book_lover_irl's reviews
437 reviews

Until Tomorrow Comes by Adelaide Forrest

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challenging dark tense
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
I’m struggling to review this book. I’m not sure if I hate or love this book.
Consent is important to me. I can sometimes tolerate dubious consent but outright violation…


The FMC drives me a bit bonkers with her occasional wishy-washy reactions to the MMCs dominance. Overall I don’t love
insta-love
tropes, especially ones that are this
obsessive.
Sometimes that can be hot — like in Navessa Allen’s Lights Out… chefs kiss and as an added bonus, that book was hysterical. 

Not sure how I feel. Novel ended on a cliffhanger so I plan to start the next book asap. However, I am skeptical that I’ll make it far. I have a feeling that I’ll end up DNFing and just googling the spoilers to answer my questions. 
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The Young and the Submissive by Jenna Jacob, Shayla Black, Isabella Lapearl

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dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Broody, angsty, emotional read. I liked the first book, loved the second book and can’t wait to see where the third book leads…

Stars: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️, maybe 🌶️🌶️🌶️ 🌶️
POV: Tri
HEA: Yes, sort of
Cliffhanger: Yes, kinda
Tropes: BDSM, insecure & abused girl with alpha dom males

Goodreads: Book Lover IRL
Instagram: @Book.Lover.IRL

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I loved this book
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I really liked this book
⭐️⭐️⭐️ I liked this book
⭐️⭐️ Meh…  bored or annoyed
⭐️Seriously? Not worth it

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ INFERNO. P@nty melting
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ Blazing hot
🌶️🌶️🌶️ Now we’re talking
🌶️🌶️ Meh… uninspired missionary
🌶️ Does weak foreplay count?
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One Dom to Love by Jenna Jacob, Isabella LaPearl, Shayla Black

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dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Solid story with a great narrator. Very angsty. I’m not used to novels that have a single narrator being a man. Christian Fox did an amazing job different between characters. His Irish lilt was sexy and glorious.

I had a love / hate relationship with the characters. One minute I loved them and the next I was utterly flabbergasted with their actions and behaviors. Overall I loved Raine. She had a hard go of it and allowed herself to be vulnerable. Hammer (Macen) was so selfish and pig headed sometimes that I couldn't always relate with his choices. Liam, on the other hand, was so amazingly sweet. I love how he attended to Raine's needs.

As a duet story, this book ends on a cliffhanger. I am excited to read the next book to see how this ends. Very recommendable duet. 

Stars: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
POV: Triple (all by one male narrator)
HEA: No
Cliffhanger: Yes
Tropes: BDSM, age gap, rich man-poor girl

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I loved this book
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I really liked this book
⭐️⭐️⭐️ I liked this book
⭐️⭐️ Meh…  bored or annoyed
⭐️Seriously? Not worth it

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ INFERNO. P@nty melting
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ Blazing hot
🌶️🌶️🌶️ Now we’re talking
🌶️🌶️ Meh… uninspired missionary
🌶️ Does weak foreplay count?
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All The Forbidden Things by Lesley Jones

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emotional tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Enjoyable. Emotional. Slow burn. I think I’ve decided I am not a fan of British accents in my narrated smutty novels. I tend to like them in movies but am just irritated by them in my spice. After reading quite a few accented novels, I will most likely avoid them in the future. 

Stars: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75
Spice: 🌶️🌶️
POV: Duet
HEA: Yes
Cliffhanger: No
Tropes: Age gap, rock star, independently wealthy
 
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I loved this book 
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I really liked this book 
⭐️⭐️⭐️ I liked this book 
⭐️⭐️ Meh…  bored or annoyed 
⭐️ Seriously? Not worth it 
 
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ INFERNO. P@nty melting 
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ Blazing hot 
🌶️🌶️🌶️ Now we’re talking 
🌶️🌶️ Meh… uninspired missionary 
🌶️ Does weak foreplay count? 

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Kings of Retribution MC: Riggs by Crystal Daniels, Sandy Alvarez

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adventurous dark medium-paced

3.0

I enjoyed it once I got over the super thick accents the narrators gave the MMC. I like MC tropes and it was refreshing to read a story that didn’t treat club bunnies like complete prostitutes. I also liked that there wasn’t a bunch of cheating a-holes in the MC. My favorite part of the novel was the inclusion of a deaf FMC. It was great to see some diversity. 

Overall entertaining read with a nice amount of action. Light spice that was relatively tame for a smut novel. 

Won’t read again but will probably continue with the series. 

