forever lost to this captivating insanity of we."

I am stunned, gripped, enamored, OBSESSED.

Entangled is dual timeline first book in a 3-book series following El. She has a tragic past and doesn’t believe in love. Against her better judgment, she falls for two guys in two different timelines. Coop, the mysterious tattooed bad boy of her past, and Jace, the sunshine guitar playing sweet guy of her present.

This book is really character and romance driven with some elements of mystery and a dash of suspense. To say I’m gripped is an understatement. There are so many secrets and questions I NEED to know what’s going on. I also am loving the angst.

For the sake of spoilers, I don’t want to give too much away BUT

Read if you like
✨ angsty love triangles
✨ strong & sassy fmcs
✨ broody bad boy mmcs
✨ sunshine mmcs
✨ secrets and betrayals
✨ contemporary Helen of Troy retelling]]> 4.19 Entangled (A Twisted Tale, #1)
author: R. Phillips
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.19
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2023/06/23
date added: 2024/08/08
shelves: angsty, contemporary-romance, for-the-love-of-smut, love-triangle, retelling, small-town-romance, wtf-the-ending, romantic-suspense, found-fam
review:
"These stars of ours were written in darkness and bound with light. Ensuring my soul would seek yours for eternity. Forever lost to this captivating insanity of we."

I am stunned, gripped, enamored, OBSESSED.

Entangled is dual timeline first book in a 3-book series following El. She has a tragic past and doesn’t believe in love. Against her better judgment, she falls for two guys in two different timelines. Coop, the mysterious tattooed bad boy of her past, and Jace, the sunshine guitar playing sweet guy of her present.

This book is really character and romance driven with some elements of mystery and a dash of suspense. To say I’m gripped is an understatement. There are so many secrets and questions I NEED to know what’s going on. I also am loving the angst.

For the sake of spoilers, I don’t want to give too much away BUT

Read if you like
✨ angsty love triangles
✨ strong & sassy fmcs
✨ broody bad boy mmcs
✨ sunshine mmcs
✨ secrets and betrayals
✨ contemporary Helen of Troy retelling
]]> <![CDATA[Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1)]]> 61431922 Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders.

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 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 deadlier; 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.]]> 517 Rebecca Yarros 1649374046 monica ✨ romantasyreader 5 BEST BOOK I'VE READ IN 2023

Violet is being sent to her death.

Not really, but her chances of survival at the war college as a dragon rider candidate are slim to none. Yet at every seemingly insurmountable challenge, she preservers. While she's physically weak, she's the most cunning and most intelligent in her first year class. Watching her develop in her strength and confidence was SO SATISFYING.

The romance?? Enemies-to-lovers with a morally gray love interest? My bread and fucking butter. I ate up all the breadcrumbs and the slow burn was fucking DELICIOUS I can't even begin to describe how obsessed I am. The spice?? Electrifying (iykyk)

XadenViolet are perfection. Together and separately.

The world building, pacing, friendships, romance, action, violence, foreshadowing, every single aspect of this book was perfect. I was gripped the whole way through.

How am I supposed to survive until November????]]> 4.55 2023 Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1)
author: Rebecca Yarros
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.55
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/10/09
date added: 2024/08/08
shelves: angsty, enemies-to-lovers, fantasy-romance, forbidden-love, high-fantasy, morally-gray-mcs, slow-burn, wtf-the-ending, rereads-2023, found-fam
review:
BEST BOOK I'VE READ IN 2023

Violet is being sent to her death.

Not really, but her chances of survival at the war college as a dragon rider candidate are slim to none. Yet at every seemingly insurmountable challenge, she preservers. While she's physically weak, she's the most cunning and most intelligent in her first year class. Watching her develop in her strength and confidence was SO SATISFYING.

The romance?? Enemies-to-lovers with a morally gray love interest? My bread and fucking butter. I ate up all the breadcrumbs and the slow burn was fucking DELICIOUS I can't even begin to describe how obsessed I am. The spice?? Electrifying (iykyk)

XadenViolet are perfection. Together and separately.

The world building, pacing, friendships, romance, action, violence, foreshadowing, every single aspect of this book was perfect. I was gripped the whole way through.

How am I supposed to survive until November????
]]> <![CDATA[A False Start (Gold Rush Ranch, #4)]]> 59582214 I kissed my best friend’s little sister, and the world stood still.

That night we were two perfect strangers, the town’s grumpy recluse and a gorgeous girl in the back of a bar. Until we weren’t.

Because Nadia Dalca isn’t just some girl. She’s the girl I can’t have. Fourteen years younger than me and completely off-limits.

My plan is to stay away, but the universe keeps pushing us together. It’s like some sort of cosmic joke, to give me a taste of something so electric—so real—something that breathed life back into me.

Because I can look, but I can’t touch.

Her sinful curves, her light-hearted laughter, her wild side . . . I’m addicted to every last bit of her.

And when she turns those sultry eyes on me––the ones so full of longing and so free of judgement? I’ve always considered myself a strong man. But when she looks at me I’m weak.

To give in to our connection would be a betrayal. My life is beyond complicated, and she has the world at her fingertips. Her brother is the only family she has left, and sad as it sounds, he’s also my only friend.

But I kissed her again anyway.

And now I can’t stop.
]]> 404 Elsie Silver monica ✨ romantasyreader 4
I didn’t expect this book to be as emotional as it was! Griff & Nadia carry around guilt and shame like it’s their jobs. But they’re more than two damaged people who “heal” each other. They put in the WORK. I love when books have realistic mental health rep, and Elsie smashed it. (I’m not surprised.)

Read if you like
✨ small town romance
✨ fierce and firey fmcs
✨ grumpy “damaged” (I hate that word) mmcs
✨ opposites attract
✨ forced proximity
✨ age gap
✨ best friend’s sibling
✨ a guy who buys you a HORSE

I’m so sad to be leaving these characters behind. Stefan and Mira definitely take the cake for my favorite couple, but this series as a whole was such a fun read. ]]> 4.16 2022 A False Start (Gold Rush Ranch, #4)
author: Elsie Silver
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2023/02/05
date added: 2024/08/08
shelves: age-gap, all-the-feels, angsty, buddy-reads, contemporary-romance, forbidden-love, small-town-romance, found-fam
review:
Griffin & Nadia met when she was a reckless 19 year old kissing an idiot boy in the bar bathroom. After two years of avoidance and silence, they start interacting again on the ranch because of work. She’s his best friend’s little sister. Over a decade younger than him. There’s more than one reason they can’t be together, but when Nadia wants something, she gets it. And she wants him.

I didn’t expect this book to be as emotional as it was! Griff & Nadia carry around guilt and shame like it’s their jobs. But they’re more than two damaged people who “heal” each other. They put in the WORK. I love when books have realistic mental health rep, and Elsie smashed it. (I’m not surprised.)

Read if you like
✨ small town romance
✨ fierce and firey fmcs
✨ grumpy “damaged” (I hate that word) mmcs
✨ opposites attract
✨ forced proximity
✨ age gap
✨ best friend’s sibling
✨ a guy who buys you a HORSE

I’m so sad to be leaving these characters behind. Stefan and Mira definitely take the cake for my favorite couple, but this series as a whole was such a fun read.
]]> <![CDATA[Play With Me (Playing for Keeps, #2)]]> 62053325
Don’t touch my captain’s little sister.

Seems easy enough. She’s snarky and bossy and has a mouth like a sailor. Truthfully, I’m bordering on the edge of terrified when she’s around.

The problem is I’ve seen too much. Too much of her, inside and out. And now? Now I want more.

But she’s my best friend’s little sister, and nobody’s ever been as off limits as Jennie Beckett is to me.

Her collection of toys is impressive, but I plan on showing her how a real man can make her vibrate without all the batteries. These hands can handle a hockey stick; surely they can handle her.

C’mon, Jennie. Play with me.]]> 569 Becka Mack 1778133037 monica ✨ romantasyreader 4
“I’m so fucking tired of pretending.”
“Pretending what?”
“I’m so fucking tired of pretending I’m not in love with you.”

Play With Me is book 2 of the Vancouver hockey player series that follows Jennie, Carter’s younger sister, and Garett, Carter’s best friend.

This book, much like book 1, is entirely character driven with little to no plot. There’s some tension, but this book has way more angst than book 1. Garett is such a simp for Jennie, and I loved that. Jennie is prickly, sensitive, and strong. I really love the two of them together but as a whole book, I have to say I’m a little underwhelmed.

With the lack of plot, I had such a hard time keeping my attention with the book. It dragged and dragged and there wasn’t much of a climax. Honestly, my favorite parts were the Carter and Ollie cameos.

I’d still recommend this series and I cannot WAIT for Adam’s book. But I definitely didn’t love this one as much as the first one.]]> 4.28 2022 Play With Me (Playing for Keeps, #2)
author: Becka Mack
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2022/10/10
date added: 2024/08/08
shelves: all-the-feels, angsty, contemporary-romance, for-the-love-of-smut, sports-romance, slow-burn, fwb, found-fam
review:
3.5✨

“I’m so fucking tired of pretending.”
“Pretending what?”
“I’m so fucking tired of pretending I’m not in love with you.”

Play With Me is book 2 of the Vancouver hockey player series that follows Jennie, Carter’s younger sister, and Garett, Carter’s best friend.

This book, much like book 1, is entirely character driven with little to no plot. There’s some tension, but this book has way more angst than book 1. Garett is such a simp for Jennie, and I loved that. Jennie is prickly, sensitive, and strong. I really love the two of them together but as a whole book, I have to say I’m a little underwhelmed.

With the lack of plot, I had such a hard time keeping my attention with the book. It dragged and dragged and there wasn’t much of a climax. Honestly, my favorite parts were the Carter and Ollie cameos.

I’d still recommend this series and I cannot WAIT for Adam’s book. But I definitely didn’t love this one as much as the first one.
]]> That Sik Luv 122753589 Fornication is a sin.

As it reads, we should flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.

They teach us that these thoughts, these actions, are immoral. But that dark side that lives inside all of us, the true nature of man, drives us to seek the need that burns within, demanding to be set free. Deep inside of our bones lies that intrinsic need, one desperate to escape. An innate behavior, seemingly out of our control.

One that screams for sins they tell us are condemning.

Aero is the throat from which I scream.

The dark parts of myself I want hidden from this world are all he sees when he gazes at me beneath yet another mask.

He’s the demon drowning me in my own underlying desires.

He may never stop. Not until I succumb to my truths, or die beneath the weight of his unrelenting grasp.

Because according to him, the life I’ve been living is a hell far worse than death.]]> 496 Jescie Hall monica ✨ romantasyreader 4 3.98 2023 That Sik Luv
author: Jescie Hall
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/19
date added: 2024/08/04
shelves: angsty, contemporary-romance, dark-romance, for-the-love-of-smut, forbidden-love, romantic-suspense, taboo, morally-gray-mcs, stalker
review:
They are unhinged and that was wild lol
]]> Not Another Love Song 201627074 Two string players fight their attraction for each other as they compete for center stage in this spicy and emotional romance.

Gwen Jackson and Xander Thorne are both musical prodigies, but each has had very different paths to success. Xander was born into classical music royalty, while Gwen had a natural ear for music that was nurtured by a kind shop owner.

After Gwen performs at his friend’s wedding, she’s mortified when she realizes Xander has no clue who she is—despite having worked together for a year at the Pops Orchestra. But she’s more furious that he arrogantly critiques her performance.

When Gwen is offered the role of First Chair of the orchestra, something Xander had secretly coveted for years, their existing hostility goes up a notch. But their respect for each other's music is undeniable, and their onstage chemistry off the scale. As they begin to explore their feelings for one another, suddenly they're box office dynamite and the fragile romance that's growing between them is in danger of being crushed beneath a publicity stunt...]]> 384 Julie Soto 1538740915 monica ✨ romantasyreader 4
gwen and xander are circling each other as rivals in a nyc orchestra. he’s also the frontman for a band - thorne and roses - and is utterly unimpressed by everything. gwen is getting her footing after her promotion. but the two of them can’t stop coming back to each other.

I adored this book and ate it up in one sitting. gwen and xander were the angsty rivals I needed them to be!!! I loved the short additions of his pov and getting more in his head as he was straight falling on his face for gwen.

julie’s writing was stunning. from the nyc setting, I felt like I was walking the streets with these characters and on the subway (crying) with them. I know literally nothing about orchestras and music but julie’s writing let me feel like I wasn’t lost at all. it’s angsty, atmospheric and just so beautifully written.

my only complaint with this is the third act breakup. ffs why couldn’t they just HAVE A CONVERSATION. break ups because they can’t talk make me want to claw my eyes out. this one included. however the ending made up for it.

thank you so much to forever pub and netgalley for the arc!

read if you like
✨ rivals to lovers
✨ tension and angst
✨ broody obsessed mmc
✨ nyc setting]]> 4.03 2024 Not Another Love Song
author: Julie Soto
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/06
date added: 2024/07/16
shelves: arcs, netgalley, angsty, contemporary-romance
review:
happy release day!!

gwen and xander are circling each other as rivals in a nyc orchestra. he’s also the frontman for a band - thorne and roses - and is utterly unimpressed by everything. gwen is getting her footing after her promotion. but the two of them can’t stop coming back to each other.

I adored this book and ate it up in one sitting. gwen and xander were the angsty rivals I needed them to be!!! I loved the short additions of his pov and getting more in his head as he was straight falling on his face for gwen.

julie’s writing was stunning. from the nyc setting, I felt like I was walking the streets with these characters and on the subway (crying) with them. I know literally nothing about orchestras and music but julie’s writing let me feel like I wasn’t lost at all. it’s angsty, atmospheric and just so beautifully written.

my only complaint with this is the third act breakup. ffs why couldn’t they just HAVE A CONVERSATION. break ups because they can’t talk make me want to claw my eyes out. this one included. however the ending made up for it.

thank you so much to forever pub and netgalley for the arc!

read if you like
✨ rivals to lovers
✨ tension and angst
✨ broody obsessed mmc
✨ nyc setting
]]> <![CDATA[The Ever King (The Ever Seas #1)]]> 193558097 They stole his crown, so he stole their daughter…

For years Erik, the scarred king of the Ever Kingdom, has thought of nothing but vengeance against the man who killed his father and trapped him beneath the waves, making him a prisoner in his own realm.

Until his enemy’s daughter unintentionally breaks the chains on the Ever, and Erik makes her the unwitting pawn in his vicious game of revenge.

She’s innocent. He’s vicious. But he will take back what he lost, no matter the price.

Unless she steals his heart first.

Welcome to the passionate world of the Ever Kingdom where pirates, sirens, and fae collide with Vikings in a dark fantasy romance between a villain and the innocent princess who holds his heart.

*Please note: This series is set in the same world as the bestselling Broken Kingdoms series, but can be read independently, and readers are encouraged to read the list of triggers inside*]]> 408 L.J. Andrews monica ✨ romantasyreader 3
I don’t know what it is bc I LOVED pirates of the Caribbean when I was younger but no one ever compares to Elizabeth and Will???

Anyway this was fine. There was some yummy enemies to lovers tension in the beginning that quickly devolved into insta lust and I feel like the plot was so weak. The twist at the end was foreshadowed so glaringly I wasn’t shocked or excited whatsoever.

I probably won’t continue this series ]]> 4.07 2023 The Ever King (The Ever Seas #1)
author: L.J. Andrews
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/14
date added: 2024/07/15
shelves: angsty, bloody-pirates, dark-romance, enemies-to-lovers, fae, fantasy-romance, fated-mates, forbidden-love, morally-gray-mcs
review:
Okay I really don’t think I like pirate books lol

I don’t know what it is bc I LOVED pirates of the Caribbean when I was younger but no one ever compares to Elizabeth and Will???

Anyway this was fine. There was some yummy enemies to lovers tension in the beginning that quickly devolved into insta lust and I feel like the plot was so weak. The twist at the end was foreshadowed so glaringly I wasn’t shocked or excited whatsoever.

I probably won’t continue this series
]]> <![CDATA[Reckless (The Powerless Trilogy, #2)]]> 183086339
After swearing loyalty to his brother—Ilya's new king—Kai Azer's first mission as Enforcer is to hunt down the woman who killed their father. Even if that means pursuing Paedyn through the deadly Scorches and into the hostile city of Dor beyond.

But deep in a city without Elites, the balance between hunter and hunted shifts—and the battle between duty and desire can be deadly.]]> 396 Lauren Roberts monica ✨ romantasyreader 3

this suffered heavily from second book syndrome. like I know that we needed the healing arc for that cliffhanger but jfc was that slow. There were some blips of action but all of the tension came back from the recycled will they, won’t they from book 2. and to be frank, that cliffhanger makes actually zero sense.

paedyn in this one definitely bothered me. I feel like she didn’t have much of a motivation in this one except staying alive. so much of her motivation and drive last book was drawn from surviving the trials, and now without them it really felt one dimensional.

kai tbh is the loml. he is far more of an interesting character than paedyn is and I love him.

I have to give Lauren credit bc she def knows how to write banter and romantic tension. but again without the backdrop of the trials, this really fell flat for me.


however i’ll read the conclusion bc im a sucker. The cliffhanger literally makes no sense to me and I need to know why that was the chosen answer to everything????]]> 4.07 2024 Reckless (The Powerless Trilogy, #2)
author: Lauren Roberts
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/02
date added: 2024/07/03
shelves: angsty, enemies-to-lovers, fantasy-romance, high-fantasy, no-way-ya, wtf-the-ending
review:
What the actual fuck was that ending?!


this suffered heavily from second book syndrome. like I know that we needed the healing arc for that cliffhanger but jfc was that slow. There were some blips of action but all of the tension came back from the recycled will they, won’t they from book 2. and to be frank, that cliffhanger makes actually zero sense.

paedyn in this one definitely bothered me. I feel like she didn’t have much of a motivation in this one except staying alive. so much of her motivation and drive last book was drawn from surviving the trials, and now without them it really felt one dimensional.

kai tbh is the loml. he is far more of an interesting character than paedyn is and I love him.

I have to give Lauren credit bc she def knows how to write banter and romantic tension. but again without the backdrop of the trials, this really fell flat for me.


however i’ll read the conclusion bc im a sucker. The cliffhanger literally makes no sense to me and I need to know why that was the chosen answer to everything????
]]> <![CDATA[When Ashes Fall (Moments in Boston, #1)]]> 42730511
Dylan Cole is like ice, sharp and unpredictable, the thunder inside a tumultuous storm. Smith Reid is warmth, soft and gentle, perfect like a sunny day.

Both are mine. But I can have only one. There are two sides to this tale. I'm here to tell you mine.

If you think this story is about a cheater, you couldn’t be more wrong.]]> 324 Marni Mann monica ✨ romantasyreader 3 4.19 2019 When Ashes Fall (Moments in Boston, #1)
author: Marni Mann
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/30
date added: 2024/06/30
shelves: all-the-feels, angsty, contemporary-romance, love-triangle
review:
What in the actual heartbreak was that
]]> <![CDATA[Leather & Lark (The Ruinous Love Trilogy, #2)]]> 127611580  
And they can’t stand each other. 
 
Indie singer-songwriter Lark is the sunshine and glitter that burns through every cloud and clings to every crevice that Lachlan Kane tries to hide inside. The surly older brother of her best friend’s soulmate, Lachlan thinks she’s just a privileged princess, but Lark has plenty of secrets hiding in the shadows of her bright light. With her formidable family in a tailspin and her best friend’s happiness on the line, she’s willing to make a vow to the man she’s determined to hate, no matter how tempting the broody assassin might be. 

As Lachlan and Lark navigate the dark world that binds them together, it becomes impossible to discern their fake marriage from a real one. But it’s not just familiar dangers that haunt them. 
There’s another phantom lurking on their doorstep. 

And this one has come for blood.]]> 390 Brynne Weaver 0349441588 monica ✨ romantasyreader 3
marriage of convenience, a hit man x multiple deleter and grumpy x sunshine. by all means I should’ve loved this.

lachlan fell a little short for me. he was incredibly grumpy and I feel like there was a lack of character development for both him and lark. we never got closure for the two of them why she kills people, she never told her best friend WHO HAS LITERALLY KILLED FOR HER??? I just feel a bit underwhelmed with that characters. and for the plot… what plot? the villain was so meh to me. the climax did absolutely nothing for me as compared to b&b (I literally cried ok).

did I have fun? yes. was the slow burn torture? yes. but it didn’t live up to the same love I have for rowan and sloane.

I’m sat between a 3 and 3.5 rn. We’ll see if that sticks ]]> 3.98 2024 Leather & Lark (The Ruinous Love Trilogy, #2)
author: Brynne Weaver
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/04
date added: 2024/06/11
shelves: angsty, contemporary-romance, dark-romance, groveling-on-his-knees, grumpy-sunshine, marriage-of-convenience, morally-gray-mcs, rom-com, romantic-suspense, slow-burn
review:
not me lowering my rating…

marriage of convenience, a hit man x multiple deleter and grumpy x sunshine. by all means I should’ve loved this.

lachlan fell a little short for me. he was incredibly grumpy and I feel like there was a lack of character development for both him and lark. we never got closure for the two of them why she kills people, she never told her best friend WHO HAS LITERALLY KILLED FOR HER??? I just feel a bit underwhelmed with that characters. and for the plot… what plot? the villain was so meh to me. the climax did absolutely nothing for me as compared to b&b (I literally cried ok).

did I have fun? yes. was the slow burn torture? yes. but it didn’t live up to the same love I have for rowan and sloane.

I’m sat between a 3 and 3.5 rn. We’ll see if that sticks
]]> <![CDATA[What He Always Knew (What He Doesn't Know, #2)]]> 39281043 Kandi Steiner delivers a power-packed and utterly unforgettable romance in this Amazon Top 10 Bestseller. Left or right. It’s that simple, and it isn’t simple at all. If I turn left, the road will lead me back to the man I promised my life to, the one I’d imagined building a family with, the one who’s done everything in his power to get me back. If I turn right, the road will take me to the man I loved first, the man who brought me back to life, the man who would do anything to keep me. I knew the fork in the road was inevitable; it was the decision I never wanted to make between choices I didn't know I had. And I love them both. My heart is destined to exist in two equal halves — one with each man. But one half beats stronger, the vein running deepest, and holds my choice in silence long before I know it for myself. The realization of what I have to do, of the heart I have to break, just might break mine too. Left or right. All I have to do is take a breath and turn.]]> 323 Kandi Steiner monica ✨ romantasyreader 3 She picked the wrong guy lol 4.10 2018 What He Always Knew (What He Doesn't Know, #2)
author: Kandi Steiner
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/04
date added: 2024/06/04
shelves: angsty, contemporary-romance, forbidden-love, groveling-on-his-knees, love-triangle, morally-gray-mcs, second-chance, this-pissed-me-off, wtf-the-ending
review:
She picked the wrong guy lol
]]> <![CDATA[What He Doesn't Know (What He Doesn't Know, #1)]]> 39215944
The house was once magical, filled with love and joy and plans for the future.

Inside its walls are many things that belong to me — my books, the china from my mother on my wedding day, the beautiful cage once home to two birds, now empty, just like me.

And a man.

A man who also belongs to me.

A man I no longer wish to keep.

A man who, no doubt, has not slept, though the sun is rising. Because the house where he waits is where I laid my head to rest every night for eight years. Until last night.

No one who knows me would believe Charlie Pierce, the quiet, bookish girl who never made waves is pulling out of the driveway of a man who isn’t her husband.

But they don’t know me at all.

I don’t even know me.

Not anymore.

They say there are two sides to every story, and I suppose in most cases, that’s true. But the one I live inside of? It has three.

On the northeast side of town, there is a house.

But there is no longer a home.]]> 320 Kandi Steiner 1985636689 monica ✨ romantasyreader 3
And I do not. But I need to know who she ends up with so I’m gonna keep reading ]]> 3.91 2018 What He Doesn't Know (What He Doesn't Know, #1)
author: Kandi Steiner
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2024/05/30
date added: 2024/05/31
shelves: angsty, contemporary-romance, forbidden-love, friends-to-lovers, love-triangle, morally-gray-mcs, slow-burn
review:
Kandi really loves the cheating trope lol

And I do not. But I need to know who she ends up with so I’m gonna keep reading
]]> Hideaway (Devil's Night, #2) 178814974
Buried in the shadows of the city, there’s an abandoned hotel called The Pope, surrounded by a mystery about the hidden twelfth floor and the guest who never checked out. Banks knows the local legend, but Kai Mori believes the myth around the hotel. He and his friends think they know her, think they can scare her, but Banks knows something they don’t. Even though she struggles to hide everything she feels when Kai looks at her, the person he seeks is much closer than he’ll ever realize.

She’ll never reveal her secret. This Devil’s Night, Kai will be the hunted one.  

But Banks doesn’t know what Kai had to turn into to survive three years in prison. He wants the hotel, its guest, and his life back. But the more he’s around Banks, the more Kai realizes this new version of himself is exactly who he was meant to be.

Kai’s seen her hideaway. It’s time for Banks to see his.]]> 512 Penelope Douglas 0593642015 monica ✨ romantasyreader 2
literally felt like she wanted him more than the mmc the whole book and it gave me the ick. I’m pausing this series bc no thanks. ]]> 4.03 2017 Hideaway (Devil's Night, #2)
author: Penelope Douglas
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2017
rating: 2
read at: 2024/04/14
date added: 2024/04/14
shelves: angsty, contemporary-romance, dark-romance, forbidden-love, morally-gray-mcs, romantic-suspense, slow-burn
review:
… why was I convinced that the fmc wanted to fuck her brother the whole time?

literally felt like she wanted him more than the mmc the whole book and it gave me the ick. I’m pausing this series bc no thanks.
]]> Corrupt (Devil's Night, #1) 153747889  
Erika Fane’s boyfriend's older brother is handsome, strong, and completely terrifying. The star of his college's basketball team gone pro, he's more concerned with the dirt on his shoe than he is with her. But she saw him. She heard him. The things that he did, and the deeds that he hid...
 
For years, Erika bit her nails, unable to look away. Now, she’s in college, but she hasn’t stopped watching him. He’s bad and the things she’s seen aren’t content to stay in her head anymore.
 
Because he's finally noticed her.
 
But Michael Crist knows the hold he has on Rika, how much she fears him. She looks down when he enters the room and stills when he’s close. He knows she thinks only of him. When Michael’s brother leaves for the military, leaving Rika alone and unprotected, he knows the opportunity is too good to be true. 

Three years ago she put Michael’s friends in prison, and now they’re free.  

Every last one of her nightmares is about to come true.]]> 496 Penelope Douglas 0593642007 monica ✨ romantasyreader 3 3.84 2015 Corrupt (Devil's Night, #1)
author: Penelope Douglas
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2024/04/13
date added: 2024/04/13
shelves: for-the-love-of-smut, contemporary-romance, morally-gray-mcs, rereads-2024, angsty, dark-romance, enemies-to-lovers
review:
I reread this to get to the later books because I’ve heard good things (I remembered nothing) and to relive the steam room scene.
]]> Alone With You in the Ether 54208009
Everything else, however, is slightly different.

Both obsessive, eccentric personalities, Aldo Damiani and Charlotte Regan struggle to be without each other from the moment they meet. The truth—that he is a clinically depressed, anti-social theoretician and she is a manipulative liar with a history of self-sabotage—means the deeper they fall in love, the more troubling their reliance on each other becomes.

An intimate study of time and space, ALONE WITH YOU IN THE ETHER is a fantasy writer's magicless glimpse into the nature of love, what it means to be unwell, and how to face the fractures of yourself and still love as if you're not broken.]]> 248 Olivie Blake monica ✨ romantasyreader 5 3.99 2020 Alone With You in the Ether
author: Olivie Blake
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/11
date added: 2024/04/11
shelves: all-the-feels, angsty, contemporary-romance, top-tier-book, rereads-2024
review:

]]> Reckless Promises 201013362
Sold…
One word seals my fate.

I’m sold to the highest bidder to settle my father’s debts, and now I’m at the mercy of a mafia prince.

Cillian is gorgeous. Heartless. Deadly.

And I’m his revenge.

There’s only one problem… Cillian isn’t the only one seeking vengeance. I’ve been chained and shackled long enough.

So when Cillian threatens to burn my family to the ground if I disobey him, I can’t help but hand him the matches.

CILLIAN

Bought…
I wanted revenge so I bought it.

And now Odette is mine.

It’s not her fault her father placed her on the auction block when I was looking for something of his to break. But he handed me his prized possession. And to ruin him—I’ll start with her.

Odette can fight me, she can resist, she can beg. She’ll learn to play her part in this game.

Except one taste of her fire, and all my rules break.

I vowed ‘til death.
And for her, I’ll do anything.]]> 339 Eva Simmons monica ✨ romantasyreader 2
there were some missing things for me like AFTERCARE!!! also it was so insta-lovey and fast paced I couldn’t believe they fell that fast. ]]> 4.06 Reckless Promises
author: Eva Simmons
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.06
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2024/03/20
date added: 2024/03/22
shelves: angsty, contemporary-romance, dark-romance, enemies-to-lovers, for-the-love-of-smut, mafia, morally-gray-mcs, insta-lovey, he-got-money
review:
I thought I liked this and then 2 days later I’m like did I actually???

there were some missing things for me like AFTERCARE!!! also it was so insta-lovey and fast paced I couldn’t believe they fell that fast.
]]> <![CDATA[City of Lies and Legends (House of Devils, #3)]]> 199420593  
When he hears rumors of the one place in Terra that houses a secret that just might bring her back to him, he drops everything to try it, leaving behind the city he grew up in and the people he calls family. His decision sets his best friend Maximus Reacher onto a road of his own—one no less dangerous than Darien’s as he unearths the secrets of his past, uncovering a multitude of lies and legends better left buried. 
 
Meanwhile, in the historic city of Yveswich, Roman Devlin of the House of Black gets tangled up with a shapeshifting Selkie of the Riptide, a member of a rival Darkslaying house and a thorn in his side. Shay Cousens is a pickpocket with endless tricks up her sleeve—and if Roman isn’t careful, she might succeed at stealing both his wallet and his heart as they work together to find her missing sister. Their path will lead them not just to Angelthene, but also into the dark secrets of the Phoenix Head Society—and the restorative body of water that has the power to cleave their world in two.

Loyalties are tested, and worlds collide in City of Lies and Legends, the third installment in the House of Devils series.]]> 778 Kayla Edwards monica ✨ romantasyreader 2
But when a book series is expanding the literal world, lore, magic system, villains, etc, I just couldn’t keep up with all of those additions AND more povs. It was so choppy and I kept getting whiplash and wishing I was with different characters in certain povs. While it felt fast paced at times, I really slogged through it.

I think I’m going to take a break from this series until it’s complete bc these cliffies are killing me.

I received an arc for an honest review.]]> 4.43 2024 City of Lies and Legends (House of Devils, #3)
author: Kayla Edwards
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/03/08
date added: 2024/03/21
shelves: arcs, angsty, dark-romance, demons, enemies-to-lovers, fantasy-romance, forbidden-love, high-fantasy, morally-gray-mcs, spooky, urban-fantasy
review:
I feel like I’m in the minority here.

But when a book series is expanding the literal world, lore, magic system, villains, etc, I just couldn’t keep up with all of those additions AND more povs. It was so choppy and I kept getting whiplash and wishing I was with different characters in certain povs. While it felt fast paced at times, I really slogged through it.

I think I’m going to take a break from this series until it’s complete bc these cliffies are killing me.

I received an arc for an honest review.
]]> <![CDATA[Between Love and Loathing (The Hardy Billionaire Brothers, #2)]]> 123446478
Dominic Hardy might be an award-winning architectural engineer with fancy degrees and considerable accolades, but he doesn’t know a thing about baking.
He doesn’t even like sugar.
So when my late stepfather’s will states that Dominic Hardy is set to inherit the Pacific Coast Resort he’d painstakingly designed, as long as my bakery can be plopped in the middle of it, it’s no surprise he balks.
And my jaw drops when another stipulation requires us to mutually approve plans for my bakery’s design.
His stuffy taste will never mix with my whimsical vibe.

But then Dominic comes to me with a proposal I can’t refuse. He’ll give me everything I want in my bakery as long as I agree to one thing:

Fake date him for five months.
Keep his ex away by pretending we’re in love.
Smile and stare into his piercing green eyes at a gala or two.
Maybe share a kiss.
Nothing extreme.
Five months of acting in love when I really loathe him and his filthy mouth.
Even when he’s using it on me.

This should be a cakewalk.
Except there’s a fine line between love and loathing, and I think I’ve made the colossal mistake of blurring it.]]> 395 Shain Rose 1956810153 monica ✨ romantasyreader 4
This is a super spicy, insta-lovey, fake dating billionaire romance.

I enjoyed the chronic illness rep a lot. Dom was hot af. There isn’t much plot but I still had a good time.

Thank you page and vine for the gifted copy! ]]> 3.89 2023 Between Love and Loathing (The Hardy Billionaire Brothers, #2)
author: Shain Rose
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/03/21
date added: 2024/03/21
shelves: angsty, contemporary-romance, enemies-to-lovers, fake-dating, for-the-love-of-smut, insta-lovey, workplace-romance, he-got-money
review:
Well that was fun.

This is a super spicy, insta-lovey, fake dating billionaire romance.

I enjoyed the chronic illness rep a lot. Dom was hot af. There isn’t much plot but I still had a good time.

Thank you page and vine for the gifted copy!
]]> <![CDATA[The Way I Hate Him (Almond Bay, #1)]]> 162479003
After failing my last semester for my masters degree, I decided to come back to my hometown of Almond Bay and wallow in self pity while my boyfriend told me everything was going to be okay. To my dismay, instead of open arms, he greeted me with a box to move my things.

Now I'm not a petty person, but when he told me he broke up with me because I was boring, there's only so much of the higher road I can take. Hence the box of memorabilia I took from him.

The plan? To give it back to his boss, who happens to be my brother's nemesis, and get the ex fired. But plans never go the way you want them, because instead of dropping off the box with a note, I'm pinned with the crime by Hayes Farrow himself.

And because my life is so pathetic, he gives me two options: turn me into the police and press full charges or . . . work it off. How could I possibly work for someone I can't stand? Easy, I don't look good in orange.

But working for Hayes isn't as horrible as I thought it would be. The hate I had for him begins to turn into something else - something deeper, something I never thought I'd feel.

Unfortunately there are still old grudges and family drama to deal with. And what happens when my brother finds out that I'm working for the guy he hates more than anyone else in the world? Will I be able to follow my heart or will the way I hate him blind me from the love I feel?]]> 528 Meghan Quinn 1959442090 monica ✨ romantasyreader 4 4.01 2023 The Way I Hate Him (Almond Bay, #1)
author: Meghan Quinn
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/03/17
date added: 2024/03/17
shelves: angsty, contemporary-romance, enemies-to-lovers, forbidden-love, small-town-romance
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Butcher & Blackbird (The Ruinous Love Trilogy, #1)]]> 196864520

The viral TikTok friends-to-lovers dark romantic comedy full of murder, chaos, and spice—unlike anything you’ve read before—now available in all bookstores.


When a chance encounter sparks an unlikely bond between rival murderers Sloane and Rowan, the two find something elusive—the friendship of like-minded, pitch-black souls. From small town West Virginia to upscale California, from downtown Boston to rural Texas, the two hunters collide in an annual game of blood and suffering, one that pits them against the most dangerous monsters in the country.


But as their friendship develops into something more, the restless ghosts left in their wake are only a few steps behind, ready to claim more than just their newfound love. Can Rowan and Sloane dig themselves out of a game of graves? Or have they finally met their match?

]]> 360 Brynne Weaver monica ✨ romantasyreader 5
this book was hysterical. I laughed out loud multiple times. the twists, turns, and suspense had me clutching my pears and I was so engaged I couldn’t put it down. the romance? the spice? and again THE BANTER absolute perfection.]]> 3.99 2023 Butcher & Blackbird (The Ruinous Love Trilogy, #1)
author: Brynne Weaver
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/06
date added: 2024/03/14
shelves: angsty, contemporary-romance, dark-romance, morally-gray-mcs, rom-com, spooky, top-tier-book, romantic-suspense
review:
tbh I was so wary when I read the tw (brynne tysm for ruining a certain flavor of ice cream for me!! and mandolins. I’ll never be the same.) but if you’re on the fence because of them pls give it a chance.

this book was hysterical. I laughed out loud multiple times. the twists, turns, and suspense had me clutching my pears and I was so engaged I couldn’t put it down. the romance? the spice? and again THE BANTER absolute perfection.
]]> Brutal Obsession 60653182 He shattered my leg, and now he wants to ruin the rest of me.

Greyson Devereux is a menace–but only to me.
To everyone else, he’s charismatic.
He’s the son of a senator and the star of the university’s hockey team.

When all I want is to be invisible, he drags me into the spotlight.
He wants my blood, my fear, my attention.

Resisting him only worsens his obsession.
Fighting solidifies it.

He’s brutal, and he draws out a sick darkness in me that enjoys it.
But I’ll be damned if I let him become my downfall.]]> 600 S. Massery monica ✨ romantasyreader 4 3.84 2022 Brutal Obsession
author: S. Massery
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/03/12
date added: 2024/03/12
shelves: angsty, contemporary-romance, dark-romance, enemies-to-lovers, for-the-love-of-smut, reformed-fboy, sports-romance, morally-gray-mcs
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Controversial Princess (The Smoke & Mirrors Duology, #1)]]> 37550331
She is The Controversial Princess.

Regarded as down to earth by the press and rebellious by The King, Princess Adeline refuses to bow to the royal expectations her title carries. She knows better than anyone that the united front of the royal family is nothing but smoke and mirrors - lies and secrets masked by power and privilege. She wants no part of it, and she will never surrender to The King’s demand to marry a man she does not love. But despite Adeline’s determination to retain her free will, she remains deeply unfulfilled, feeling caged and suffocated.

That is until she meets Josh Jameson. Drawn in by his confidence, Adeline is soon captivated by the scandalously sexy American actor. His ability to penetrate her defences overwhelms her - his touch is pure fire, and his allure overpowering. Nothing has ever made her feel so alive in a world where she’s otherwise slowly drowning. However, while Josh may be Hollywood royalty, he’s not actual royalty, and Adeline knows The King and his advisors will do everything in their power to keep them apart.

But Josh Jameson becomes the princess’s ultimate vice.

And although she bows to no one, she bows to him.]]> 400 Jodi Ellen Malpas 0996781811 monica ✨ romantasyreader 4 4.15 2018 The Controversial Princess (The Smoke & Mirrors Duology, #1)
author: Jodi Ellen Malpas
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2024/03/03
date added: 2024/03/03
shelves: angsty, contemporary-romance, for-the-love-of-smut, forbidden-love, insta-lovey
review:

]]> Bound (A Twisted Tale #2) 62886954
Everything in life has a price.

Nothing is ever freely gifted. The universe always comes, whether in the brightest, cheek-aching second of the day or the darkest, most plaintive hour of the night, to collect its payment. To rattle and shake your world. To slither into the illusion of Eden painted by strokes of lies and deceit.

And I had left the door open for it, welcoming the thief into my house to steal what was dearest to me.

Even if I had done every unthinkable, irrational, detestable thing to prevent it.

To fight the inevitable loss of the base mistake I had made. The princess that was never supposed to be mine. The deception that had slowly bled darkness into my soul. Eating away at the back of my mind in a cackling mockery. Throttling my throat with the words I had chosen not to speak.

Because the love I had found, the one I had never expected, never foreseen, was a tale I had woven full of lies to keep.

There was always a price. For everyone, in everything. Innocent and guilty alike.
And now I’d learned mine.
But what would theirs be?

*Bound is book two in A Twisted Tale trilogy, which is a modern day retelling of Helen of Troy. It is new adult/contemporary romance and is recommended for 18+. This trilogy must be read in order.*]]> 389 R. Phillips monica ✨ romantasyreader 5
This book destroyed me. I’m so unwell rn.

After the insane cliffy in book 1 (rip to my heart), this book starts off right after. El is torn even further apart by both Jace and Cooper and my heart literally couldn’t take. Their all-consuming love is

Merged review:

WHAAAAAAT THE ACTUAL FUCK??!

This book destroyed me. I’m so unwell rn.

After the insane cliffy in book 1 (rip to my heart), this book starts off right after. El is torn even further apart by both Jace and Cooper and my heart literally couldn’t take. Their all-consuming love is

Merged review:

WHAAAAAAT THE ACTUAL FUCK??!

This book destroyed me. I’m so unwell rn.

After the insane cliffy in book 1 (rip to my heart), this book starts off right after. El is torn even further apart by both Jace and Cooper and my heart literally couldn’t take. Their all-consuming love is]]> 4.27 Bound (A Twisted Tale #2)
author: R. Phillips
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.27
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2023/06/24
date added: 2024/02/21
shelves: all-the-feels, angsty, contemporary-romance, for-the-love-of-smut, love-triangle, morally-gray-mcs, retelling, wtf-the-ending, romantic-suspense
review:
WHAAAAAAT THE ACTUAL FUCK??!

This book destroyed me. I’m so unwell rn.

After the insane cliffy in book 1 (rip to my heart), this book starts off right after. El is torn even further apart by both Jace and Cooper and my heart literally couldn’t take. Their all-consuming love is

Merged review:

WHAAAAAAT THE ACTUAL FUCK??!

This book destroyed me. I’m so unwell rn.

After the insane cliffy in book 1 (rip to my heart), this book starts off right after. El is torn even further apart by both Jace and Cooper and my heart literally couldn’t take. Their all-consuming love is

Merged review:

WHAAAAAAT THE ACTUAL FUCK??!

This book destroyed me. I’m so unwell rn.

After the insane cliffy in book 1 (rip to my heart), this book starts off right after. El is torn even further apart by both Jace and Cooper and my heart literally couldn’t take. Their all-consuming love is
]]> Fractured (A Twisted Tale #3) 75858375
What is a life?

