I know I've said it many times about many authors... But Lillian Lark is for real one of my favorites. I think she is my final addition to my top five, so I'll have to start saying top ten after this. Her writing? Immaculate. Her characters? Interesting, funny, relatable. Her plots? Full of depth, romance, and a little bit of angst. Not to worry, we always get our happy ending. The world she has built around this love bathhouse universe is one that I am deeply in love with. Of the three books I've gotten to read (que me desperately figuring out how to get my hands on the lake monster and werewolf ones) not one has left me wanting for anything but more, more, more!

This is the third of the monstrous matches series in the love bathhouse universe. It follows Emilia, who we first met in the second book Deceived by the Gargoyles, the restoration expert of the library that holds the supernatural worlds Archive. Following the traumatic incident of her being kidnapped, Emilia is now aware of the supernatural world that her best friend, Grace, is a part of. If it's not enough to find out that the things that go bump in the night are real and your best friend is a witch, Emilia gets thrown into dealing with her own supernatural troubles as an innocent touch to a serpent kin book leads to her getting cursed. Now with snakes for hair and a stony stare, she is desperate to find out how to get back to normal.

Luckily for Emilia, her boss just so happens to be a basilisk. Limited but capable due to his bloodline, Jasper, who has always had an eye for Emilia is there to help immediately when Emilia accidentally turns her coworker to stone. Jasper decides, despite the rejection he slapped on him the other night, to request help from his long-time fling, Ari. After another incident with Emilia's mother, we end up with Emilia, Jasper, and Ari all living under the same roof so that Ari can help Emilia train her new powers while they all search for ways to try and reverse her "chosen" condition, as Ari calls it.

Of course, with a chosen around now, Ari is determined to lock them into a triad as he knows this is exactly what he needs to get Jasper willing to mate with him... falling in love with Emilia is just a step along the way. Though charismatic and fun, Ari is a skilled player when it comes to manipulating the game board to get what he wants, which is why his tight lips and strategic plan is exactly what ends up getting the triad into trouble when Emilia finds out he has been lying to her.

The romance is delightful, I have to say, I think this is absolutely my favorite in the series so far. Each character had their own unique qualities and inner conflict which had me binging the whole book in a day. Emilia with her anxious yet quiet determination trying to figure out if she's okay with what she's become and the world she lives in. Jasper with his cold aloofness but underneath desiring nothing but to be wanted and needed. Finally, Ari, who desperately wants to keep those he loves but internally doesn't know if he can do so without lying to them yet also knowing that keeping his secrets will lead him to nothing but trouble, hurt, and regret.

The smut is... by far my favorite of anything I've read... Is that crazy? Well, then call me nuts. And it's plentiful... Like, really plentiful for 370 pages. It's basically full of every single way these three could have gotten down and dirty. Plus... snake men. (Sue me, I've got a thing for the scaly guys... but then, you pry do too if you're here :))

This is a fun and flirty romance embroidered with a little manipulation, some angst, one happy ending, and a whole lot of three-way positions. Lillian Lark is an excellent writer who brings her world to life through her relatable (sans being anything but human) main characters and their struggles in life and love. I highly recommend the love bathhouse universe and hope you enjoy it as much as I do. 9/10

Also, if you were wondering, between when I saved this draft at my lunch break and finished it off after work <(￣︶￣)> I got the lake monster and werewolf paperback books ordered.

Would I read again? Yes, and I already want to, and I just finished it a couple days ago!

And he does before Emilia can snarl at him for the nickname. Ari grasps one of Mrs. Rivera’s outstretched hands, and in an instant, the gray and cold stone disappears.

“Mrs. Rivera, I presume? My name is Ari, and I have the pleasure of healing you today. Where did you get bit? Oh, never mind, I see it. May I?”

Now Ari waits for Emilia’s mother to catch up to the world around her. Including the sight of Ari in front of her. After a second, she nods. “Yes.”

This has been going around various socials all over the place, so I thought why not add my share with my own special take? Namely “Mid-Year Book Freak Out--Monster Romance Edition.” Especially since that’s most of what novels and novellas I’ve read this year. 

Overall, my reading this year has been really pleasant and enjoyable, and I’ve already had to raise my original number of books to read this year from 50 to 75. That’s happened the past couple of years, so this is nothing new. We’ll see if I have to raise it to 100 before getting close to year’s end.

Below, I’ll be answering a set of given questions from a tag, but some of them I really can’t answer as nothing for my reading year applies to those questions. On to those that I can answer (though if you know me or chat with me regularly, you’ll already know about my selections and their reasons)!