koistyfishy's reviews
363 reviews

 5 Salt in the Water Stars ⭐
Spicy Level: 🌶️🌶️.5/5

I love this book so much, that I made my phone background a picture of the cover art...

Reading this feels like you're wrapped up in a warm, fluffy blanket, with oversized socks and a cup of deliciously spiced tea while you're sitting by a roaring fire, watching the rain outside. If that doesn't give you the epitome of cosy vibes, then I don't know what you find cosy.

This was also a very unexpected surprise. I wasn't sure how this book ended up on my TBR, so went in with no expectations - and I am pretty happy I did. I was blown away by the story, the plot and the characters.

This is a dual POV - Daella, a half-Orc is a captive of a brutal tyrannical emperor who forces her to do his dirty work. She is also allergic to fresh water (not in the same way as Gremlin's where she multiplies into little evil versions of herself)... Instead, she ends up in giant boils and welts. Sent on a mission to track Dragon-Magic users her ship is attacked by a vicious storm. She ends up falling overboard - don't worry, salt water is fine - and washes up on the island of Fable in a little town where a gorgeous elf with long silver hair greets her with a sword to her throat. Rivelin strikes up a deal with Daella. She can return to the mainland in six weeks after she helps him win this year's Midsummer Games by being his assistant. Rivelin needs to win the games as the winner is granted a wish - and he wants to wish for the protection of his Island and home.

It was really sweet and charming to see how these two forged a bond. (This is funny because Rivelin is a blacksmith). At the start, they are very apprehensive of each other and have both built up walls around their hearts. But as more and more time goes along, the two start opening up to each other and start falling for each other as they learn to trust one another.

Daella was the complete opposite of my perceptions of a Half-Orc. I expected brutish, quick to anger and a brain one step above a Neanderthal. While she is stubborn, she is incredibly kind-hearted. She has a traumatic past and has been pushed to her limits by the Emperor, only doing his bidding as he will kill her if she doesn't with a magic ice shard embedded into her hip. Given her guarded actions, she comes off with a resting bitchface personality but as people slowly get to know her, they realize that she is incredibly self-sacrificing, honest, noble and gentle.

Rivelin is a grumpy, lonesome blacksmith who deeply cares for his family, his village and his home. All he wants is for that to remain safe. He's self-sacrificing, noble and incredibly generous - especially towards Daella. Underneath his grumpy persona lurks a spicy little cinnamon roll.

The world-building is easy to understand. The writing is captivating and gripping causing the book to be a perfect quick little romantasy palate cleanser.

Tropes in this include:
▶ Cosy Fantasy
▶ Dual POV
▶ Forced Proximity
▶ Enemies Rivals to Lovers
▶ Interracial/Multicultural Romance
▶ Found Family
▶ Dragons
▶ Who Did This To You
▶ Rolled Sleeves (and Forearms)
▶ Hold on to the...

If you are looking for a low angst fluffy read with a little bit of spice and maybe some dragons, I highly recommend this. The tropes were well executed and the characters were enjoyable and sweet. 

3 Saint Stars ⭐
Spicy Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️.5/5

Some books are a hit, some books are a miss... and some books just fade into the background with the title - "well that was ok, it passed the time". This one fell into the last category.

This is a dual POV which follows Harper and Alex. Harper is a curator at a museum that is currently having a fundraiser to keep the museum open and garner funding. They have invited the local Seattle Phantoms football team to help raise money. Soon Harper finds herself in a very sticky situation. One that involves her ex-husband's best friend, who she kissed before she started dating her ex and before she knew he was her ex-husband's best friend. Alex cannot keep his eyes off Harper because he has loved her since their one night together. So when he sees one of his fellow teammates getting a little bit handsy, he sees red, and punches his teammate in the face. In an effort to salvage the situation, they agree to "Fake Date" to explain Alex's rage.