A collection of memories? A series of glorious highs and heartrending lows? Is it a purpose, cumulative or singular? Or is it something more? Something beyond what is tangible or immaterial?

Something beyond even what is found within us.

Is it a million little touches? A thousand laughing smiles? Hundreds of shed tears and dozens of stolen kisses on a few desperate sighs?

Is it the thread of yourself that you leave behind in those around you? The lives you’re unknowingly fated to change simply by existing.

A single moment of entanglement, forever binding the invisible matter of souls, until you’re so much a part of each other that there’s no chance of ever being the same. Even if you’re fathomless miles apart. Even if one’s gone while the other lingers. Even if the very love you hold is the thing that breaks you eternally.

Leaving pieces scattered like notes somewhere among the songs of your life until it’s all played together in one crashing crescendo of melody.

The final version of this forever fractured story.

*Fractured is book three in A Twisted Tale trilogy, which is a modern day retelling of Helen of Troy. It is new adult/contemporary romance and is recommended for 18+. This trilogy must be read in order.*]]> 437 R. Phillips monica ✨ romantasyreader 4
Coop, Jace, & El are gonna stick with me for such a long time. Their journey is emotional, angsty, painful, and so so beautiful. I can’t recommend this series enough

Merged review:

This book teared my heart apart and (mostly) put it back together again. I love these characters, this world, the writing so so much.

Coop, Jace, & El are gonna stick with me for such a long time. Their journey is emotional, angsty, painful, and so so beautiful. I can’t recommend this series enough

Merged review:

This book teared my heart apart and (mostly) put it back together again. I love these characters, this world, the writing so so much.

Coop, Jace, & El are gonna stick with me for such a long time. Their journey is emotional, angsty, painful, and so so beautiful. I can’t recommend this series enough]]> 3.93 Fractured (A Twisted Tale #3)
author: R. Phillips
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 3.93
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/01
date added: 2024/02/21
shelves: all-the-feels, angsty, contemporary-romance, dark-romance, love-triangle, morally-gray-mcs, small-town-romance, romantic-suspense
review:
This book teared my heart apart and (mostly) put it back together again. I love these characters, this world, the writing so so much.

Coop, Jace, & El are gonna stick with me for such a long time. Their journey is emotional, angsty, painful, and so so beautiful. I can’t recommend this series enough

Merged review:

This book teared my heart apart and (mostly) put it back together again. I love these characters, this world, the writing so so much.

Coop, Jace, & El are gonna stick with me for such a long time. Their journey is emotional, angsty, painful, and so so beautiful. I can’t recommend this series enough

Merged review:

This book teared my heart apart and (mostly) put it back together again. I love these characters, this world, the writing so so much.

Coop, Jace, & El are gonna stick with me for such a long time. Their journey is emotional, angsty, painful, and so so beautiful. I can’t recommend this series enough
]]> <![CDATA[Icebound (Boundless Players, #1)]]> 179934738
With a thigh tattoo that’s catnip for women and a wicked smirk that needs a warning label, everyone flocks to the NHL’s resident bad boy. Sure, Rhode accidentally set a yacht on fire while bringing a woman to the brink of ecstasy, but that happened over a decade ago. Now, at thirty-three, Rhode’s searching for something real. He’s ready to get down on one knee for the right person, but he has one rule—no dating anyone under thirty.

Philomena “Nina” Alstyne has sworn off men who look like fallen angels on skates.

The feisty art student is done molding herself to fit someone else’s life after her relationship fiasco. At twenty-two, Nina’s last semester of college is about her pottery dreams. Except, when one fateful accident forces Nina into a faux situationship with Nashville’s (Supposed) Naughtiest, all her curated plans crumble like a fragile sculpture.

Rhode falls first, and he falls hard.

There’s only one problem… Rhode thinks he’s fake dating a thirty-year-old doctor. As secrets get revealed, his biggest temptation quickly becomes off-limits, but Nina soon realizes the cross-stitching cat daddy is what the chaos in her soul craves—and Nina’s fiery passion might burn hot enough to melt Rhode’s icy boundaries.]]> 378 Meredith Trapp monica ✨ romantasyreader 3
it follows nina, a college art student, and rhode, a reforming playboy goalie. there is next to no plot aside from them gearing up from one event where they decide to fake date.

I think for me this didn’t work because it was so so overly tropey. I know nowadays that’s how most authors and people in the book space tend to talk about books (even me, I include them in my reviews!) but this one leaned way too heavily on the extensive list of tropes the author posts about. not only did it feel like this, but the book was so over-written. I started counting how many metaphors she used, but then lost track after counting 3 on one page. it was over-written and flowery to the point I was rolling my eyes.

in terms of the characters, rhode was so caught up with being older than her (I think it was like 10 years?) and her still being in college WITH HIS BABY SISTER. Idk, age gaps sometimes do it for me but when there’s a heavy inner strife about it and one is still in school? It’s a no for me, even with how “mature” nina was.

the mental health rep was pretty good. I liked the side characters and I’d be interested to see rhodes’ two friends’ books tbh. if she can cut it out with the metaphors.

thank you to the author and love notes pr for the arc in exchange for an honest review. It’s out now in ku.]]> 3.80 2024 Icebound (Boundless Players, #1)
author: Meredith Trapp
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/02/07
date added: 2024/02/21
shelves: arcs, age-gap, college, contemporary-romance, sports-romance, angsty, fake-dating
review:
as a self-proclaimed sports romance girlie (with hockey being my fav), I’m so disappointed I didn’t love this debut.

it follows nina, a college art student, and rhode, a reforming playboy goalie. there is next to no plot aside from them gearing up from one event where they decide to fake date.

I think for me this didn’t work because it was so so overly tropey. I know nowadays that’s how most authors and people in the book space tend to talk about books (even me, I include them in my reviews!) but this one leaned way too heavily on the extensive list of tropes the author posts about. not only did it feel like this, but the book was so over-written. I started counting how many metaphors she used, but then lost track after counting 3 on one page. it was over-written and flowery to the point I was rolling my eyes.

in terms of the characters, rhode was so caught up with being older than her (I think it was like 10 years?) and her still being in college WITH HIS BABY SISTER. Idk, age gaps sometimes do it for me but when there’s a heavy inner strife about it and one is still in school? It’s a no for me, even with how “mature” nina was.

the mental health rep was pretty good. I liked the side characters and I’d be interested to see rhodes’ two friends’ books tbh. if she can cut it out with the metaphors.

thank you to the author and love notes pr for the arc in exchange for an honest review. It’s out now in ku.
]]> The Romance Recipe 58314356 A fiery restaurant owner falls for her enigmatic head chef in this charming, emotional romance

Amy Chambers: restaurant owner, micromanager, control freak.

Amy will do anything to revive her ailing restaurant, including hiring a former reality-show finalist with good connections and a lot to prove. But her hopes that Sophie’s skills and celebrity status would bring her restaurant back from the brink of failure are beginning to wane…

Sophie Brunet: grump in the kitchen/sunshine in the streets, took thirty years to figure out she was queer.

Sophie just wants to cook. She doesn’t want to constantly post on social media for her dead-in-the-water reality TV career, she doesn’t want to deal with Amy’s take-charge personality and she doesn’t want to think about what her attraction to her boss might mean…

Then, an opportunity: a new foodie TV show might provide the exposure they need. An uneasy truce is fine for starters, but making their dreams come true means making some personal and painful sacrifices and soon, there’s more than just the restaurant at stake.

Carina Adores is home to romantic love stories where LGBTQ+ characters find their happily-ever-afters.]]> 304 Ruby Barrett 1335506918 monica ✨ romantasyreader 4
full rtc]]> 3.57 2022 The Romance Recipe
author: Ruby Barrett
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/02/19
date added: 2024/02/19
shelves: angsty, contemporary-romance, cozy-reads, queer, rom-com, workplace-romance
review:
ok so ruby is a new fav author

full rtc
]]> <![CDATA[Stand and Defend (Lakes Hockey, #4)]]> 203510383 Jordana

I live my life head over heart and never rock the boat. Which is how I wound up engaged to Bryan Davenport—the biggest mistake I ever made. We were a power couple, but no one knew how cruel he could be behind closed doors. When I decide to leave, my fiancé shows just how ruthless he can be and sends me running to the last person I expected: his best man.

Camden Teller is a cocky, selfish, womanizing, daredevil—and my new favorite person. Who knew a bad boy would be such a good influence? For the first time, I’m breaking rules and living unapologetically. Our unexpected camaraderie quickly morphs into a no-strings arrangement, which I don’t mind, because even though he’s become my closest friend, he’ll never be my type.

Camden

I may be the new Minnesota Lakes hockey captain, but I’ll always be Banksy on the ice. Over my career, I’ve been in countless fights, being protective is part of my nature, so when the beautiful Jordana Landry shows up with nowhere to go, I don’t hesitate. Unfortunately, she’s also sophisticated, polite, and educated, which would be fine, except I’ve got a corruption kink.

The more we hangout, the closer we get—and the harder it is to resist each other. Until we stop resisting. I never sleep with the same woman twice, but once with her will never be enough. However, it’s not long before I realize she’s not as innocent as she lets on. Jordan says I’m not her type… but she’s exactly mine.

Please check triggers before reading]]> 458 Sloane St. James monica ✨ romantasyreader 4
jordan is such a bad ass fmc. she’s strong and sassy, which is my fav. camden is the former playboy turned boy obsessed. he’s also her fiercest protector and I loved that about him. not only is the spice top tier, but there’s mortal peril and a dash of suspense. I ate this up in one sitting and loved every second.

thank you so much for an arc Sloane! I can’t wait for what’s next ]]> 4.26 2024 Stand and Defend (Lakes Hockey, #4)
author: Sloane St. James
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/27
date added: 2024/02/12
shelves: arcs, contemporary-romance, reformed-fboy, sports-romance, angsty, for-the-love-of-smut
review:
jordan & camden are here!! this is the last book in the lakes hockey series and I’m so sad it’s over. after jordan catches her slimy fiancé cheating on her, camden decides to help her out. she needed a place to stay, and he has the space. but they didn’t expect to have a roommates turned friends with benefits situationship. and camden didn’t expect to fall first and so hard.

jordan is such a bad ass fmc. she’s strong and sassy, which is my fav. camden is the former playboy turned boy obsessed. he’s also her fiercest protector and I loved that about him. not only is the spice top tier, but there’s mortal peril and a dash of suspense. I ate this up in one sitting and loved every second.

thank you so much for an arc Sloane! I can’t wait for what’s next
]]> <![CDATA[When Heroes Fall (Anti-Heroes in Love, #1)]]> 48714414 I am the villain of my own story...

Jilted by my fiance.
A disappointment to my family.
Haunted by my childhood traumas.
I felt so much all my life that I resolved to feeling nothing at all.

Until I met my match.

As the most infamous mafioso of the 21st century, Dante Salvatore was madly passionate, unequivocally bad, and entirely too dangerous to know. He was everything I abhorred, yet I found myself representing him in the biggest criminal trial of the decade.

I was so focused on winning and achieving the success I deserved that I didn't notice the gorgeous black-eyed man's effect on me until it was too late. My icy heart had been held too close to his flame and now I wouldn't let Dante go down without fighting with everything I had in me.

Even if the cost of a new life with him meant the loss of my old life and everything I thought I held dear.]]> 508 Giana Darling monica ✨ romantasyreader 4
full rtc]]> 3.94 2021 When Heroes Fall (Anti-Heroes in Love, #1)
author: Giana Darling
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/02/11
date added: 2024/02/11
shelves: age-gap, angsty, contemporary-romance, dark-romance, enemies-to-lovers, forbidden-love, morally-gray-mcs, romantic-suspense, slow-burn
review:
UH I loved this?????

full rtc
]]> <![CDATA[Her Greatest Mistake (Greatest Love #1)]]> 86545882
No. Not this time. One bad call and I’m the poster boy for bad decisions.

I haven’t seen my childhood best friend since the day her father betrayed me and she broke my heart. Now, eight years later, she’s back. And she’s my new fake girlfriend for the next three months.

Some wounds never heal, and the moment I see Braxton Heights, I know mine have not. But she’s the only shot I have at saving my reputation and securing my new deal, and while I might have lost her all those years ago, I refuse to lose hockey.

I just hope I’m strong enough not to fall for her all over again in the process.]]> 382 Hannah Cowan 199080411X monica ✨ romantasyreader 5
Loved this so much on the reread (via audio) ~


Maddox and Braxton grabbed me by the throat and didn’t let go.

Growing up, the two of them were best friends. And also secretly in love with each other, but spent their whole friendship pining for one another. When stuff goes down with Maddox’s NHL contract, Braxton flees Vancouver. 8 years later, she’s back, and Maddox needs her help. In the form of fake dating to save his image.

I LOVED THIS BOOK!!! The pining, the angstttttt, THE NO THIRD ACT BREAKUP. Please couldn’t be better. Maddox is possessive, and has a mouth on him like no other. Braxton is a confident, sassy, business-owning vet. The two of them have spent years nursing their broken hearts. Braxton has the opportunity to make it right and boyyyy does she. I also adored the short chapters of their childhood. It gave so much more meaning to what they were going through as adults.

Read if you like
✨ hockey romances
✨ fake dating
✨ childhood best friends to strangers to lovers
✨ pining and (a lil) angst
✨ lovable side characters
✨ plus size rep

This is a second gen to the Swift Hat Trick trilogy, which is complete and on KU. But it can be read as a stand-alone. Thank you so much to Hannah for an arc of this! It’s out now <3]]> 3.54 2023 Her Greatest Mistake (Greatest Love #1)
author: Hannah Cowan
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/02/01
date added: 2024/02/01
shelves: sports-romance, angsty, arcs, contemporary-romance, fake-dating, friends-to-lovers, second-chance, slow-burn, rereads-2024
review:
Maddox Hutton >>>>>

Loved this so much on the reread (via audio) ~


Maddox and Braxton grabbed me by the throat and didn’t let go.

Growing up, the two of them were best friends. And also secretly in love with each other, but spent their whole friendship pining for one another. When stuff goes down with Maddox’s NHL contract, Braxton flees Vancouver. 8 years later, she’s back, and Maddox needs her help. In the form of fake dating to save his image.

