If you are considering reading or have read this, you probably signed up for the grovel. Overall, this is pretty entertaini**spoiler alert** 3.5 stars
If you are considering reading or have read this, you probably signed up for the grovel. Overall, this is pretty entertaining.
This is obviously not a safe read. The hero is a serial cheater and gets caught on page, twice. He is a spoiled prince and doesn't think much of the cheating because it doesn't mean anything to him. Obviously, his wife disagrees. She finds a loophole in their arrangement and uses it to get out of the marriage without any agreement from the king.
You have to suspend your disbelief for a lot of this but it was a fun read. He does grovel for the majority of the book. It was fun to watch him realize she meant business and see him scramble to earn her forgiveness.
He did a decent job of groveling. I wish more of his grovel had been directly focused on how he could prove to her he wouldn't cheat again. He mostly embarrassed himself a lot trying to grovel. I'm glad he was willing to sacrifice his dignity in the name of the grovel though. ...more
**spoiler alert** This book is everything. Everything. I stayed up til almost 2 am reading and I have zero regrets. I was downright giddy reading this**spoiler alert** This book is everything. Everything. I stayed up til almost 2 am reading and I have zero regrets. I was downright giddy reading this entire thing. This book is so ridiculously good. It’s easily one of the best books I’ve read this entire year… or ever really. I can’t praise it enough.
This is definitely a dark romance and not meant for everyone. If you don’t like dark romance, don’t read this. This isn’t meant for all readers.
Most “steal her from another man” tropes end up being really underwhelming and disappointing. This did not disappoint me. Its execution is perfect. It’s literally everything I’ve ever wanted in this kind of book.
The hero, Derek, is intense. He’s solely focused on getting the girl, by any means necessary. Literally, the end justifies the means to this man. He’s quite unhinged for Chloe (the heroine). He’s absolutely ruthless in his pursuit of her. This is my kind of hero through and through. No pesky morals to get in his way. There is no line he won’t cross if it means getting Chloe.
Chloe tries throughout to escape his clutches and cope with his laser focused intensity. She’s overwhelmed by Derek’s methods. The chemistry between them is sizzling.
This is pretty spicy. It’s a fast burn. They get it on for the first time around 15% and it carries throughout the entire book. With the exception of their first encounter, when she’s using her hall pass, most of the spicy bits would be considered dubcon, possibly toeing the noncon line.
No virgins No manwhore Push away from h No OW/OM drama No 3rd act breakup Separation HEA Epilogue
Safety - this is pretty safe *between* Derek and Chloe. In the beginning, Chloe’s paraplegic fiancé grants her a hall pass. She doesn’t want to use it but Derek seduces her after finding out about it. After that, the rules of the hall pass are broken so technically Chloe is cheating on her fiancé however unwillingly.
After, the hall pass is used, she shares a few kisses with her fiancé but it never progresses beyond that.
Do I feel sorry for the fiancé? Not really. He obviously isn’t the one for Chloe. Derek basically incentivized/bribed him to step out of the picture and he doesn’t fight to keep Chloe.
The separation stems from her pushing him to get treatment for his mental health. He’s in treatment for a little over 2 months and they have no contact during that time....more
**spoiler alert** I’ve seen this one making the rounds in my Facebook reader groups. I’m still on my angsty shit so I decided to give this a chance. I**spoiler alert** I’ve seen this one making the rounds in my Facebook reader groups. I’m still on my angsty shit so I decided to give this a chance. It’s definitely got all the feels. If you are seeking the torment and turmoil you feel reading a cheating and betrayal book this will probably be a great choice.
I adore groveling books. They are hard to come by because a good grovel is difficult to write. Cheating is the hardest betrayal to overcome. It’s easier when it’s a total one off mistake when it’s an affair or something like what you get here it’s harder to redeem.
H & h are high school sweethearts. The golden couple. Then she’s away with her mom on summer vacation and H’s cooler older cousin visits. He gets H to play wingman for him and the girl he needs to occupy for his cousin is h’s arch nemesis. She’s pretty and blah blah blah. H doesn’t really intend to cheat but things get carried away and h catches him cozied up with her enemy. The breakup is devastating. H is immediately regretful but H freezes him out completely.