There is just something about this book that feels "off" and I think it was how quickly the two of them get together in their fake relationship. It bordered on instalove and I really don't like instalove as a trope. Now I do understand that these two characters have a history and unrepressed feelings for each other as they wonder "what might have been". But it just felt a little bit too quick, and she gave into Alex's pursuits and advances WAY TO FAST! I wanted to see a little bit more pushback, playing hard to get - or just something that wasn't these two immediately jumping into bed together even if Harper's ex is a fucking cheating tool who never deserved her in the first place.

There was one thing in this book that I think was done superbly well, and it's something most books battle with - COUPLE COMMUNICATION. Alex and Harper were perfect at discussing issues, fears, likes, dislikes and if something came up - would immediately try to resolve it with the other person. It felt mature and adult and an excellent example of how to do communication right and not introduce any form of miscommunication into their dialogue/story.

There is not much else I can say about the characters or the book, because you have seen this story before and seen these characters - it's pretty much cookie-cutter of what you would expect in a fake dating sports romance. The spice is spicy and the HOT TUB SCENE - My gosh was that SEXY...

Tropes in this include:
▶ Second Chance (Kinda)
▶ He had her first
▶ Ex Husband's Best Friend
▶ Fake Dating
▶ He Falls First
▶ Touch Her You Die
▶ Cinnamon Roll
▶ GrumpyXSunshine
▶ Mine
▶ Forehead Kisses
▶ Under Table Touching
▶ Voyeurism
▶ Banter

Honestly, if you just want a good fake dating book with spice - this is a good choice to give you exactly that! It's not the best of the best, but it's not terrible that you'll waste your time reading it! 

4.5 Skating Lesson Stars ⭐
Spicy Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️/5

Giddy! That is how this book makes you feel! Utterly and completely GIDDY! It had me kicking and squealing, giggling like a schoolgirl with a crush and just overall shaking my legs at how cute and awesome it was.

I was elated at the events that happened and loved how things unfurled. The two flirting with each other was excellent and the way these two migrated from fake to not fake was TEXTBOOK PERFECTION on how to pull off that trope FANTASTICALLY! (Mostly because the lines blurred so well you weren't sure when they realised this is no longer fake between them - because it was WELL BEFORE they told each other).

Hazel is the team's physiotherapist and older sister of Piper, who was the main character in Behind the Net. Hazel has a dilemma, her cheating ex-boyfriend has just been traded into the hockey team she works for and she is assigned as his physiotherapist. He is also the reason Hazel has closed off her heart to any professional sports player - because you can't get hurt if you never open yourself to it in the first place. Rory has been secretly pining after Hazel since she was his math tutor in high school, so to keep her Ex at bay, the two strike up a fake relationship as a way to hinder any advances that her ex might make.

This book does interpersonal relationships really well. Especially how difficult it can be to maintain and work on those relationships. Hazel's relationship with her mother is quite strained as her mother is battling with a body image problem. She was a ballerina that hasn't been able to dance for a while, so is super critical of how she looks. As a result, she doesn't allow herself to try any experiences because of how her body would be perceived. This goes against everything Hazel is trying to achieve with her dream of opening a body-positive yoga studio.

Rory has a strained relationship with both his parents. He believes that choosing hockey and staying with his dad forced his mom away. However, with age, it's become clear that his dad seems to love hockey and only hockey. Being Rory's agent he pushes Rory in directions that don't make him happy anymore causing conflict between the two.

Hazel and Rory's relationship was absolutely beautiful because the two of them bring out the best in each other. Rory makes Hazel see that she can do anything. She can make her dreams a reality and her presence makes people's lives better. He helps her overcome her fear of love and the underlying trauma her ex caused and helps her see how amazing she is. Likewise Hazel makes Rory find his love for hockey again. At the start of the book, has lost touch with what the game means to him. Due to his father's influence, he is just going through the motions and being who he thinks his father wants him to be. But Hazel changes his perspective, opens his heart to collaboration and teamwork and gives him the chance to be his own type of role model allowing him to balance life and hockey in a way his parents never managed to do when he was growing up.

The spice in this was also fun! Rory makes Hazel feel incredibly sexy by sending her a shit ton of lingerie which the two of and enjoy through various phone exchanges and spicy scenes.

