Recap: What I read this week
All The Feels by Olivia Dade
You know when you start a book and immediately understand it is going to be EVERYTHING? Well, All The Feels is that book. I wanted to take my time, savouring the story and deeply emotional, lovely romance between ER support therapist Lauren and extremely famous (and currently in need of a handler) actor Alex.
I feel like I have too many feelings about this book to succinctly explain how much it affected me. How lovely it was to read Lauren. How much she resonated. How lonely they both are. How much they both want to be loved without reservation or conditions. To see Lauren so realistically depicted with such care and kindness, really, REALLY spoke to me.
And Alex. MY goodness. His heart, is so special. Watching them find each other, and become such devoted friends and then lovers and finally figuring out that they are truly soul-mates just, y’all PLEASE go pick this book up.
You’ll smile, dreamily sigh, laugh, cry and feel your heart squeezed throughout. It’s perfect.
(Plus pegging. So I mean there IS something for everyone here.)
Fated by Rebecca Zanetti
Any book that came after All The Feels truly had its work cut out for itself. Unfortunately Fated was that book. The first of a 12 book series about vampires, shifters, psychics, empaths and I think they mentioned Faeries. OH and werewolves. There was a werewolf.
I just couldn’t really get into it. The world felt too complex and at the same time too dumb. I don’t know how else to explain it. There was SO much lore and parallel backstories we kind of get in snippets in the moment. That they also continue to lead everywhere and nowhere at the same time, becomes simply exhausting.
We have Talen part of the “good” vampires that only drink from their mates when they are banging (oh and can go into the sun 🤷🏻♀️), and then the bad vampires who can’t. The government is involved. I dunno it was a hot mess, for me.
Anyways, I read it. It wasn’t great. But I did read it.
Savage Hearts by J.T. Geissinger (Free on KU
Book 3 of the Monsters & Queens series, (which I have been really enjoying) popped up in my Kindle’s next read suggestions and the next thing I knew I was in 👏vest 👏ed. This instalment features Malek (older brother of Mikhail) and Riley (younger sister of Sloane from books 1 & 2).
A case of mistaken identity starts off a really interesting romance between our mains. I think I might have liked this one the best so far, with genuine affection for how Malek is such a protector and caregiver. And Riley! Our lil deer mouse with the fangs, comes alive, while trying to keep herself from death, danger and dangerously hot Russian hitmen. Like the rest of the books in this series, its quick, smutty and enjoyable.
Waiting for a Scot Like You by Eva Leigh
Caught this one on a nice Black Friday deal. Here we have a regency romance that features an older (46, gasp), widowed woman and younger (34) recently retired military man, who dabbles in light BDSM, historically.
Beatrice, after living with such a loveless and selfish man for so long, is determined to regain her independence wholly, and by any means necessary. Which is why she is on her way to a week long orgy (yes, that is correct) in the countryside. Needing to be escorted because she is a gently bred woman, Major Duncan McCameron is conscripted to her aid.
These two start off as such diametrically opposed adversaries. With Beatrice being such a determined stop and smell the roses woman and Duncan, being undone with the slightest adjustment to his many itineraries. This is a real adventure of a romance that sees these two: share many a single bed in coaching inns across the land, pretend to be a married couple, help birth sheep, essentially stumble upon the regency equivalent of the Footloose town, and sees Duncan referencing Die Hard.
The smut is decent, and this is the 3rd book in the series of The Union of Rakes, so I have very little context in the references of other couples, but overall it was enjoyable, maybe not the best thing I’ve read this year but not the worst.
A solid Rupaul *Meh* gif.
Santa Claus is Going to Town On Me by M.L. Eliza (Free on KU)
Ah the age old question: is it really the holiday season if you haven’t read an erotic novella about banging Santa Claus? Oh, just me. Fantastic.
Marie Lipscomb, writing as M.L. Eliza hits us with a truly magic tale of (you guessed it) a lady named Holly, who has never gotten what she’s wanted for Christmas and, Claus who erroneously mistakes her house for another’s.
Pretty much from the moment Holly sets eyes on this jolly red f*ck machine, she is IN 👏 TO 👏 IT. Santa or Claus as he prefers to be called, can hear anything her mind desires and, desires she does have. If you ever wanted to know how Santa gets down and dirty, well my sweets this quick, smutty read is perfect for you.
The Bombshell Effect by Karla Sorensen (Free on KU)
This is like an AU (alternate universe) where Keeley inherits a professional (American) football team and Roy Kent is the grouchy single-dad star quarterback.
But in reality we have a lonely daughter (Allie) reeling from her estranged fathers death, and coming to grips with the fact that she is now responsible for not only burying him, but now owning the Washington Wolves. Enter extreme introverted grump and single father (Luke). These two have a disastrous “meet cute” including grunting, and projectile cupcakes.
Major Ted Lasso vibes from this one, and it’s a quick read with low spice. Only regret is that we didn’t get more time with Allie on how she learnt the ropes of owning a team and a sport that at the beginning of the book, she admitted she had no idea about.