smalltown_smutlover's reviews
284 reviews

Phantasma by Kaylie Smith

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
🌶️🌶️🌶️.5

“𝒞’𝓂𝑜𝓃, 𝒶𝓃𝑔𝑒𝓁, 𝓈𝒽𝑜𝓌 𝓂𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓉𝑒𝑒𝓉𝒽.”

Ya know how we say “if not friend why friend shaped?” Well, for the first couple of chapters I asked myself “if invisible why hot?!” A true Hear Me Out situation. 

Like most of you, I’d seen this book all over the place and was super excited when the group chat chose it as our November Buddy Read. I absolutely loved Blackwell (even when he was invisible he was hot) and he can haunt me any time. The way Kaylie treats Ophelia’s OCD and intrusive thoughts was spot on from my personal experience. Ophelia’s struggles with her “Shadow Voice” and tics show a side of OCD that isn’t often talked about publicly, and it was very well done. I also listened to the audio and the narration was incredible. Laura Horowitz absolutely knocks it out of the park and I will definitely be looking for more of her audiobooks. 

The world building and trials were complex and interesting, the villain was truly disgusting and hate-able, and the chemistry between the MCs was 🔥 I was gasping, swooning, and laughing aloud the whole time. I really enjoyed this book and can’t wait for the next installment!

“𝐼 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝑜𝓃𝓁𝓎 𝒾𝓂𝒶𝑔𝒾𝓃𝑒 𝒹𝑒𝒶𝓉𝒽 𝒾𝓈 𝓂𝑜𝓇𝑒 𝓀𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊.”
If This Was a Movie by Morgan Elizabeth

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️

“𝐼𝓉’𝓈 𝓎𝑜𝓊! 𝐼 𝓉𝑜𝓁𝒹 𝓂𝓎 𝒹𝒶𝒹 𝒾𝓉 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒷𝑒 𝒶 𝒞𝒽𝓇𝒾𝓈𝓉𝓂𝒶𝓈 𝓂𝒾𝓇𝒶𝒸𝓁𝑒!”

Tis the season for sweet and swoony holiday romances! The second in a series of interconnected standalones, 𝘐𝘧 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘞𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘔𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘦 follows dance teacher Jules and single dad Nate as they try to figure out the magic between them. Nate’s daughter, Sophie, is adorable and hilarious as she tries to make her Christmas dream come true and get her “real life Ashlyn doll”, aka Jules, to marry her dad. It’s a heartwarming, funny, and sexy second chance romance full of Christmas magic, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I can’t wait to see what is next for Evergreen Park!

“𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝒹𝑒𝓈𝑒𝓇𝓋𝑒 𝓂𝒶𝑔𝒾𝒸.”

How To Woo A Warrior Orc by January Bell

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funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Twin Blades by Noelle Upton

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
🌶️🌶️🌶️

“𝑵𝒐𝒘, 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒎𝒚 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒇*𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔.”

I am a vampire girlie, and I absolutely devoured both of the A Light in the Dark series, so I absolutely had to read Noelle’s debut novel. 

First things first: I love Meline. She is the Shadow Mommy of my dreams. She is tough, snarky, and an absolute menace. Her backstory is absolutely nightmarish and complex, but I can’t wait to see how the drama between the Lylithans and Vyrkos plays out in the next book. There’s lots of Feminine Rage™️ in here so if that’s what you’re needing right now, Meline will deliver. 

And then there is Elián: big brooding bodyguard extraordinaire. He takes his job as a Shadow very seriously, and can barely handle how very unserious Meline can be. Their interactions are hilarious and so hot. (That slow burn pays off big time🔥). 

The worldbuilding is very interesting and multifaceted. There are both born (Lylithan) and made (Vyrkos) vampires and lots of magic. I had such a great time and need the next installment IMMEDIATELY, please and thank you. 

𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝑬𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒏'𝒔 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆, 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒏, 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒌 𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒍𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒇𝒊𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒍.
Monsters' Manor by Leigh Miller

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emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Hallowpeen by Holly Wilde

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funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Morbidly Yours by Ivy Fairbanks

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emotional funny hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Lights Out by Navessa Allen

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

5.0

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

𝘈𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧*𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰𝘰. 𝘏𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘭𝘶𝘫𝘢𝘩.

When I picked this book up, I had no idea how completely and irrevocably obsessed I would become with Josh. But here I am, having read it twice in one year and owning multiple copies. 

Lights Out is just a good f*cking time. It’s hilarious, sweet, and SUPER spicy. The audiobook is in duet and the sections with the voice modulator…did things to me. The plot mostly centers around Aly and Josh’s relationship, but there are some twists and turns about 2/3 through the story that I didn’t expect but enjoyed. I just love this book and cannot wait for the next in the series, because I know it’s gonna be so fun. 

“𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘐’𝘮 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨.”

Miss Sin by S.J. Tilly

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

4.0

Dear Rosie, by S.J. Tilly

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emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

“𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩. 𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯.”

I love a man with one hobby, and Ms. Tilly knows how to write them impeccably every time. 

Nathan Waller was apparently taking notes from his BFF Maddox Lovelace, because the man is SPRUNG. Obsessed. Devoted to his long lost Rosie from the minute he realized who she is. Rosie is pretty much smitten with him from the word go as well, but with all her trauma she takes some warming up. She’d never had anyone to trust or rely on, why should she start now? Because Nathan is everything, that’s why. 

Rosie’s story is so heartbreaking, and every time I thought I couldn’t hurt any more something new was revealed. She carries so many burdens from her awful childhood, and is terrified of putting them down. Good thing she has her best friend, and his adorable cat Charles, to help her unpack her baggage and move right on into their hearts. 

The Love Letters series is definitely the most angsty Tilly World series, but I loved every moment of them and am sad they are over. But hey, that’s what rereads are for 😉

𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵. 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯’𝘴 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩.