#bookrecs

What’s inside?

👉 Cozy 👉 Fantasy 👉 Sci-Fi 👉 Multi Genre 👉 LGBTQ 👉 Romance 👉 Historical 👉 Sweet/Clean 👉 Steamy/Erotica 👉 Mysteries 👉 Contemporary 👉Thrillers/Suspense 👉 Alien & Monster 👉 Paranormal 👉 Horror/Dark 👉 Humorous And More

I present to you this week's bag of mixed delights

I present to you this week's bag of mixed delights

☛ Cut: Dark Psychological Dystopian Fiction

☛ Seducing Mr Remington: Spicy Billionaire Romance

☛ A Superhero's Legacy: YA Action Superhero

☛ Silent Witnesses: Victorian Gothic Thriller 

☛ Those Three Words: Single Dad Nanny Romance

☛ Elusive Embezzler: Financial Thriller

☛ A Death, a Duke, and Miss Mifford: Cozy Historical Mystery

☛ Adore: MM Romance

☛ Between Ink and Shadows: Gaslamp Fantasy

☛ The Secret of Seaside: Cozy Murder Mystery 

☛ The Pale-Eyed Mage: Epic Fantasy

☛ One Fired Up Fourth: Rivals to Lovers Holiday Romance

☛ Death by Greek Fire: Historical Fiction

☛ Evil Arises: Epic Fantasy

☛ The Reaper of Washington County: Horror

Original Goodreads review found here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/8763593256

4.5 stars rounded up to 5 for being such a fun ride. Many thanks to Edelweiss and Scarlett Press for proving me with a promotional copy of this book. As always, these are 100% my own honest opinions, and buckle up, because I’ve got some thoughts!

Usually, a book will eventually drive me batty due to weak writing, usually for reasons like bad pacing, stupid character choices, cringey dialogue, etc. These little things annoy me so much that I even like to take notes just so I can mention in my reviews, because the older I get, the more I morph into my spirit animal: a no-nonsense high school English teacher. 

Well, Leena Kazan, ya got me this time. Ya got me GOOD, pulled the wool right over my eyes, and tricked me over and over again. Every single detail that initially annoyed me in this book (with the exception of the use of “Baby” as an endearment, which simply did not match the tone of this book) eventually turned out to be a seed planted just to burst into bloom later on when I was least expecting it. 

In fact, thanks to what I can only describe as “a thoroughly twisty plot” (which in my eyes is quite different than simply “plot twists”) I had to delete my English teacher spirit animal’s entire list of “notes to complain about when I write my review”, because every single issue I found eventually all came into play at some point later on in the book. How rude! And delightful!

I don’t want to give a single spoiler, so instead of explaining the plot I’ll put it like this: Do you like yearning? How about intense longing and characters trying to deny their own need to touch or connect with one another? What about a “touch her and die” MMC who maintains that protective attitude even when he literally hates the FMC’s guts (all for very valid reasons)? Or “share a bed” scenarios that all have actually legit reasons for happening? 

How about steam/spice that’s more implied and loosely outlined than outright blow-by-blow (but still very nice)? A proper fantasy setting with semi-modern language that isn’t TOO egregious or annoying (other than the occasional “Baby”)? Twists and turns? Trauma that shapes the story in an interesting way but doesn’t rip your heart out to that point where you definitely feel it while you’re reading, but aren’t left hollow and unable to function the next day? 

Well, this book certainly definitely delivers all of that. 

Was it perfect? No. The two biggest issues I found with the writing was the speed (which I found to be slightly too fast) and the depth (which I found to be slightly too shallow). I actually think this book could have stood to be slightly longer to draw out those angsty scenes a tiny bit more, which would have then allowed the author to slow down the pace and let the reader soak in each scene a little longer, instead of moving along at such a quick clip from the very first page.

However, did any of that interfere with my enjoyment of this book? Not even a little. In a lot of ways, it was kind of like a Romantasy Marvel movie—you get a little bit of everything, without anything going overly deep or getting overly detailed. With that said, I actually think this author is one of the few I’ve encountered who could possible manage to one day write a Romantasy Lord of the Rings if she is able to give herself permission to go a bit deeper into her writing. 

Swinging into July with Free and On Sale eBooks and Audiobooks

👉 Cozy 👉 Fantasy 👉 Sci-Fi 👉 Multi Genre 👉 LGBTQ 👉 Romance 👉 Historical 👉 Sweet/Clean 👉 Steamy/Erotica 👉 Mysteries 👉 Contemporary 👉Thrillers/Suspense 👉 Alien & Monster 👉 Paranormal 👉 Horror/Dark 👉 Humorous 👉 And More

What’s inside?