Ultimately he’s young and a total moron but he didn’t do what he needed to do. He realized h needed space but he didn’t push the other girl away. He let her hang around and hang on him etc. He let her flirt with him, sometimes kiss him blah blah. He holds off on having sex until he’s 100% sure h is never going to forgive him. ...more
**spoiler alert** I’m really torn about how to rate or review this book. It honestly doesn’t deserve 3 stars but 2 stars seems too harsh. 2.5 stars, I**spoiler alert** I’m really torn about how to rate or review this book. It honestly doesn’t deserve 3 stars but 2 stars seems too harsh. 2.5 stars, I guess.
The covers for this series are pretty awesome. That’s one selling point but a great cover doesn’t make a great book. I’m not saying this is terrible but it’s far from good either.
I don’t know if it’s because this is a collaboration but the story feels extremely disjointed. I’ve never read anything by either author so I don’t know if they just don’t have narrative styles I vibe with or if this story is such a mess because they don’t really vibe well together. I found myself being drawn in sometimes and then cringing at others.
The storytelling is choppy. It felt like we were jumping from scene to scene rather than flowing. This is a FOUR book series. This book alone is 408 pages and everything here is very surface level and shallow. With a four book series I expect to know these characters intimately but it never happens.
She’s got these four dudes. They all want her. She wants them, sometimes. She’s all twisted up because reasons. Aside from straight up fated mate bonds we aren’t really given anything to go on as to why they all want her so badly. At this point, as far as the authors have said, Kingston is her fated mate. The others all want her. I suspect they are all fated mates because she’s clearly not a normal wolf shifter BUT so far we have’s learned if the others are actually her fated mates or not. Noah (Thorne) decides she’s his mate, it doesn’t acknowledge fated or otherwise, just his mate. She doesn’t immediately agree that they’ll be mates though.
The vampire, Noah (Thorne), starts off wanting to kill her. Her blood sings to him (love those Twilight vibes lol). He’s kind of douchey but not too douchey. She’s charmed. Then he ghosts her every five seconds. Then he’s literally had himself *branded* with a traitors mark because he’s decided to mate her no matter what - he never even discussed this before hand. Ok, then. She’s pretty up for it though it takes her a hot minute to fully commit. She’s indecisive and all.
Then her supposed fated mate Kingston. Here we have her rejecting him pre-book. He’s a douchebag to the extreme. He’s got severely fragile masculinity because he badmouths her to everyone because she rejected him. Here’s the thing. He knows why she rejected him. Everyone knows. She’s a shifter who can’t shift. She can’t accept a bond since she can’t shift. This is literally why she says she can’t bond him. Half the time the authors act like that isn’t a thing though. I suspect these two aren’t on the same page about the reason for the rejection or how widespread this knowledge is supposed to be.
We are also super lucky to be treated to her happening upon Kingston balls deep in a whore he’s using to comfort his fragile little feelings. Super fucking unnecessary. I’ll never understand why disgusting scenes like this are written into ROMANCE novels. How many women read these books to see H fucking OW on the page? If you’re one then, I promise you’re in the minority. I don’t need my books to be 100% safe but unless I’m reading a book about cheating (and I sometimes like those so I occasionally do) I don’t want to find H with his dick in another woman. Fucking gross. Good luck redeeming this douchenozzle now. I can feel it my bones though. These two have already laid the groundwork. It’s h’s fault he fucked OW, right? It’s not cheating. They aren’t together. It’s all HER fault. H is just a man. He had to fuck OW so he could feel manly again. The h is all to blame for making him fuck OW. He’s innocent here so nothing to redeem. GTFOH with that misogynistic bullshit. They won’t redeem H because he’s the real victim here. Fucking gross.
Then Alex who’s super into her and it’s unclear what’s in the way other than they don’t really know each other or spend any time together. So why does he want her?
Caleb the vampire priest is also a jerk most of the time but she plays out these constant bratty DDlg scenes with him even though he’s trying real hard not to play along (he’s failing miserably).
Oh there’s also a nasty vampire OW who bites the dust so I’m not really sure why she’s there. I personally hate OW drama most of the time so not sad to see her skanky ass die but like also why bother in the first place.
My intention here wasn’t to rant my way through this review but I clearly had some things to get off my chest, if you made it this far, I’m sorry lol.