I LOVED THIS BOOK!!! The pining, the angstttttt, THE NO THIRD ACT BREAKUP. Please couldn’t be better. Maddox is possessive, and has a mouth on him like no other. Braxton is a confident, sassy, business-owning vet. The two of them have spent years nursing their broken hearts. Braxton has the opportunity to make it right and boyyyy does she. I also adored the short chapters of their childhood. It gave so much more meaning to what they were going through as adults.

Read if you like
✨ hockey romances
✨ fake dating
✨ childhood best friends to strangers to lovers
✨ pining and (a lil) angst
✨ lovable side characters
✨ plus size rep

This is a second gen to the Swift Hat Trick trilogy, which is complete and on KU. But it can be read as a stand-alone. Thank you so much to Hannah for an arc of this! It’s out now <3
]]> <![CDATA[House of Flame and Shadow (Crescent City, #3)]]> 52857700
Bryce Quinlan never expected to see a world other than Midgard, but now that she has, all she wants is to get back. Everything she loves is in Midgard: her family, her friends, her mate. Stranded in a strange new world, she's going to need all her wits about her to get home again. And that's no easy feat when she has no idea who to trust.

Hunt Athalar has found himself in some deep holes in his life, but this one might be the deepest of all. After a few brief months with everything he ever wanted, he's in the Asteri's dungeons again, stripped of his freedom and without a clue as to Bryce's fate. He's desperate to help her, but until he can escape the Asteri's leash, his hands are quite literally tied.

In this sexy, breathtaking sequel to the #1 bestsellers House of Earth and Blood and House of Sky and Breath, Sarah J. Maas's Crescent City series reaches new heights as Bryce and Hunt's world is brought to the brink of collapse-with its future resting on their shoulders.]]> 835 Sarah J. Maas 1681193094 monica ✨ romantasyreader 3 I can’t believe it’s over 4.16 2024 House of Flame and Shadow (Crescent City, #3)
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/01/30
date added: 2024/01/31
shelves: angsty, fantasy-romance, fated-mates
review:
I can’t believe it’s over
]]> Kate (Madison Kate, #4) 54449620
KATE is book 4 of 4 in the MADISON KATE series. The blurb below may contain spoilers for previous books, and I urge you not to read it until you've finished HATE, LIAR and FAKE.

◆◆◆

“I never miss.”

Riot Night changed my life.

Coming back to Shadow Grove turned it on its head.

I’ve been hunted, stabbed, stalked, tormented, and used. Hate fueled me, lies tore me apart, and in the end everything I thought I knew turned out to be fake.

Except… Riot Night also brought Archer, Kody, and Steele back into my life. No matter how much I’ve fought it, hated it, been lied to or discovered the deceptions—I want them in my life.

No one owns me.

No one is taking them away.

This is my life, dammit, and these guys are mine to keep.

If a war is what it takes, then a war is what they'll get.]]> 594 Tate James monica ✨ romantasyreader 3 4.36 2020 Kate (Madison Kate, #4)
author: Tate James
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2024/01/25
date added: 2024/01/25
shelves: angsty, college, contemporary-romance, dark-romance, enemies-to-lovers, for-the-love-of-smut, morally-gray-mcs, romantic-suspense, why-choose
review:

]]> Fake (Madison Kate, #3) 54308167
The latest taunt from my stalker reminded me I was nothing more than a possession to my father, to the Reapers, to Archer D’Ath. Even to Kody and Steele. Princess Danvers—the prize.

His wife.

Archer D’Ath’s wife.

I hate them. They lied to me. Over and over again. I knew they were lying, and I hate myself for letting it happen. For believing in the fake relationships I want so desperately to be real.

Fake.

It’s all fucking fake. My stalker won’t let me go. None of them will. Archer and his boys think they control me. My stalker wants to possess me. I’m not an idiot, I know my newest allies are using me too.

That’s fine.

I’ll use all of them. I’ll use them to take back what’s mine.

My life. My freedom. My name.

No one owns Madison Kate Danvers.]]> 436 Tate James monica ✨ romantasyreader 3 4.36 2020 Fake (Madison Kate, #3)
author: Tate James
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2024/01/24
date added: 2024/01/24
shelves: angsty, college, contemporary-romance, dark-romance, enemies-to-lovers, for-the-love-of-smut, morally-gray-mcs, romantic-suspense, why-choose, wtf-the-ending
review:
I actually hate this cliffhanger and do not want it NO THANKS
]]> Liar (Madison Kate, #2) 53351017
The words scrawled on the back of my newest stalker mail makes my blood run cold. I have no idea if it's the lie I know, or one that I don't.

Since arriving back into Shadow Grove, I've been stalked, tormented, chased and almost killed. I've been lied to, repeatedly, by people I was growing to trust.

Liar.

That word haunts me. Someone knows more about my life than I do. Someone is taunting me with answers and teasing me with secrets. Am I desperate enough to fall for more deception?

Archer and his boys made a huge mistake when they lied to me. They thought they could play me but they're about to learn that they've met their match. No one stabs Madison Kate and gets away with it.]]> 448 Tate James monica ✨ romantasyreader 3 4.34 2020 Liar (Madison Kate, #2)
author: Tate James
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2024/01/23
date added: 2024/01/23
shelves: angsty, college, contemporary-romance, dark-romance, enemies-to-lovers, morally-gray-mcs, romantic-suspense, why-choose, wtf-the-ending
review:

]]> Hate (Madison Kate, #1) 48642680
Those words changed my life, and not for the better.

They were wrong, of course. I wasn’t dead. But I was set up.

After being charged with a string of offences--and made an example of by my political minded father--I’m eventually released back into Shadow Grove with one thing on my mind.

Hate.

Someone is going to pay for derailing my carefully laid out future. Someone is going to catch the full force of my hate. How very convenient that someone just moved into the bedroom down the hall from me.

Archer D’Ath and his boys messed with the wrong chick and they’re about to learn just how cold Madison Kate’s hate can run.


HATE is a full length mature college/new adult romance with enemies-to-lovers/love-hate themes. This is a reverse harem novel, meaning the main character has more than one love]]> 418 Tate James monica ✨ romantasyreader 3
Madison Kate is annoying. I’m only here for Steele. And I need to find out what the actual fuck that ending was.]]> 4.19 2020 Hate (Madison Kate, #1)
author: Tate James
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2024/01/22
date added: 2024/01/22
shelves: angsty, college, contemporary-romance, dark-romance, enemies-to-lovers, morally-gray-mcs, romantic-suspense, why-choose, wtf-the-ending
review:
3/3.5 ish!

Madison Kate is annoying. I’m only here for Steele. And I need to find out what the actual fuck that ending was.
]]> <![CDATA[Wrath of the Damned (Deadly Divine, #2)]]> 170013653 Love and vengeance war alongside faerie courts in this angsty, sweltering, and bloodthirsty conclusion to the Deadly Divine duet.

Florian is determined to heal my broken body and earn more than my forgiveness.
Even if I could forgive him, love is not what I need. I need him to finish what he started—to destroy the father who destroyed me.

But King Molkan is no longer playing the victim.

A deadly darkness is creeping across Folkyn.
To stop it, Florian will need to finally overthrow my father, and the journey provides him with ample opportunity to sink deeper than my scars.

Our mutual desire for revenge might give him the surrender he craves, but as betrayal and danger haunt our every move, vengeance might just be what divides us.

I will reclaim the freedom I once foolishly threw away—even if it means risking a love more powerful than any crown.]]> 396 Ella Fields monica ✨ romantasyreader 3 Well I’m disappointed 3.89 2023 Wrath of the Damned (Deadly Divine, #2)
author: Ella Fields
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/01/18
date added: 2024/01/18
shelves: angsty, enemies-to-lovers, fae, fantasy-romance, fated-mates, high-fantasy, marriage-of-convenience, morally-gray-mcs
review:
Well I’m disappointed
]]> <![CDATA[Nectar of the Wicked (Deadly Divine, #1)]]> 63308923
To find those who discarded me at birth, I must sneak into Faerie.

But my deceased guardian left more than scars upon my heart. Debts are owed to the madam at the Lair of Lust, and I’m forced to repay them.

My first client is a faerie king who offers to give me everything I’ve always wanted. The king will take me to Faerie if I make a blood vow to marry him. A collection of sweltering meetings fool me into believing his reasons for choosing me to be his queen—a changeling without so much as a name.

For upon my arrival in his kingdom, I receive the answers I’ve craved and the truth behind his motives.

My wonder and infatuation for the king and his wintry realm are snuffed by hatred and fear. Though loathing him is futile when venomous words and spiteful games only prove to excite him. Once again, I’m trapped. This time, with an enemy I cannot hide from. One with enough heat in his eyes to melt my resolve, and enough power at his frosted fingertips to accomplish his sinister goals.

To survive all I’ve discovered, not only will I need to unearth King Florian’s dead heart—I will need to guard my own before he tricks it, too.]]> 338 Ella Fields monica ✨ romantasyreader 5
Full rtc]]> 3.94 2023 Nectar of the Wicked (Deadly Divine, #1)
author: Ella Fields
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/17
date added: 2024/01/17
shelves: angsty, enemies-to-lovers, fae, fantasy-romance, forbidden-love, high-fantasy, marriage-of-convenience, morally-gray-mcs
review:
This was delicious

Full rtc
]]> <![CDATA[Wreck & Ruin (Blue Angels Motorcycle Club #1)]]> 61837056
And then tall, dark, and dangerous walks into the bar where I work.

Before I know it, I’m in his arms asking him to rescue me.

He’s Colt Weston, President of the Tarnished Angels Motorcycle Club.

Colt makes me feel alive…and wanted.

The club embraces me as one of their own, and when a violent rival threatens to tear us apart, I learn what loyalty truly means.

Family. Sacrifice. Revenge.

There’s nothing Colt won’t do to protect me.]]> 464 Emma Slate 1955098107 monica ✨ romantasyreader 3
His lips brushed my forehead, "I love you. Losing you would devastate me. My life has no meaning without you. There. Are you happy?"

I smiled, my eyes still closed, "Your delivery needs work, but yeah, Colt. That made me happy."

Wreck and Ruin follows Mia, a grieving bartender who gets thrown head first into a war between MCs in Waco, TX. One night, a sketchy guy starts pestering her and she unknowingly walks up to the MC President, Colt, the older, broody, borderline asshole mmc. When the rival gang is after her because of her connection with her boss, she runs to Colt and his MC for protection. What follows is an insta love story with a slow burn plot and forced proximity. I know I’m in the minority when I say I don’t hate insta love, but in this book’s case it did not work. It was so unbelievable and I just couldn’t get past it.

Mia is 100% a bad ass. She’s battling grief and trauma, and stands her ground in a club full of morally gray men. Colt is, honestly, mostly a dick. But not in the cute grumpy x sunshine trope way. He also cannot communicate AT ALL. The beginning of the book started off so well. There was banter, tension, and great side characters. The plot was moving. But the middle chunk was so boring. Once Mia and Colt got together (like 2 days after they met…), their banter and tension completely dissolved. I absolutely loved the side characters, but that wasn’t enough for a romance novel. The romance really took a back seat, and honestly, I wasn’t that interested in the MC drama. I wish there was more focus on the romance, because even the plot took a backseat to that drama.

I can’t wholeheartedly recommend this BUT if you like MC, insta love, forced proximity, mortal peril, and suspense, you might like this. 3 stars because the beginning and ending were great, but it really lagged in the middle for me.]]> 3.08 2019 Wreck & Ruin (Blue Angels Motorcycle Club #1)
author: Emma Slate
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 3.08
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2022/09/21
date added: 2024/01/13
shelves: contemporary-romance, dark-romance, angsty, romantic-suspense
review:
3✨

His lips brushed my forehead, "I love you. Losing you would devastate me. My life has no meaning without you. There. Are you happy?"

I smiled, my eyes still closed, "Your delivery needs work, but yeah, Colt. That made me happy."

Wreck and Ruin follows Mia, a grieving bartender who gets thrown head first into a war between MCs in Waco, TX. One night, a sketchy guy starts pestering her and she unknowingly walks up to the MC President, Colt, the older, broody, borderline asshole mmc. When the rival gang is after her because of her connection with her boss, she runs to Colt and his MC for protection. What follows is an insta love story with a slow burn plot and forced proximity. I know I’m in the minority when I say I don’t hate insta love, but in this book’s case it did not work. It was so unbelievable and I just couldn’t get past it.

Mia is 100% a bad ass. She’s battling grief and trauma, and stands her ground in a club full of morally gray men. Colt is, honestly, mostly a dick. But not in the cute grumpy x sunshine trope way. He also cannot communicate AT ALL. The beginning of the book started off so well. There was banter, tension, and great side characters. The plot was moving. But the middle chunk was so boring. Once Mia and Colt got together (like 2 days after they met…), their banter and tension completely dissolved. I absolutely loved the side characters, but that wasn’t enough for a romance novel. The romance really took a back seat, and honestly, I wasn’t that interested in the MC drama. I wish there was more focus on the romance, because even the plot took a backseat to that drama.

I can’t wholeheartedly recommend this BUT if you like MC, insta love, forced proximity, mortal peril, and suspense, you might like this. 3 stars because the beginning and ending were great, but it really lagged in the middle for me.
]]> The Brit (Unlawful Men, #1) 57431388 Pleasure has never been so deadly.

Rose Cassidy doesn’t truly live; she just exists. Numbing herself to fear and pain is the only way she can survive in this cruel world. So when she’s taken as collateral by the notorious Danny Black in a deadly game of power, she’s thrown by the deep fear she feels rising within her. And, worse than fear, a profound desire. She’s heard tales of The Brit. He’s callous. Coldblooded. But no one ever said he was wickedly beautiful and darkly captivating. He sees past her mask, giving her a cruel sense of hope. But she must fight their twisted attraction or risk losing the one thing she survives for.

When Danny Black took an enemy’s beautiful lover as security, he never anticipated the repercussions. Or the warped attraction they would share. Rose Cassidy pushes Danny to the brink of madness with her impenetrable façade and savage allure. He has to remind himself that she’s bait. A solution to a problem. Yet she evokes powerful feelings in Danny, and feelings are risky when you’re wanted dead by endless enemies.