Tropes in this include:
▶ Enemies Hate to Love
▶ Forced Proximity
▶ Hockey Romance
▶ Found Family
▶ Golden Retriever/Cinnamon Roll
▶ Fake Dating
▶ No Third Act Breakup
▶ It's always been you
▶ Forehead Kisses

Overall this felt just like a sweet and cute Hallmark movie, that is just going to make you giddy and smile. It was absolutely adorable and a fantastic book to pick up if you are looking for your next hockey romance fix! 

4.5 Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate Stars ⭐
Spicy Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️/5

Based on looking at the rest of the reviews for this book, I might be in the minority of this, but I enjoyed this book. It made me giggle and smile! I also think I enjoyed it so much because there were a few similarities between my relationship with my husband and how Chase and Bailey act around each other.

This is a Dual POV following Bailey James and Chase Carter. On the night of her birthday dinner, Bailey's cheating boyfriend breaks up with her to focus on Hockey and not the distraction of a relationship. As a pick-me-up, Bailey's friends take her out to a new club where she gets roaringly drunk and hits it off with Chase Carter after a slew of terrible air traffic control innuendos. But she knows all about Chase Carter as he is a star hockey player on her school's rival team and so should be her enemy. She decides to leave with Carter, ends up puking on his shoes and all gentleman-y he takes her to his house... gives her a t-shirt and some place to sleep it off, and that's it! From then on the two form a friendship that blossoms into more.

So there are two things that my relationship shares with Carter and James. One - on one of the nights early in our relationship, I got pretty plastered and ended up showing up on his shoes. And two... never mind the fact that we have been married for almost eight years and I share his surname, he still calls me Ms Maiden Name as a nickname.

Bailey is very unsure of herself. She is timid and afraid to stand up for herself at the start. As a result, she tends to hide or run away from confrontation or any situation that could put her into something with conflict. But as she becomes closer to Chase and their friendship deepens, she starts to come out of her shell and pushes back for herself and stands up for what she believes. This is seriously needed because her initial "friends" and own brother treat her absolutely AWFULLY because of her friendship with Chase and completely isolate and alienate her - making it a very toxic environment to live in.

I love Chase. He is like an undercover cinnamon roll because he comes off as this cocky, arrogant man on the ice, but off the ice, he is a total and adorable sweetheart who is goofy, can make you laugh and is super protective. HJe is also extremely honourable and generous. He almost seems too perfect in everything that he does but my disillusioned mind didn't mind this too much as I was just enjoying the story and all the cute ways he was interacting with Bailey.

The one thing about this that kept the story from being perfect and it actually a detriment, is that it was too long. You could easily cut out 100 pages and it would still flow perfectly. At times was wondering when is this going to end? This was also split with a weird situation that sometimes it went into too much detail on some situations and not enough details on things I actually WANTED to see. (view spoiler)

However, I liked their dynamic and I like the way that their friendship developed, and I like that the two of them were able to grow together. I also really appreciated that she was able to find a "family" that valued her and appreciated her in Chase's circle. While there is a third-act breakup, it's not as a result of them being stupid. So I didn't hate it too much because I understood the reasoning behind it.

Tropes in this include:
▶ Enemies Rivals to Friends to Lovers
▶ Hockey Romance
▶ Ex's Rival
▶ Collage/University Romance
▶ He Falls First
▶ Cinnamon Roll
▶ Forbidden Romance
▶ Slow Burn
▶ Dual Pov
▶ Third Act Breakup
▶ Rich Boy Romance

Microtropes:
▶ "Mine"
▶ Forehead Kisses
▶ Nicknames
▶ Forearm's
▶ Takes care of her

Overall, if you want a sweet little sexy hockey romance, I would recommend picking this up because I really enjoyed Chase and Bailey's story. 

5 Spontaneous Flower Stars ⭐
Spicy Level: 🌶️🌶️.5/5

This book just puts a smile on your face…

So it's not really a secret, just more of an unknown fact, that I used to be obsessed with Historical Romance. This was all before I started writing reviews and before my dreaded 3-year book slump. But I can actually say - I liked Brigerton before it was cool.. Now I am obsessed with Romantsy, it's like my literary catnip, that I can't seem to get enough of...