This is a medium burn. Definitely not safe....more
This book has terrible reviews and they are all well deserved. Why did Cora Reilly think this was a good idea? I could write a lot of things about thiThis book has terrible reviews and they are all well deserved. Why did Cora Reilly think this was a good idea? I could write a lot of things about this but it’s here in the hundreds of other reviews. Savio is irredeemable. ...more
I’m going through a weird phase right. I typically read dark romance, sometimes bully, I’ve started to read a lot of different alien books (thank you,I’m going through a weird phase right. I typically read dark romance, sometimes bully, I’ve started to read a lot of different alien books (thank you, Ice Planet Barbarians lol). Ive never been much for angsty reads. I recognize aside from instalove pretty much all romance novels have some sort of angst in them. So I’ve had to hone my angst radar.
There’s a huge anti-cheating sentiment amongst many romance readers. I get it. I do not ever want to stumble across surprise cheating in book. Now, if I know it’s there that’s a different story. I like cheating books if the h is the OW. I love, love, love a grovel. H wrongs h, he has to grovel his ass off for forgiveness? Yes, please! I can’t get into doormat hs or unrepentant Hs so I avoid those like the plague. Every one has their own standard, this is mine.
This is a really unusual story. There’s a big old bold face warning at the top of the blurb asking people to go in blind for maximum enjoyment. Ive got to say, Charlene, I probably would have hated this book if I’d gone in blind. Having a decent understanding of where this was heading I was able to enjoy the ride.
This is a love triangle between a father, son and a woman they both love. I won’t go so far as to reveal the plot intricacies or ultimate outcome but for people who need to know about the cheating content, there’s a lot. The only person in the book that doesn’t cheat on anyone at all is Rayden, the son. Otherwise its cheaterpalooza.
There were lots of word choices in this book that weren’t quite right. Maybe English isn’t the authors first language? I found it distracting in a few places trying to make sense behind the intent of the word choice when it didn’t make sense in the context used.
This book does have an HEA and it felt right and satisfying. In pretty much every love triangle I’ve ever read there’s one that always has an edge and that was definitely true here.
There’s a setup at the very end that leads to the next book. The person who isn’t chosen will get his HEA in that book. I wouldn’t call it a cliffhanger exactly but it was shocking given the information we gathered throughout the book. I will read it but probably not next. I need something a bit lighter. The third party here definitely deserves their own HEA too. ...more
This was a sweet story! Emily has felt trapped in her life for too long so she sneaks away. She finds herself in a place with legends of dragons.
BlakeThis was a sweet story! Emily has felt trapped in her life for too long so she sneaks away. She finds herself in a place with legends of dragons.
Blake and Taylor have waited a long time for the woman to come who was prophesied long ago.
You can probably see where this story is going!
What worked for me: I really enjoyed Emily as a heroine. Finding the strength to change her entire life is admirable. She was strong and kind and likable. Blake and Taylor were excellent Hs.
Story 3.5/5, Steam 3.5/5, medium burn, MFM. Emily technically had a fiancée she had fled from when she first hooked up with Blake and Taylor. This didn’t bother me because the fiancée was unlikable and eventually villainous. No cliffhanger and a nice HEA.
The story felt a bit sluggish at the start but it was a good read!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review....more
*sigh* can’t say I’m surprised. If anyone could muck up the sequel to red thorns it’s her. SEVEN YEAR SEPARATION. 7. SEVEN. She’s married too because *sigh* can’t say I’m surprised. If anyone could muck up the sequel to red thorns it’s her. SEVEN YEAR SEPARATION. 7. SEVEN. She’s married too because reasons.
I’ve been dancing around reading this book for a few weeks now. I’m glad I finally took the plunge. It was a good read, if kind of bittersweet. It doeI’ve been dancing around reading this book for a few weeks now. I’m glad I finally took the plunge. It was a good read, if kind of bittersweet. It does have an HEA and it made me happy to see them get it. Their relationship was kind of sad though so it’s a bittersweet feeling.
They have quiet a connection and orbit each other for about half the book. Then they get together and it mostly works. He’s a busy musician doing gigs etc. she’s busy with school I think. They have interludes together. Eventually get engaged. She finds out a few months before the wedding he’s been cheating on her.
You can imagine her heartbreak. He’s not just a manslut he’s got a lot of broody issues and a viper of an OW who manipulated him. I’m not excusing his behavior, just putting it in perspective.
She drops him like a hot potato and he begins his grovel. It’s a long, heartfelt epic grovel. She has several relationships in the aftermath. He has one but remains faithful and celibate their entire 2+ year separation. In the end I felt he earned her forgiveness.
Also this isn’t a criticism of this book but just factual information. They sex scenes are either fade to black or glossed over. There is one scene near the end where they reconcile that is more detailed but still lacks passion. ...more