The most dangerous game is about to be played.

But can either of them win?

*This story is gritty, dark, edgy, and contains scenes that some people may find uncomfortable to read. It is NOT for the fainthearted.]]> 413 Jodi Ellen Malpas 1736057227 monica ✨ romantasyreader 4 “ 4.16 2021 The Brit (Unlawful Men, #1)
author: Jodi Ellen Malpas
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2022/11/18
date added: 2024/01/13
shelves: angsty, contemporary-romance, dark-romance, enemies-to-lovers, for-the-love-of-smut, forbidden-love, morally-gray-mcs, slow-burn, spooky, romantic-suspense
review:
“
]]> <![CDATA[His Greatest Muse (Greatest Love #3)]]> 201548707
Her name echoes in my mind like a song, each syllable a desperate plea to the void that’s taken root within me. The world sees a rockstar, but it's her who sees the parts of me I've kept hidden from everyone else—the darkness that threatens to destroy me.

When Tinsley steps into the world of professional boxing, the stage shifts, and so does the nature of my obsession. She joins me on my tour, and as we travel from city to city, a nagging feeling grows that someone is watching her, lurking in the shadows. Their looming presence begins to smother the air around her, casting her success in shadows. The protectiveness I've always felt for her intensifies, driving me to near madness.

With each day that passes, it becomes clearer to me that I’m no longer content with how things have been. I want more. My need for her has erupted into a raging inferno, incinerating any remnants of sanity. I'll sacrifice it all to keep her safe. I'm not seeking redemption; I'm embracing the darkness that defines me. Can my obsession protect her against what I can feel coming, or will it become what devours us both?]]> 444 Hannah Cowan 1990804284 monica ✨ romantasyreader 5
noah & tinsley are the definition of soul mates. they’ve been joined at the hip since forever, noah always watching over her (even tho she’s strong and doesn’t need it). when noah is about to go on tour for his music, tinsley is about to start her first boxing tour. so they hit every single city together like the bad ass power couple THEY ARE. but as perfect as they want their tours to be, someone’s stalking tinsley. and noah’s gonna do whatever it takes to keep her safe.

I can’t even begin to express how much I love them. when I finished I messaged hannah and said she wrote fated mates but make it contemporary, because that’s what the two of them are. fated to be together, accepting each other and loving each and every dark & twisty part. when hannah said she was doing something different, that noah was going to be different than the other mmcs she’s written, I was so excited. but I didn’t think the other hutton boys would get left behind in the dust because noah is everythingggggg. (listen. I still love maddox and oakley forever but NOOOAHH!!) the way he loves tinsley is intoxicating and the two of them are gonna stick with me forever.

and the twist????? strap in because the suspense, touch her AND HIM and you ]]> 3.89 2023 His Greatest Muse (Greatest Love #3)
author: Hannah Cowan
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/11/07
date added: 2024/01/13
shelves: arcs, all-the-feels, angsty, contemporary-romance, dark-romance, friends-to-lovers, rockstar-romance, sports-romance, romantic-suspense
review:
happy release day to one of my forever favs ✨

noah & tinsley are the definition of soul mates. they’ve been joined at the hip since forever, noah always watching over her (even tho she’s strong and doesn’t need it). when noah is about to go on tour for his music, tinsley is about to start her first boxing tour. so they hit every single city together like the bad ass power couple THEY ARE. but as perfect as they want their tours to be, someone’s stalking tinsley. and noah’s gonna do whatever it takes to keep her safe.

I can’t even begin to express how much I love them. when I finished I messaged hannah and said she wrote fated mates but make it contemporary, because that’s what the two of them are. fated to be together, accepting each other and loving each and every dark & twisty part. when hannah said she was doing something different, that noah was going to be different than the other mmcs she’s written, I was so excited. but I didn’t think the other hutton boys would get left behind in the dust because noah is everythingggggg. (listen. I still love maddox and oakley forever but NOOOAHH!!) the way he loves tinsley is intoxicating and the two of them are gonna stick with me forever.

and the twist????? strap in because the suspense, touch her AND HIM and you
]]> A Love Letter to Whiskey 59417433 This is not your typical love story.

It’s a story of almosts and could-have-beens.
Of friendship that teeters on the edge of something more.
Of passion so intoxicating, it burns.

Jamie and B are two hearts caught in the tangle of bad timing and unspoken words. Their connection defies labels—too deep for friendship, too tangled for love. Over a decade of moments, choices, and missed opportunities, they find themselves drawn together like a moth to a flame, even when the world—and their own mistakes—keep pulling them apart.

Is it obsession? Destiny? Or just self-destruction with a pretty face?

Sometimes, love isn’t about finding the right person—it’s about the moment when everything aligns.
But what if that moment never comes?

This special edition features:
* A Love Letter to Whiskey (the full, heart-wrenching story)
* Love, Whiskey (Jamie’s side, plus an extended epilogue)
* Bonus content, including behind-the-scenes stories, fun facts, and letters from the author and audiobook narrator]]> 608 Kandi Steiner monica ✨ romantasyreader 0 4.21 A Love Letter to Whiskey
author: Kandi Steiner
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.21
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2023/12/26
date added: 2023/12/27
shelves: all-the-feels, angsty, buddy-reads, contemporary-romance, forbidden-love, friends-to-lovers, love-triangle, morally-gray-mcs, second-chance, slow-burn
review:

]]> Manacled 52122096
Fanfiction for Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling.
Words: 370,256]]> 925 SenLinYu monica ✨ romantasyreader 5 4.63 2019 Manacled
author: SenLinYu
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.63
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2023/11/26
date added: 2023/11/26
shelves: all-the-feels, angsty, dark-romance, enemies-to-lovers, fantasy-romance, forbidden-love, high-fantasy, fanfic
review:
I will, quite literally, never recover.
]]> <![CDATA[A ​Court of Silver Flames (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #4)]]> 53138095 Global phenomenon Sarah J. Maas’s sexy, richly imagined #1 bestselling Court of Thorns and Roses series continues with the journey of Feyre’s fiery sister, Nesta.

Nesta Archeron has always been prickly-proud, swift to anger, and slow to forgive. And ever since being forced into the Cauldron and becoming High Fae against her will, she’s struggled to find a place for herself within the strange, deadly world she inhabits. Worse, she can’t seem to move past the horrors of the war with Hybern and all she lost in it.

The one person who ignites her temper more than any other is Cassian, the battle-scarred warrior whose position in Rhysand and Feyre’s Night Court keeps him constantly in Nesta’s orbit. But her temper isn’t the only thing Cassian ignites. The fire between them is undeniable, and only burns hotter as they are forced into close quarters with each other.

Meanwhile, the treacherous human queens who returned to the Continent during the last war have forged a dangerous new alliance, threatening the fragile peace that has settled over the realms. And the key to halting them might very well rely on Cassian and Nesta facing their haunting pasts.

Against the sweeping backdrop of a world seared by war and plagued with uncertainty, Nesta and Cassian battle monsters from within and without as they search for acceptance—and healing—in each other’s arms.]]> 757 Sarah J. Maas 168119628X monica ✨ romantasyreader 5 4.44 2021 A ​Court of Silver Flames (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #4)
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2023/09/11
date added: 2023/09/11
shelves: fantasy-romance, for-the-love-of-smut, high-fantasy, fated-mates, angsty, all-the-feels, rereads-2023
review:

]]> Ecstasy (Ecstasy, #1) 51707189 Zara.
Eli.
Alex.

Three students at Caven U who are all really, really f*cking tired of life.

Zara has a substance problem. Eli is a star athlete with a secret. And Alex? He’s just a f*cking a**hole.

Their paths collide one night at a party that quickly spirals out of control. A series of volatile moments follow, enveloping the three of them in a whirlwind of drama, drugs, and destruction.

Zara feels like she’s slipping under, losing her grip on reality. And if she isn’t careful, one of the boys just might pull her all the way down.

But the thing about almost dying at the hands of someone you hate?

In the moment before you take your last breath, the fear can feel a lot like...ecstasy.

And that’s a high you only get once in a lifetime.

Dark romance, suitable for 18+.]]> 410 K.V. Rose monica ✨ romantasyreader 4
All the characters were horrible people. Zara is an addict who repeatedly cheats on her boyfriend Alex and lied to everyone around her. Alex literally tried to drown her in CHAPTER ONE. Eli is…a psychopath. I have no other words to describe him.

This book is toxic and dark af. The story revolves around the 3 of them in their senior year of college in the aftermath of a party where a dead girl was found in Alex and Eli’s pool.

I’m not the biggest dark romance reader but I can’t even begin to describe the chokehold this book had on me???? It’s unhinged.

Read if you like
✨ dark romance
✨ love triangles
✨ angst


TWs
Drug use
Cheating
Dub con/non con
References to self harm
Death
References to SA]]> 3.83 Ecstasy (Ecstasy, #1)
author: K.V. Rose
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 3.83
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2023/09/07
date added: 2023/09/08
shelves: angsty, college, contemporary-romance, dark-romance, love-triangle, morally-gray-mcs
review:
This is probably the craziest book I’ve read all year. If you want a book with deplorable characters and insane twists and some romantic suspense, pick this up immediately. I stayed up until the weeee hours of the morning devouring this.

All the characters were horrible people. Zara is an addict who repeatedly cheats on her boyfriend Alex and lied to everyone around her. Alex literally tried to drown her in CHAPTER ONE. Eli is…a psychopath. I have no other words to describe him.

This book is toxic and dark af. The story revolves around the 3 of them in their senior year of college in the aftermath of a party where a dead girl was found in Alex and Eli’s pool.

I’m not the biggest dark romance reader but I can’t even begin to describe the chokehold this book had on me???? It’s unhinged.

Read if you like
✨ dark romance
✨ love triangles
✨ angst


TWs
Drug use
Cheating
Dub con/non con
References to self harm
Death
References to SA
]]> <![CDATA[The Coven (Coven of Bones, #1)]]> 75396525
There are no whispered words here. No condemnation for the blood that flows through my veins. The only animosity I face comes from the beautiful and infuriating Headmaster, Alaric Grayson Thorne, a man who despises me just as much as I loathe him and everything he stands for.

But that doesn’t mean secrets don’t threaten to tear the school in two. No one talks about the bloody massacre that forced it to close decades prior, only the opportunity it can afford to those fortunate enough to attend.

Because for the first time in fifty years, the Coven will open its wards to the Thirteen: thirteen promising students destined to change the world.

If the ghosts of Hollow’s Groves’ victims don’t kill them first...

The Coven is book one in the Coven of Bones series and ends on a cliffhanger. This is a gothic, dark-academia, paranormal romance and includes elements that may be triggering to some listeners.]]> 298 Harper L. Woods monica ✨ romantasyreader 4
Willow is my favorite type of fantasy fmc. She’s snarky, strong, and a bad ass. Gray is a vessel (think: demon vampire) and downright morally black. I loved him. He’s protective, obsessive, and dominant. Their relationship is the definition to enemies to lovers to… ]]> 3.72 2023 The Coven (Coven of Bones, #1)
author: Harper L. Woods
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/08/30
date added: 2023/08/30
shelves: arcs, angsty, college, dark-romance, enemies-to-lovers, fantasy-romance, low-fantasy, morally-gray-mcs, slow-burn, spooky, urban-fantasy, wtf-the-ending, vamps, witches, rereads-2023
review:
This book was a wild ride from start to finish. Willow is a witch who’s been in hiding and biding her time to retrieve her ancestor’s bones and come into her full power. When her mother passes away and she’s found by Alaric Grayson Thorne, the headmaster of Hollow’s Grove University, she’s forced to attend. But this school is shadowed by death and secrets and something is hunting the 13 students one by one.

Willow is my favorite type of fantasy fmc. She’s snarky, strong, and a bad ass. Gray is a vessel (think: demon vampire) and downright morally black. I loved him. He’s protective, obsessive, and dominant. Their relationship is the definition to enemies to lovers to…
]]> In the Likely Event 127152907
Then she spots her seatmate, who is anything but ordinary. Nate Phelan sports dark hair, blue eyes, and a deliciously rugged charm that Izzy can’t resist. Their connection is undeniable. Izzy never believed in destiny before, but she does now.

Just ninety seconds after takeoff, their plane goes down in the Missouri River.

Their lives change. They change. Nate goes on to a career in the military while Izzy finds her way into politics. Despite a few chance encounters over the years, the timing never feels right.

Then comes a high-stakes reunion in Afghanistan, where Nate is tasked with protecting Izzy’s life.

He’ll do anything to keep her safe. And everything to win her heart.]]> 348 Rebecca Yarros 1662511566 monica ✨ romantasyreader 0 4.22 2023 In the Likely Event
author: Rebecca Yarros
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2023/08/29
date added: 2023/08/29
shelves: all-the-feels, angsty, contemporary-romance, second-chance, slow-burn
review:

]]> Revel (Mortals at Play #1) 86349639
TIFF

Macallan Astor is a self-entitled manwh*re with little to no consideration for the fact he lives with three other people. I've been at the house in LA that's supposed to be my fresh start for two months now and at this point… I'm about one Victoria's Secret model screaming in the pool at night away from chucking him right into the Pacific.

But the cost of my fresh start is high so when he comes to me with a solution that can solve all my problems… There’s really no way I can say no.

And if my answer just so happens to have a little something to do with the chink in his armor that’s tugging at me, all the better.

Because maybe helping him is exactly the kind of brave I want to be.

MAC

Tiffany Monroe, more commonly referred to as the she-devil in my head, has to be the most polite version of a f*ck off I've ever received in my life. She’s been silently condemning me with those judgy eyes of hers ever since we first met. But when the nightmare that is my father threatens to cut me off unless I comply with his demands… I’m left with only one way out.

The girl who hates me.

Because who better to strike a deal with than the one person who is moral enough to not ask for more at the end?

I've always been good at putting on a show.

Let’s just hope I can keep this one up for long enough that she doesn’t notice I’m sinking in so many ways.

And falling a little more day by day.