AND this book is a perfect blend of the two as it took a beautiful mix of fantasy and historical romance and came up with a magical story that was utterly fantastical and brilliant. Some people have said it's like a Fae Bridgerton, which is correct but actually it's more than that. It's more akin to any great historical romance, such as Pride and Prejudice, just with a little more smut on the page and fewer hand flexes. Being within its pages as the story progressed felt like coming home after a long winter in the snow. It was like finding a long-lost love or turning nostalgic and wistful at a memory of a good time well spent.

This book follows Edwina Danforth, who is a human on a book tour in the Fae Islands for her spicy romance novels. Due to events out of her control, her book tour is hijacked by William Haywood as she missed her first two signings. William is a writer of poetry and is super arrogant and judgmental towards Edwina. The two realize that their publisher is going to award a three-book deal to the writer of the tour who sells the most books, and both of them have valid reasons for needing the money. Edwina - knowing she's missed out on two signings and is already behind William - strikes up a bet instead: the winner being awarded the contract. The bet: the person who can seduce and successfully perform an act of personal intimacy in their bedroom with the most people.

I adored the world-building as it was easy to understand and it felt exactly like a historical fiction novel. You could feel the period in the words, and see the time by the way the characters spoke and dressed. This gave a delightful blend of regency with the magic and wonder of fantasy, maintaining the propriety of the time but mixing certain aspects with the absurd. This wasn't a problem though because these eccentricities were accepted. After all, we were on the Fae Island, and the Fae were not as modest as the humans in Bretton. It was also thrilling to see something painted as "Historical" be so accepting. Some characters use "They" as their pronouns and Edwina's work in progress she is writing throughout the novel features an MM romance.

Edwina is an interesting character because she is incredibly stubborn and often prideful in how she reacts. She will let nothing stand in her way to win and is determined to make a name for herself. She is also very peculiar and curious - which puts her in some very interesting scenarios.

William has a secret. The person he portrays as William the Poet is not the same as the person who he is away from the spotlight and there is something about Edwina that makes him want to show her the true version of who he is. As he spends more time with her, he realizes how smart and beautiful she is and he finds it more and more difficult to get Edwina out of his mind.

Their chemistry was spectacular and well-developed. Their banter was giggle-inducing and there is probably one of the best "acted-out sexy" scenes in book I have ever seen. I was kicking my legs, screaming and squealing when this happened. I also liked that there was a balance of character development and plot.

Tropes in this include:
▶ Cosy Fantasy
▶ Dual POV
▶ Forced Proximity
▶ Enemies Rivals to Lovers
▶ Touch Her You Die
▶ Voyeurism
▶ Nicknames
▶ "Use Me"
▶ Chin Lifts

Overall, this was a gorgeous, beautiful, cosy fantasy that made me reminisce on how much I used to adore historical romance and reminded me why I now love romantasy. I cannot wait to see the rest of the books in the series.

Thank you to Tessonja Odette and Netgalley for my gifted ARC copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

3.5 Pyromaniac and Kleptomanic Stars ⭐
Spicy Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️.5/5

There is just something about Avina St. Graves that has the skill, expertise and talent to write two deliciously, dangerously deranged and unhinged characters and make you root for them.

This is a dual POV that follows Kohen and Blaze. Blaze has been tormented by Kohen since she was a little girl, but he is one of the few who know that even though she goes to a prestigious private school, she has no money and her house is one step away from being condemned. After being super jealous of Blaze hooking up with another guy, he sets her house on fire. So she does the only thing she can... she retaliates by going to his house and completely and utterly destroying everything with the baseball bat. After being caught instead of being sent to jail, she is sent to a reform school to continue out the last of her senior year. Soon however Kohen is sent to the same school, and guess who is allocated to be his buddy...

This book is not what you're going to expect. And if you're looking for another death obsession, you won't find it within these pages. It is closer to the "vibes" of Skin of a Sinner. The only difference is instead of there being only one unhinged character, we have two.