Stars: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶️🌶️
POV: Duet
HEA: Yes
Cliffhanger: No
Tropes: MC, damsel in distress, former military 

Goodreads: Book Lover IRL
Instagram: @Book.Lover.IRL

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I loved this book
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I really liked this book
⭐️⭐️⭐️ I liked this book
⭐️⭐️ Meh…  bored or annoyed
⭐️ Seriously? Not worth it

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ INFERNO. P@nty melting
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ Blazing hot
🌶️🌶️🌶️ Now we’re talking
🌶️🌶️ Meh… uninspired missionary
🌶️ Does weak foreplay count?
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Crave by Evelyn Sola

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emotional funny reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Good story. Dislikable MMC with serious anger issues (NOT in a possessive, cute, relatable way). Loved the strong FMC with backbone and sass. Started out super angst-y and drawn out.  Wrapped up strangely without much of a catalyst for the couple to overcome. Just didn’t quite work for me. Loved the narrators. Troy Duran is my all time fave male narrator and Mari (no last name?!) did an excellent job as the FMC. 

Stars: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
POV: Duet / dual
HEA: Yes
Cliffhanger: No
Tropes: Upper class man / working class woman, interracial, instalove

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I loved this book
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I really liked this book
⭐️⭐️⭐️ I liked this book
⭐️⭐️ Meh…  bored or annoyed
⭐️ Seriously? Not worth it

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ INFERNO. P@nty melting
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ Blazing hot
🌶️🌶️🌶️ Now we’re talking
🌶️🌶️ Meh… uninspired missionary
🌶️ Does weak foreplay count?
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Kingston by Leila James

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Whoa! So much tension and anticipation. Keeps you guessing. You love to hate one of the MCs who can’t seem to get their head out of their arse.  There is hot, smutty spice but I struggled with some parts because it’s consensual / non-consensual. 

Story leaves off on a cliffhanger since it is book one of a trilogy. Can’t wait to read Cannon’s story next. 

Stars: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
POV: Quad
HEA: Not yet?
Cliffhanger: Yes
Tropes: instalove, university brotherhood, emotionally damaged MCs

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I loved this book
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I really liked this book
⭐️⭐️⭐️ I liked this book
⭐️⭐️ Meh…  bored or annoyed
⭐️ Seriously? Not worth it

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ INFERNO. P@nty melting
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ Blazing hot
🌶️🌶️🌶️ Now we’re talking
🌶️🌶️ Meh… uninspired missionary
🌶️ Does weak foreplay count?
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No Place to Run by Maya Banks

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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Down Shift by K. Bromberg

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dark emotional funny reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Almost perfection. I adored the emotional, sweet, funny, reflective story. Both MCs had traumatic pasts that they were trying to work out separately. By opening up to each other they are hoping to find some peace of mind. The narrators were fabulous. 

My only teensiest complaint was sometimes we were stuck in the FMCs head and inner dialogue a bit too much. It got repetitive every once in a while. 

This was my first book by this author and first read of this series. I thoroughly enjoyed both. I now intend to go back and start the Driven series from the beginning. 

Stars: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
POV: Duet, Dual
HEA: Yes
Cliffhanger: No
Tropes: Protective MMC, insta-lust
 
Goodreads: Book Lover IRL
Instagram: @Book.Lover.IRL

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I loved this book 
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I really liked this book 
⭐️⭐️⭐️ I liked this book 
⭐️⭐️ Meh…  bored or annoyed 
⭐️ Seriously? Not worth it 
 
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ INFERNO. P@nty melting 
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ Blazing hot 
🌶️🌶️🌶️ Now we’re talking 
🌶️🌶️ Meh… uninspired missionary 
🌶️ Does weak foreplay count? 

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The Actress and the Aristocrat by Katie Ashley

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emotional funny lighthearted slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

Solid rom-com. Narrators were okay. Female narrator kept switching between accents for the FMC and didn’t seem to know how to stay in character which made the story sound slightly disjointed. Enjoyable. Glad I listened to it for free through the Audible Plus catalog and didn’t use a credit for it. 

Stars: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶️🌶️
POV: Duet / dual
HEA: Yes
Cliffhanger: No
Tropes: Royal and a commoner, enemies to lovers
 
Goodreads: Book Lover IRL
Instagram: @Book.Lover.IRL

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I loved this book 
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I really liked this book 
⭐️⭐️⭐️ I liked this book 
⭐️⭐️ Meh…  bored or annoyed 
⭐️ Seriously? Not worth it 
 
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ INFERNO. P@nty melting 
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ Blazing hot 
🌶️🌶️🌶️ Now we’re talking 
🌶️🌶️ Meh… uninspired missionary 
🌶️ Does weak foreplay count? 

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