*Revel is book one in the Mortals at Play series, which is a spinoff of the A Twisted Tale Trilogy. It is a new adult/contemporary romance and is recommended for 18+. The Mortals at Play series must be read in order.*]]> 342 R. Phillips monica ✨ romantasyreader 4
Mac & Tiff have both been through it. After she moves to LA, they realize off the bat that they actually hate each other. But when Mac needs access to his trust, he knows just the person to fake marry: Tiff.

Hate to love and fake engagement/dating are two of my fav tropes! And this was done so well. Mac falls first and he falls HARD (and buys her a car and a laptop to boot).

There’s some angst, a whole lot of emotions, and I enjoyed being back in this world so much.

Read if you like
✨ reformed playboy millionaire
✨ fake engagement
✨ forced proximity/roommates
✨ found family
✨ angst
]]> 4.18 Revel (Mortals at Play #1)
author: R. Phillips
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.18
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2023/08/13
date added: 2023/08/16
shelves: age-gap, all-the-feels, angsty, contemporary-romance, marriage-of-convenience, reformed-fboy
review:
R. Phillips’ writing is absolutely gorgeous and I’ll read anything she writes.

Mac & Tiff have both been through it. After she moves to LA, they realize off the bat that they actually hate each other. But when Mac needs access to his trust, he knows just the person to fake marry: Tiff.

Hate to love and fake engagement/dating are two of my fav tropes! And this was done so well. Mac falls first and he falls HARD (and buys her a car and a laptop to boot).

There’s some angst, a whole lot of emotions, and I enjoyed being back in this world so much.

Read if you like
✨ reformed playboy millionaire
✨ fake engagement
✨ forced proximity/roommates
✨ found family
✨ angst

]]> <![CDATA[Strong and Wild (Lakes Hockey, #2)]]> 144079074 Freya
Things are looking up for me in my new Minnesota home. My bestie’s husband hooked me up with a great apartment above the hockey bar where I currently work, and I’ve got a great side gig bringing in plenty of cash to help fund my patisserie cocktail lounge. Life is sweet. My new neighbor, on the other hand, is not.

When he reveals his true self, I hate what I find. Until more of him unravels, proving we have more in common than I realized, and I don’t mean we both enjoy rock climbing or outdoor concerts. No, we have the good stuff—shared trauma. The only difference is I came out on the other side, and he’s still fighting his demons.

Rhys
Women aren’t going to be a distraction for me in my rookie year, where every single game feels like a try-out. I’ve got a one-year NHL contract, 365 days to prove to the Minnesota Lakes I’m worth the investment—which is why I need to stay far away from my neighbor across the hall.

Everything is fine until I find out she's the same woman I subscribe to online. Turns out we know each other quite well, but she thinks we're strangers—and I plan on keeping it that way. Until one night, she steps in to do a favor for me because she’s been in my shoes before. Now I’m showing her the real me, but it might not be enough for her.

This 18+ spicy hockey romance features dirty talk, praise, degradation, angst, enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity, and of course, a happily ever after.

TW: Drug use, addiction, death, slut-shaming. ]]> 346 Sloane St. James monica ✨ romantasyreader 4
Mickey is trying to save money for her dream by bartending and having a only-fans-esque side gig. And Rhys is falling head over heels for her online persona. After moving into a new apartment and joining a nhl hockey team, he pieces together that his beautiful neighbor is the girl online that he’s been chatting to for MONTHS. But can he tell her he knows without fudging it up ]]> 4.07 2023 Strong and Wild (Lakes Hockey, #2)
author: Sloane St. James
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/07/06
date added: 2023/07/10
shelves: all-the-feels, angsty, contemporary-romance, enemies-to-lovers, for-the-love-of-smut, sports-romance
review:
Yes hi hello I’m obsessed with this book. I read 4 hockey romances in a row and this is easily tied for first place with Behind the Net.

Mickey is trying to save money for her dream by bartending and having a only-fans-esque side gig. And Rhys is falling head over heels for her online persona. After moving into a new apartment and joining a nhl hockey team, he pieces together that his beautiful neighbor is the girl online that he’s been chatting to for MONTHS. But can he tell her he knows without fudging it up
]]> <![CDATA[Wilder Love (Love and Chaos, #1)]]> 61334805 I was his weakness. He was my strength. Until I destroyed him.

I was infatuated with Shane Wilder since the first time I saw him surfing. But we couldn’t be together. Not yet, anyway. I was too young and screwed up. He was too focused on chasing his dream.

So we became friends. We met on the rooftop for late-night confessions under the stars. Cruised along the Pacific Coast Highway with the wind in our hair and the sun on our faces.

I took photos of all the beautiful and ugly and interesting things, while he traveled the world in search of the perfect waves.

I told him I would wait for him.
I never meant to lie.
I never meant to ruin his life.

I. Destroyed. Him.

As his star faded, mine burned bright. But as everyone knows, all that glitters is not gold.

Now I’m back after seven long years, hoping for a chance to right my wrongs and fix what I’ve broken. This time I can only hope that loving Shane Wilder will be enough to save him.]]> 354 Emery Rose Andrews monica ✨ romantasyreader 1
This whole book gave me the ick but I couldn’t put it down. Remy is such a pick me girl and until the twist Shane was low key intolerable with his perfect hair and perfect abs and laid back surf bro ]]> 4.00 2019 Wilder Love (Love and Chaos, #1)
author: Emery Rose Andrews
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2019
rating: 1
read at: 2023/06/06
date added: 2023/06/07
shelves: taboo, age-gap, angsty, contemporary-romance, forbidden-love, insta-lovey, second-chance, shouldve-dnf, small-town-romance
review:
I really should’ve stopped reading when I found out she was 16 and he was 21, but I didn’t and that’s on me.

This whole book gave me the ick but I couldn’t put it down. Remy is such a pick me girl and until the twist Shane was low key intolerable with his perfect hair and perfect abs and laid back surf bro
]]> <![CDATA[Stay with Me (Stay with Me, #1)]]> 46201805
Though Mia never anticipated Ollie Masters.

With green eyes, tattoos, and the voice of a poet, she is quickly drawn to him. But because of her sociopath tendencies, she knows it could only end in one of two ways. Either he will be the one to free her from her past, or she will be the one to destroy him.]]> 359 Nicole Fiorina 1075969883 monica ✨ romantasyreader 2
First I need to talk about the mental heath “representation.”

This is not good representation. Emotional detachment disorder is not a diagnosis. Sociopathy isn’t a disorder. Anti-social personality disorder is (which the fmc most definitely doesn’t have). Emotional intensity is most definitely not a diagnosis. The way the therapists acts towards Mia is so so unethical she would be fired immediately. I found it extremely hard to suspend my disbelief while reading because so much of it is just so blatantly wrong and disrespectful to people who study and work in the field of psychology/mental health. Not only is it extremely wrong, which I’m pointing out so thoroughly due to the author’s acknowledgment section where she writes that she thoroughly researched before writing, but there’s also the wondrous case of magic dick healing trauma. I cannot STAND this trope. Attention from men doesn’t heal trauma. Neither does toxic codependency.

With all that being said, I couldn’t stop reading it. I’m attuning this to not being able to look away from a dumpster fire. It was so wrong and off-base yet I was gripped. And I’ve been in a slump for months so that was an interesting experience.

If you loved this book, I’m glad. I can see the appeal. I couldn’t stop reading it either. But because of personal reasons that I can’t separate from, I really had a lot of problems with this book.

I can’t recommend it to people who work in the mental health field.

These are my personal opinions and this rating/review is not a negative reflection of the author or other readers who enjoyed it. This book wasn’t for me, but I hope others are able to enjoy it.


TW:
Mentions/depictions of child abuse by a family member
SA
Roofies

]]> 3.99 2019 Stay with Me (Stay with Me, #1)
author: Nicole Fiorina
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2019
rating: 2
read at: 2023/05/25
date added: 2023/05/25
shelves: all-the-feels, angsty, contemporary-romance, dark-romance, for-the-love-of-smut, insta-lovey, morally-gray-mcs, this-pissed-me-off
review:
I have so many conflicting feelings about this book. (TWs at the bottom.)

First I need to talk about the mental heath “representation.”

This is not good representation. Emotional detachment disorder is not a diagnosis. Sociopathy isn’t a disorder. Anti-social personality disorder is (which the fmc most definitely doesn’t have). Emotional intensity is most definitely not a diagnosis. The way the therapists acts towards Mia is so so unethical she would be fired immediately. I found it extremely hard to suspend my disbelief while reading because so much of it is just so blatantly wrong and disrespectful to people who study and work in the field of psychology/mental health. Not only is it extremely wrong, which I’m pointing out so thoroughly due to the author’s acknowledgment section where she writes that she thoroughly researched before writing, but there’s also the wondrous case of magic dick healing trauma. I cannot STAND this trope. Attention from men doesn’t heal trauma. Neither does toxic codependency.

With all that being said, I couldn’t stop reading it. I’m attuning this to not being able to look away from a dumpster fire. It was so wrong and off-base yet I was gripped. And I’ve been in a slump for months so that was an interesting experience.

If you loved this book, I’m glad. I can see the appeal. I couldn’t stop reading it either. But because of personal reasons that I can’t separate from, I really had a lot of problems with this book.

I can’t recommend it to people who work in the mental health field.

These are my personal opinions and this rating/review is not a negative reflection of the author or other readers who enjoyed it. This book wasn’t for me, but I hope others are able to enjoy it.


TW:
Mentions/depictions of child abuse by a family member
SA
Roofies


]]> <![CDATA[Lovely Bad Things (Hollow's Row, #1)]]> 60093519
Halen:
They say eyes are the windows to the soul—but when he looks at me through hues of slate-green and flaring blue embers, I’m terrified of what’s watching me from behind his clashing gaze, something primal and feverish that threatens to melt me like fire in ice.

I fear falling into Kallum Locke’s pitch-black soul.

But after I’m called to a crime scene to investigate the most gruesome act of violence to descend on the legendary town of Hollow’s Row, I have no choice but to turn to Kallum, to the man I had locked away in an asylum for the criminally insane.

He’s the leading expert on all things Nietzsche and occult. And now, to get answers, I’m forced to make a deal with the devil himself.

Kallum:
Really, eyes are the windows to the soul? Then I wonder what little Halen St. James thinks of all the cryptic eyes watching her in the killing fields… I wonder if the hairs on her delicate nape lifted away, if a thrilling shiver raced over her soft skin. She’s desperate for the answer, and she’ll do anything to uncover it—even make a deal with me, dangling freedom like bait on a hook.

But she’s far more tempting to sink my teeth into than any lure.

And the pain will taste twice as sweet.]]> 334 Trisha Wolfe monica ✨ romantasyreader 5 " 3.67 2022 Lovely Bad Things (Hollow's Row, #1)
author: Trisha Wolfe
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2023/04/19
date added: 2023/04/20
shelves: angsty, contemporary-romance, dark-romance, enemies-to-lovers, forbidden-love, morally-gray-mcs, slow-burn, spooky, wtf-the-ending
review:
"
]]> <![CDATA[Black Rose (The Dracula Duet, #2)]]> 62923533
Is it her destiny to love him?

Or is it her destiny to die?

Valtu Aminoff is no stranger to tragedy. Though many know him as the enigmatic vampire that inspired Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Valtu’s complex life is far more horrific than any fiction could imagine. When you lose the love of your life over and over again, it can do more than break your heart—it can corrupt your soul.
It's up to his new lover to decide if Valtu's damaged soul is even worth saving.

But destiny isn’t done with Valtu yet. And tragedy is always around the corner.

Black Rose is the sequel to Blood Orange and is not a standalone. Snap up this completed dark gothic vampire romance duet if you like:
High spice
Dark Academia
Gothic Setting
Vampires vs Witches
Spooky vibes
Reincarnated love
Dracula re-telling
Fantasy romance
Please check inside the book for content warnings.

"Every vampire has a sad love story to tell."]]> 408 Karina Halle monica ✨ romantasyreader 5
Black Rose is the conclusion to the Dracula duet. After the events of book 1, the story picks up 21 years later.

This book was way more than a spicy fantasy/paranormal romance. Karina’s writing moved me in a way that was unexpected but also so incredibly beautiful. Valtu’s grief wholly changed him, and watching his and Rose’s relationship develop under different circumstances than book 1 was so poignant and powerful. Because of past mistakes, the two of them are set on a different path this time around. I have never read a reincarnation book before, and I think it’s a new favorite trope of mine. I loved it so much.

This book touches on not only enduring love but also grief. Considering my recent experience with loss and my ongoing journey in grief, this book was so cathartic. I was a little apprehensive going into it because of my recent life circumstances, but it spoke to me so deeply. I could feel Karina’s own experiences with grief and loss while reading as well. If you have gone through a loss of a loved one, I think that this duet is going to be a perfect escape. It was for me.

Read if you like
✨ dark paranormal romance
✨ reincarnation
✨ vampires, witches, and vampire hunters
✨ fated mates
✨ Dracula retelling
✨ gothic vibes

Thank you so much Karina and RRS for an arc. This book is out now ]]> 3.52 2022 Black Rose (The Dracula Duet, #2)
author: Karina Halle
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2023/03/16
date added: 2023/03/19
shelves: arcs, age-gap, all-the-feels, angsty, dark-romance, enemies-to-lovers, fantasy-romance, fated-mates, for-the-love-of-smut, morally-gray-mcs, retelling, second-chance, paranormal-romance, vamps
review:
This book was everything I wanted.

Black Rose is the conclusion to the Dracula duet. After the events of book 1, the story picks up 21 years later.

This book was way more than a spicy fantasy/paranormal romance. Karina’s writing moved me in a way that was unexpected but also so incredibly beautiful. Valtu’s grief wholly changed him, and watching his and Rose’s relationship develop under different circumstances than book 1 was so poignant and powerful. Because of past mistakes, the two of them are set on a different path this time around. I have never read a reincarnation book before, and I think it’s a new favorite trope of mine. I loved it so much.

This book touches on not only enduring love but also grief. Considering my recent experience with loss and my ongoing journey in grief, this book was so cathartic. I was a little apprehensive going into it because of my recent life circumstances, but it spoke to me so deeply. I could feel Karina’s own experiences with grief and loss while reading as well. If you have gone through a loss of a loved one, I think that this duet is going to be a perfect escape. It was for me.