Blaze is the literal epitome of her name. She is stubborn, feisty, fiery, a firecracker and boy is she quick to anger. If that is not clear, she has a very short fuse and trust me when I say you do not want to be on the receiving end, because she will get physical and violent and might just bash your brains out with the baseball bat. I also felt sorry for her. She has a very tragic back story and she has a lot of awful things happen to her both on and off page. It broke my heart to see a character go through such traumatic experiences and how they shaped her explosive personality. You can almost not hold it against her that she is so rebellious and destructive to herself, as she has never had the support she needed. She is addicted to drugs and alcohol and battles that addiction throughout the book as they numb her thoughts and feelings while she deals with a society that has rejected her.

Kohen is kind of stuck in that "six-year-old" mentality where he believes that if you are mean to a girl, it shows her you like her. So if you pull her hair, cut her hair and set her hair on fire- she will fall madly in love with you. He is obsessed with Blaze and will do anything to have her.

The relationship between Kohen and Blaze is very unhealthy. Like if you think you're going to find a healthy relationship in a dark romance - what rock are you living under? Anyway... They are terrible for each other because they promote each other's "crazy" and cause it to escalate into the realm of morally grey. They are almost a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde or akin to the characters from Natural Born Killers.

One interesting observation I made is that none of the adults in this book are good. They are awful, vile people who do sickening things and have sickening actions. They have no love or compassion for anybody and idolise money. There is only one decent character, an old lady who owns a motel, and she happens to have a shotgun under her counter. I think it was a fantastic commentary on how society and the rich are filled with despicable people who wouldn't help even if you were their granddaughter.

And so, no matter how unhinged these two are, you still can't help but root for them to succeed in their hair-brained scenes. You want them to have their HEA and I commend Avina for being able to achieve this. You know no one will get them out of this but each other.

The best thing about this book is that it might have unlocked a new kink - CONGRATULATIONS! I don't think I will ever be able to take my blood pressure again without blushing. It was one of the sexiest scenes I have read in a long time and made my toes curl.

Now...what didn't work for me is that I battled to decide if this was an entire book based on characterisation or if it was based on plot because I didn't find the plot or a whole lot of growth in "characterisation". There is the plot of the two of them coming together, but you already know what's going to happen...because duh, this is a romance (even if it is an unhinged romance between two psychotic characters who need therapy and probably should be behind bars). But besides that, it felt that the plot was almost too conveniently pushed on the characters, and there wasn't much development of that overarching plot right from the start. It feels like the plot is something that was made up in the middle. Once they had gotten together, it felt disconnected.

I also really battled with seeing these two "grow" because growth implies improvement. These two do not grow, the relationship is destructive and they end up spiralling down and becoming worse. Crossing moral boundaries and blurring the lines of what is lawful and allowed. So there is this strange type of duality where the plot is weak, and the characterisation is reversed.

The tropes in this are:
▶ Dual POV
▶ Obsessive and Possessive MMC
▶ Childhood Crush
▶ Questionable use of medical equipment (YES IT IS SEXY)
▶ Unhinged MC's
▶ Pyromanic X Kleptomaniac
▶ Enemies to Lovers
▶ Banter
▶ Will burn the world for her

Overall, if you want something dark and unhinged that is sexy this is for you. It's entertaining and like a trainwreck or car crash you can't help but stare while gobbling it down like popcorn. Popcorn you can't stuff in your mouth as fast as possible.

Thank you to Avina St. Graves for my gifted ARC copy!
All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

4.5 Est Xsaya Stars ⭐️
Spicy Level 🌶️🌶️.5/5

I think I love this one a lot more than Bewitched because a lot of the unanswered aspects that were left dangling at the end of Bewitched are explored more in this book. Now you would think a sequel should do this? However I felt there were too many unanswered questions at the end of Bewitched, so I appreciated that these were resolved.