Read if you like
✨ dark paranormal romance
✨ reincarnation
✨ vampires, witches, and vampire hunters
✨ fated mates
✨ Dracula retelling
✨ gothic vibes

Thank you so much Karina and RRS for an arc. This book is out now
]]> Hooked (Never After, #1) 58545703 From USA Today bestselling author Emily McIntire comes a dark and delicious fractured fairy tale reimagining of Peter Pan.

He wants revenge, but he wants her more…

James has always had one agenda: destroy his enemy, Peter Michaels. When Peter’s twenty-year-old daughter Wendy shows up in James’s bar, he sees his way in. Seduce the girl and use her for his revenge. It’s the perfect plan, until things in James’s organization begin to crumble. Suddenly, he has to find the traitor in his midst, and his plan for revenge gets murkier as James starts to see Wendy as more than just a pawn in his game.

Wendy has been cloistered away most of her life by her wealthy cold father, but a spontaneous night out with friends turns into an intense and addictive love affair with the dark and brooding James. As much as she knows James is dangerous, Wendy can’t seem to shake her desire for him. But as their relationship grows more heated and she learns more about the world he moves in, she finds herself unsure if she’s falling for the man known as James or the monster known as Hook.

Hooked is a dark contemporary romance and the first complete standalone in the Never After Series: A collection of fractured fairy tales where the villains get the happy ever after. It is not a literal retelling and not fantasy. Hooked features mature themes and content that may not be suitable for all audiences. Reader discretion is advised. For all content warnings, check the author's website. ]]> 312 Emily McIntire 173750832X monica ✨ romantasyreader 4
This is my second book by Emily McIntire and I can’t wait to finish up this series.

4✨]]> 3.78 2021 Hooked (Never After, #1)
author: Emily McIntire
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2022/03/18
date added: 2023/03/17
shelves: contemporary-romance, dark-romance, for-the-love-of-smut, morally-gray-mcs, enemies-to-lovers, angsty, retelling
review:
This was such a fun book with suspense, twists and turns, spice, and sprinkled in references that I ate up.

This is my second book by Emily McIntire and I can’t wait to finish up this series.

4✨
]]> <![CDATA[Blood Orange (The Dracula Duet, #1)]]> 58245394 From New York Times bestselling author Karina Halle comes a dark and delicious Dracula retelling filled with secrets and lies, dangerous liaisons and a forbidden, student-teacher, second chance love story with a twist.

"My heart will always find yours."

Dahlia Abernathy has only known revenge. When her parents were killed at an early age by vampires, Dahlia spent the rest of her life under the thumb of the Witch's Guild being trained to kill them. Her latest mission sends her undercover to a prestigious music academy in Venice, Italy. Her goal? To kill Professor Valtu Aminoff, her teacher and the notorious vampire who inspired Bram Stoker's Dracula.

But getting close to a dangerous vampire like Professor Aminoff is one thing. Falling for him is another. With Dahlia's appearance disguised under a glamor spell, Valtu has no idea that the woman who has become his new dark obsession is actually the reincarnation of the woman he loved and lost twice before.

And Dahlia doesn't remember that the very man she has been sent to kill is the love of her life.

Will their love come through and transcend time once again? Or are the fated lovers destined to let history repeat itself?

Blood Orange is a modern-day Dracula retelling about the "real-life" Dracula that inspired Bram Stoker. This is a dark vampire romance with plenty of content warnings (please check interior of book for extensive list as it is +++++spicy) and while it is a spinoff of The Dark Eyes Duet, you do not need to read any other books before Blood Orange.]]> 314 Karina Halle monica ✨ romantasyreader 4
A love so deep that it transcends time.
A love so strong it lasts beyond death.

“You are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever experienced,” I murmured against her lips. “And I’m never letting you go. Not in this lifetime, not in the next.”


Fated mates….but fated to die. This book was a rollercoaster.

Blood Orange is a dark and twisted retelling of Dracula and his love. In this book, Valtu (Dracula) is a professor of music in Venice. Dahlia, a witch vampire slayer, is sent to kill him, but that’s not how the story goes. I went into this book mostly blind because I love Karina Halle so much, so I didn’t want to get spoiled and I’m so happy I did. Dahlia is Valtu’s fated mate, and she is the third reincarnation. The past two reincarnations have died horribly and painful deaths. In the current timeline, Dahlia slowly falls for her target, her professor, her mate. But there is an evil presence in Venice threatening to open portals to other worlds and bring demons and monsters into this world.

This book was really well done. I found the beginning to be pretty slow, and Dahlia’s character bothered me a little bit because I was expecting her to be a bad ass (because, you know, vampire slaying witch). But she was pretty insecure sad girl and I didn’t love that. However, once her character development started and the plot started moving, I could not put this book down. I ended up loving it.

If you like fated mates, vampires, witches, and a whole load of spice, definitely pick this up!! I can’t wait for book 2.]]> 3.80 2022 Blood Orange (The Dracula Duet, #1)
author: Karina Halle
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2022/10/17
date added: 2023/03/17
shelves: angsty, dark-romance, enemies-to-lovers, fantasy-romance, for-the-love-of-smut, second-chance, spooky, morally-gray-mcs, forbidden-love, fated-mates, low-fantasy, retelling, urban-fantasy, vamps
review:
4✨

A love so deep that it transcends time.
A love so strong it lasts beyond death.

“You are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever experienced,” I murmured against her lips. “And I’m never letting you go. Not in this lifetime, not in the next.”


Fated mates….but fated to die. This book was a rollercoaster.

Blood Orange is a dark and twisted retelling of Dracula and his love. In this book, Valtu (Dracula) is a professor of music in Venice. Dahlia, a witch vampire slayer, is sent to kill him, but that’s not how the story goes. I went into this book mostly blind because I love Karina Halle so much, so I didn’t want to get spoiled and I’m so happy I did. Dahlia is Valtu’s fated mate, and she is the third reincarnation. The past two reincarnations have died horribly and painful deaths. In the current timeline, Dahlia slowly falls for her target, her professor, her mate. But there is an evil presence in Venice threatening to open portals to other worlds and bring demons and monsters into this world.

This book was really well done. I found the beginning to be pretty slow, and Dahlia’s character bothered me a little bit because I was expecting her to be a bad ass (because, you know, vampire slaying witch). But she was pretty insecure sad girl and I didn’t love that. However, once her character development started and the plot started moving, I could not put this book down. I ended up loving it.

If you like fated mates, vampires, witches, and a whole load of spice, definitely pick this up!! I can’t wait for book 2.
]]> <![CDATA[A Kingdom of Blood and Betrayal (Stars and Shadows, #2)]]> 61500521
My skin is cursed by the stars, my fate damned by desire.

But when the dark prince offers me a bargain that will save his people and my life, the cruel and intoxicating male gives me no choice.

Our union is his revenge, and I am his sacrifice.

His lies are unforgivable. His wicked touch still bathes me in sin.

He is my mate, and he is tortured by a curse to protect his people from his own family.

I could now see him for exactly who he was. So why can’t I get his alluring touch out of my head?

I am the key to saving his kingdom, but he alone has the power to ruin me.]]> 244 Holly Renee monica ✨ romantasyreader 5
Happy Pub Day! I was lucky enough to get an arc of this book and I absolutely loved it.

“]]> 3.72 2022 A Kingdom of Blood and Betrayal (Stars and Shadows, #2)
author: Holly Renee
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2022/10/25
date added: 2023/03/17
shelves: arcs, angsty, enemies-to-lovers, fantasy-romance, for-the-love-of-smut, morally-gray-mcs, forbidden-love, high-fantasy, vamps, fae
review:
5✨

Happy Pub Day! I was lucky enough to get an arc of this book and I absolutely loved it.

“
]]> <![CDATA[A Light in the Flame (Flesh and Fire, #2)]]> 60682785 From #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout comes book two in her Flesh and Fire series…

The only one who can save Sera now is the one she spent her life planning to kill.

The truth about Sera’s plan is out, shattering the fragile trust forged between her and Nyktos. Surrounded by those distrustful of her, all Sera has is her duty. She will do anything to end Kolis, the false King of Gods, and his tyrannical rule of Iliseeum, thus stopping the threat he poses to the mortal realm.

Nyktos has a plan, though, and as they work together, the last thing they need is the undeniable, scorching passion that continues to ignite between them. Sera cannot afford to fall for the tortured Primal, not when a life no longer bound to a destiny she never wanted is more attainable than ever. But memories of their shared pleasure and unrivaled desire are a siren’s call impossible to resist.

And as Sera begins to realize that she wants to be more than a Consort in name only, the danger surrounding them intensifies. The attacks on the Shadowlands are increasing, and when Kolis summons them to Court, a whole new risk becomes apparent. The Primal power of Life is growing inside her, pushing her closer to the end of her Culling. And without Nyktos’s love—an emotion he’s incapable of feeling—she won’t survive her Ascension. That is if she even makes it to her Ascension and Kolis doesn’t get to her first. Because time is running out. For both her and the realms.]]> 652 Jennifer L. Armentrout 1957568151 monica ✨ romantasyreader 3 3.5 ✨<br /><br />“ 4.58 2022 A Light in the Flame (Flesh and Fire, #2)
author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.58
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2022/11/20
date added: 2023/03/17
shelves: all-the-feels, angsty, enemies-to-lovers, fantasy-romance, slow-burn, high-fantasy, vamps
review:
3.5 ✨

“
]]> <![CDATA[Sorrow and Starlight (Zodiac Academy, #8)]]> 59808792 All stars must fall.

Bloody, lost, broken. We live to fight another day. But with so much stolen from us, can the fates ever twist in our favour again?

My sister and I have been torn apart by shadows and despair, and now we each stand alone.

Our sorrow is spun like a web, trapping us tight, and I fear our enemies will soon come to feast upon our souls.

But if I have my way, the merciless sky will have dealt us its final fortune. It’s time for us to take back the power that’s been ripped from our grasp and turn the tide of this war.

All stars must fall, and all Phoenixes must rise.

Long live the Savage Queens.

*This will now be book 8 of 9 in the series*

***This is a dark, bully romance – don’t go expecting a sweet school for magic with friends around every corner. Fae fight for everything they own and Zodiac Academy is a cutthroat school for students aged 18+ where only the strongest prevail. There’s no Dumbledore here to save anyone’s ass and Lionel Acrux will give Voldemort a run for his money in the evil dictator category. So hold onto your stardust (broomsticks not required) and get ready for a bumpy ride***]]> 1242 Caroline Peckham monica ✨ romantasyreader 2 “The power of your love and hatred burned hotter than the sun itself, the constant tug and pull, a war unending and a passion unyielding. You were two stars always set to collide and cast the world on fire because fuck the consequences.”

Considering this beast is the 8th in the series and 1244 pages long, this review is about to get ranty. (No spoilers because there’s no plot HAHA.) If you loved it, I’m sorry.

I knew after the first book this series is junk food. It is the reality tv of the fantasy romance world. Love Island, if you will. I knew I wasn’t going into this huge epic urban fantasy. That is all fine. But this book? Boring, uninteresting, and completely dry.

Tory is on an absolute downward spiral tailspin. I don’t even know who she is anymore. The fucking curse on Darcy was tiresome. Seth and Caleb were the only two characters I was invested in, and yet!!!! they still haven’t gotten anywhere. Lance was barely Lance. Man’s lost his whole personality. Gerry is so utterly ridiculous but I’m over it because of reading her POV. Max finally has a personality though, so that was neat.

I did not NEED MILTON, XAVIER OR (I’m sorry for this one, kinda) GERALDINE POVS!! I do not care!!! They added nothing to the story, which was completely devoid of plot (did I say that already?)

The pacing was so unbelievably disjointed. Between random POVs that added nothing to the story and the lack of character depth, I truly can’t feel invested as I once did.

The amount of prophecies and sight used just honestly feels lazy. We get answers only to be slapped with two more at the end of the book. It just feels like the authors are dragging this series out (for the kindle pages read, perhaps?). They told us we’d get an HEA. I don’t even know if I care at this point.

I’m tired. What a waste of time.]]> 4.02 2022 Sorrow and Starlight (Zodiac Academy, #8)
author: Caroline Peckham
name: monica ✨ romantasyreader
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2022
rating: 2
read at: 2022/12/12
date added: 2023/03/17
shelves: age-gap, all-the-feels, angsty, dark-romance, fantasy-romance, fated-mates, forbidden-love, high-fantasy, this-pissed-me-off, urban-fantasy, wtf-the-ending, fae
review:
2.5 ✨ “The power of your love and hatred burned hotter than the sun itself, the constant tug and pull, a war unending and a passion unyielding. You were two stars always set to collide and cast the world on fire because fuck the consequences.”

Considering this beast is the 8th in the series and 1244 pages long, this review is about to get ranty. (No spoilers because there’s no plot HAHA.) If you loved it, I’m sorry.

I knew after the first book this series is junk food. It is the reality tv of the fantasy romance world. Love Island, if you will. I knew I wasn’t going into this huge epic urban fantasy. That is all fine. But this book? Boring, uninteresting, and completely dry.

Tory is on an absolute downward spiral tailspin. I don’t even know who she is anymore. The fucking curse on Darcy was tiresome. Seth and Caleb were the only two characters I was invested in, and yet!!!! they still haven’t gotten anywhere. Lance was barely Lance. Man’s lost his whole personality. Gerry is so utterly ridiculous but I’m over it because of reading her POV. Max finally has a personality though, so that was neat.

I did not NEED MILTON, XAVIER OR (I’m sorry for this one, kinda) GERALDINE POVS!! I do not care!!! They added nothing to the story, which was completely devoid of plot (did I say that already?)

The pacing was so unbelievably disjointed. Between random POVs that added nothing to the story and the lack of character depth, I truly can’t feel invested as I once did.

The amount of prophecies and sight used just honestly feels lazy. We get answers only to be slapped with two more at the end of the book. It just feels like the authors are dragging this series out (for the kindle pages read, perhaps?). They told us we’d get an HEA. I don’t even know if I care at this point.

I’m tired. What a waste of time.
]]>