Please note this is Book 2 in a series that cannot be read as a standalone. As a result, there might be spoilers for Book 1 - so if you do not want to see those, I might advise not reading the rest of the review - I strongly suggest you read the review from Book 1 first and come back here after you have read the first instalment of Selene and Memnon's story. Book 1's Review can be found here

And this starts almost directly after the events of Book One. Seline now has all her memories of Roxilana in her mind and can remember everything about her current life and her previous life with Memnon. We have a multitude of reveals and aspects uncovered (as mentioned), two exciting ones being the weird conundrum of how Selene is two people and who put Memnon to sleep. I really enjoyed being shown elements of their past together and how their love for each other truly is as he says...eternal.

Their present relationship also deepens, as the two are still thrown into the mystery of the murders and secret cult that tried to kill her. This is action packed and believe me when I say you are going to be sitting on the edge of your seat, biting your nails at the tension and twists and turns. We are also given more of the world-building in this and slightly more insight into Witchy Lore.

Seline while still being slightly TSTL as she still winds up in ridiculous situations, does turn into a badass once she remembers who Roxilana is. She can balance her past feelings for Memnon while still coming into her new self as Selene who does not forget. She is feisty and pushes boundaries and continues to challenge things that are not right. I love how she came out as a character and grew in her strength, her power and her confidence giving her the ability to achieve whatever she sets her mind to.

Memnon continues to be walking sex on Legs. He oozes sex appeal and power. He is just as dangerous and sexually appealing as he was in book one, and if not exponentially more as we are shown various instances of the extremes of his power. I also love that he will literally burn the world down for Selene and will do anything and everything within his control and power to ensure she is safe, protected and has whatever she needs.

The spice in this is also upgraded in heat as these two steam up the pages with their unmeasurable attraction and pull towards each other.

Trope Summary:
▶ Enemies to Lovers
▶ Ancient Curses, Secrets and Reveals
▶ Paranormal Races (Witches, Werewolves Etc)
▶ Touch her and Die
▶ Sassy Animal familiars
▶ Soul Mates
▶ Love Triangle
▶ Mine
▶ Burn the World for You

Ultimately I highly recommend this book and series... I mean who wouldn't love soul mates, sassy familiars, curses and eternal love!

Thank you NetGalley, Laura Thalassa and Bloom Books for the gifted ARC Copy
All thoughts and opinions are my own 

4 Snow White Stars ⭐️
Spicy Level: 🌶️🌶️.5/5

This was delightfully unexpected and thoroughly enjoyable. It also delivered exactly on the promises I was made to believe going into the story!

This is a Dual POV following Liam and Everlee. Liam has a problem, in order for him to say CEO of his mother’s cosmetic company, there is a codicil in her will saying he has to be married for at least 5 years. The problem - Liam has sworn off love and relationships after witnessing the disaster of his parent's relationship. Everlee has just lost her job as an event coordinator to a junior employee who is sleeping with the boss at the cosmetic company they were planning the year-end function for. She has also just walked in on her boyfriend being “entertained” by two escorts. The worst part is her father is in hospital and her parents can’t afford the bills so Everlee needs money. She is approached by Raph (Liam's best friend) with an offer she cannot refuse. Agree to Marry Liam for 5 years and receive a good financial payout… because marrying the man who got you fired is totally a good idea.

Everlee is feisty and stubborn and is such a fantastic and beautiful character! She has been through so much, yet remains gentle and passionate about her family even when her mother is a Grade-A Bitch. I loved that she stood up for her morals and had some teeth and pushback towards Liam at that start and didn’t bend over backwards like she used to with her Ex.
Liam is a ruthless businessman who has let his traumatic past define who he is today by closing of his heart to any form of love that could see him get hurt. However, there is something about Everlee that has sparks of instalust as she’s the first woman who is able to get a different reaction out of him. Maybe because she’s the first woman to be a challenge, whatever it is, he is determined to make her his.

I really love the fact that whilst on the surface he can appear crude and ruthless he is actually a disguised cinnamon role taking care of Everlee’s Father, caring for her, standing up for her and just supporting her and her decisions. It was everything she has always lacked in a relationship and it was adorable seeing it found in Liam who had the reputation of the exact opposite!
This sells itself as a low angst book and it really does deliver on that because while there is the one traumatic experience that Liam is struggling with, that’s really the only major conflict besides some family drama. I kept thinking this was basically a hallmark movie in book form with a little bit of spice. Two people find love in one another and one just happens to be a billionaire and whilst their initial circumstances of coming together were unconventional it proves that love can blossom from anything and that an arranged marriage can actually work. It doesn’t matter how you find your person, but once you do you can actually fall deeply in love with your partner even if the relationship started as a contract.

The only real thing that kept this from being a full 5 stars is I wanted the resistance of the relationship to last longer, it felt as if they were very quickly falling into lust with one another and I wanted a slower progression.

Trope Summary:
▶️ Billionaire Romance
▶️ Marriage of Convenience
▶️ Forced Proximity
▶️ Hidden Cinnamon Roll
▶️ Low Angst
▶️ Kinda Medium Burn but instalust vibes
▶️ Plus Size Rep
▶️ New York Setting

Overall I really enjoyed this and if you want a comfort read based on these tropes, I highly recommend you pick this up and just enjoy it for the cute romance it delivers. This was the first A.K. Macbride I have read but it will not be my last!

Thank you to A.K. Macbride for my gifted ARC copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

4 Songbird Stars ⭐️
Spicy Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️/5

I should REALLY write reviews when I finish the book because if I go on to read another Hockey Romance I have the VERY DIFFICULT PROBLEM of separating the two…

Jamie has just traded back to his home team to focus on hockey and his mother who is having a bout of panic attacks and he intends to focus on those things only - no exceptions. He unexpectedly ends up adopting a stray dog he finds on the street and realises he needs to accept the offer from his new team to hire an assistant. Pippa is broke and has just been dumped by her rockstar boyfriend who was only using her for her songwriting ability anyway. Her parents are insistent that she gets a stable job so her sister mentions a marketing job opening soon at the hockey team she works for, she just needs an “in job” since they will be hiring internally. Pippa takes a PA position and soon realises her employer is non other than Jamie. The same Jamie she had a secret crush on ALL THROUGH HIGHSCHOOL. But surely he doesn’t remember her, Right? She was 2 years below him… The thing is Jamie definitely remembers Pippa as she was the girl he had a secret crush on in High School. So he fires her after day one because he can’t be near her. Pippa refuses to be let go and demands her job back and ends up living in his apartment… what could go wrong with that?

Pippa was by far my favourite character in this. The epitome of sunshine, she is optimistic and caring and so self-sacrificing. She’s had her heart stomped on by her ex who neglected her and used her for her songwriting skills and completely destroyed her self-confidence telling her that her songs are rubbish.

Jamie is a grumpy sweetheart, who almost has the feel of “I hate everyone but her”. His compassion shows in everything he does, from adopting Daisy to giving Pippa a place to stay to even trading down teams so that he can be close to his mom who is battling with her mental illness.

I loved that even though their relationship was founded on instalust (since they have both been secretly pining for each other for years) they both bring out the best in each other. Jamie’s support makes Pippa slowly pick up her guitar again and gain back the confidence she had ripped away. Through him, she is able to find her love in music again and find the love of herself and her self-worth. Likewise, Pippa makes Jamie better, her presence is the catalyst for him opening up and participating in the team's social aspects and forming a bond with them (something he was avidly trying to avoid before her).

I also loved how caring and supportive Pippa was of Jamie’s mother and how she helped her, and while she was not fully healed her coming into Jamie’s life was the catalyst for him to push her to get actual help and now blow it off.

Trope Summary:
▶ Hockey Romance
▶ Forced Proximity
▶ GrumpyXSunshine
▶ Workplace Romance
▶ Roommates to Lovers
▶ Highschool Crush
▶ Animal Companion
▶ “Mine”
▶ He helps her put on shoes

Overall this is a cute little romance that is PRETTY SPICY and if you want your hockey romance fix and see two characters bring out the best in each other, this is for you!!! 

2.5 Little Rabbit Stars ⭐️
Spicy Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️.5/5

There is nothing more disappointing than picking up a book that has been hyped by a few of your friends and it completely falls flat for you

This book follows Killian and (what the fuck is her name) - Glyndon. Glyndon is contemplating life and considering jumping off of a cliff because she is a little sad that her friend nosedived maybe accidentally on purpose or was forced over said cliff. Unbeknownst to her, she is stalked by Kill who is only mildly obsessed with her. He then forces her (while holding her over the cliff) to give him a blow job and then like any “child” on a playground basically declares “we’re boyfriend and girlfriend” now (in his mind at least) much to the chagrin of Glyndon. Soon Glyndon finds her life completely revolving and absorbed in the life of Killian Carson.

I don’t know if it’s because I am desensitised to dark romance or if I’ve just seen so much of it, but this just lacked everything I expected. I just expected more from Killian based on what I have seen about him and he just came across as a selfish petulant brat who is spoiled and has never been told no in his life. This is the main factor that makes up his personality so he just takes what he wants. I actually didn’t have much problem with him not really understanding the lines of consent (which is what I have seen is a lot of the reason people DNF). It was more that right from the start you’re shown his worst and he doesn’t really get darker from that point. It’s more of the same and much of a muchness all around him being a brat that I disliked. I like it when I’m constantly shocked and consistently see how darkness develops through a book if I’m reading a dark romance with a morally grey MMC. I was also multiple times contemplating throwing my kindle across the room if I had to read one more time about how he wanted to “fuck her virgin cunt”…. You know, if it’s the only thing you say about her in your POV it starts to lose its “shock” factor and just becomes EXCEEDINGLY ANNOYING! What I did like about him though was the way that Rina Kent displayed his psychopathy. It was very “textbook” but it aligned very well with what I understand a psychopath or sociopath would behave like and seeing that portrayed well on paper in a character was one of the plusses in this book.

Glendon was a definite weakness given that I struggled to remember her name. That just shows how little of an impression she made. She was completely overshadowed and overpowered by Killians personality and character. Now maybe this was done on purpose to show her as submissive and meek but as a results she felt dull, sad, moapy and boring. She only really became slightly exciting when she had her brains fucked out.

What kills me the most about this though is that there was so much potential with Devlin‘s death and the investigation around the mystery! I just wish that this was explored a little bit more. It was almost like that plot was pushed to the wayside and Glydon left Gareth to do all the hard work just because she was distracting his brother with her boobs. I wanted Dev’s death to be a little bit more because it was literally was bleeding potential on page.

From writing perspective this wasn’t bad. There is a definite “catnip” feeling to the writing that is able to draw you in, entice you and keep you captivated. Those first few chapters of this book had me salivating, it was just the bits after it that took that same nosedive off the cliff that Glyn contemplated doing at the start of the book.

There is also the aspects of the secret society (aka cult) moonlighting as a fraternity and the rival schools but besides adding a little bit of Dark it was just a bunch of rich kids with too much money acting like they had power doing what ever they wanted in light-up purge masks…

The best thing about this book was the buddy read with my twin while we continue on our Journey of Depravity to find the best five star darkest Book.

Trope Summary:
I realised after writing them that there is a fucktonne of them!
▶ Dual POV
▶ Enemies to Lovers
▶ Collage Romance (Rival Schools)
▶ Mafia Vibes
▶ Obsessive, Possessive MMC
▶ Alphahole
▶ Touch Her You Die
▶ Forced Proximity
▶ Secret Society (Actually a “cult” vibes)
▶ NonCon and DubCon
▶ Masked Men
▶ Primal Play
▶ Mine
▶ Hand Necklaces
▶ Stalking

(Again given all of the “dark romance” tropes I thought it would be a little heavier on dark 🙄😑)

I know I say a lot about how much I didn’t enjoy this, but I didn’t hate it. I am just more mad because so many people I know loved this and I wanted to love it too! This won’t be my last Rina Kent… I always give an author another chance so will see what God of Pain has to offer.