so_many_books's reviews
839 reviews

I have mixed thoughts about his book. On the one hand, fake marriage/ marriage of convenience is my favourite trope, and I like the situations it created in this book. On the other hand, the forced proximity was a little bit too convenient, and I didn't really  feel the angst it created. A little more pining would have been nice.

Jed and Artie's story is a fun one. Jed runs Confetti Hearts, a wedding planning business he took over after his husband passed away. And Artie is his much younger assistant. They both harbour a crush on the other, Artie is aware of it, but Jed isn't.
When Artie's inheritance has a marriage clause, Jed quickly jumps to help him. Even if all the boundaries are blurred.

As I mentioned, I really like marriage of convenience, and Jed's heart was in the right place when he offered. His feelings for Artie are already very protective, but he's still grieving his late husband, and he's in massive denial.
Artie's a different story, though. He's been in love with Jed for years, and he desperately tries to protect his heart.
Their physical connection is off the charts, but it meant the pining that I usually love in fake dating stories was not really there. It was overpowered by their attraction.
Additionally, the way Jed's grief was handled was weird. From the very beginning, he's in this massive pain, not ready to ever love again. And yet, by the end, his story kinda changed contradicting all that was said before.

However, even though the book is not perfect, it was pretty entertaining, and the emotional parts were well written. I listened to the audibook that added an extra layer of awesomeness! I really enjoyed the whole experience.

A fun and fantastic anthology!

I love a good anthology. It gives you the chance to discover new authors and have bite-sized adventures.
This second volume of the Candy Hearts anthology is all about numbers, more specifically, wrong numbers. The theme is funny and brings just a little bit of serendipity into the romance stories.

IT MUST BE FATE - LEE BLAIR
This is my first story by this author, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Lex and Garrison's story is based on multiple chance encounters that are starting to look like a move from Mother Fate herself.
They bump into each other randomly every other day, and the scenes are hilarious. A singing telegram delivered to the wrong office, sandwiches, a bachelor party, and even a dog play a crucial part in their relationship. It results in a slightly chaotic but mostly serendipitous romance that will make you smile.

(More reviews to come.)

* I received a complimentary copy of this book to share my honest review.*

A very average palette-cleanser book. It was funny, and I quite liked the characters. It's a very nice lighthearted book.

Just one thing and a TW: be aware that this book has references to HP. Authors, do better!

I don't know how to describe this book. I love the vibes and the macabre beauty of it. I hate the story itself wholeheartedly. I love the devastating love story behind it. I kinda loathe Andrew, the main character. I love how beautifully it's written. I hate how it ends.

I hate it, but I can also appreciate its beauty and extraordinary nature. It rejects many aspects of what romance and horror usually mean and redefines it into something unique and soulcrushing. It's not just a horror because of the eldritch monsters. It's a horror because it makes you hope and believe, and then it shows what darkness truly lurks behind everything.

Don't get me wrong, I know that the point of this book is to show a monster in a pretty way. Maybe I didn't know it at the beginning, but I realized it around halfway to the end. But I was still foolish enough to hope for a happy ending. I know it's stupid of me because it literally states on the cover that "Not every fairy tale has a happy ending." I know. It's entirely my fault that I was not prepared for it. Though I probably wouldn't have read this book if I looked into it more. I went with the vibes.
And the vibes are vibing. It is truly beautiful, horrifying, pretty, and macabre. I felt so much reading it.

The first part of the story is when the author lulls you. It's slow, and I really thought the whole book just be vibes and no plot. I should've known better because the second part of the book is a heartbreaking, devastating mess that buries you in the forest with all the horrors inside it.
Andrew is a very confusing main character. On the one hand, his pain and struggle are so relatable. On the other hand, that pain and that struggle morphs him into something cruel. And I didn't like him for that. He broke my heart into a myriad of pieces for so many reasons. I won't ever forgive him for that. But I also cannot forget him for how tumultuous and crushing his feelings are.

It's been a minute since I literally sobbed over a book. Like I cried so much, I could barely breathe. I just leave it at that.

I would give this book 5 stars, but I have to substruct 1 just because I truly hate how this book made me feel. Call it spite, or whatever.

I'm going with 3.5 stars for this one. I really enjoyed it, but there were some things that bugged me or just simply was not to my preference in romance books.

I really love this series and all the characters. It's quite frankly heartbreaking to see these men try to learn to live again after their injuries. (Note: I'm not the biggest fan of soldier romances because of my pacifist heart. So, it doesn't really add or take away that the injuries happened in the army.)

Bean is such a sweet guy. He has a traumatic brain injury (TBI) that affects his short-term memory a lot. He often forgets stuff, and he needs to keep a notebook to remind himself of what happened every day. I think the authors did a wonderful job portraying him and his struggles. It was compassionate but honest, and it did not try to hide how messed up TBI can be.

Jarek is also so sweet and patient. He has his own baggage, but he's also simply a good person. He's not judgemental about Bean's TBI. He wants to learn about it and live with it rather than ignore it or make Bean out to be incapable of living, like how Bean's mother does. I also appreciated a lot that Jarek's best friend is a trans woman. Ivy's such a hoot and the bestest friend to Jarek.
His baggage is his ex and his failed marriage. Though we don't really get too many details, it's obvious he struggles with how he-s been treated, and he let himself be treated for so long.

Bean and Jarek's connection is so powerful from the very first moment. And even though Bean doesn't really remember him at the beginning, it just make their bond that much stronger.
There are lots of spicy scenes as one of the aspect of their friendship with benefits is that Jarek teaches Bean about gay pleasure. The lots of spice is one of the aspects leading to a lower star rating. I am just simply not a fan of too much spice in my books and the whole "experienced lover/newbie" trope.

The other thing that bothered me was the miscommunication and third-act break-up based on a misunderstanding and jumping to conclusions. I saw it coming from miles away, and I did not appreciate it. It's not a good plot point. Especially when you write about a character who has to rely on his friends and family to fill in the blanks of his leaky memory. It almost seemed cruel from Jarek even if his feelings were understandable.

My favourite part of the book and the series are obviously the friendships. Especially between Nash and Bean. It's just so wonderful to see a male friendship bloom like theirs. 

Overall, the book is good. It has its faults, it's far from perfect, but it's enjoyable, and the characters are worth it.

Wow. This one turned out pretty amazing.

Royal Scoundrel is the prequel to the Frat Wars series, more specifically Presidential Chaos. It's about Charles' dad's, Das and Archie, and how they met and fell in love in college.

I adore this book. I knew to expect fun and laughter after the Frat Wars series, but Royal Scoundrel also brought heartaching angst and so many emotions.

Archie is a Kappa exec in his junior year in college. He's set up for life coming from a rich and powerful family. All he has to do is keep in line and follow the path that was set out for him. Finish school, become a lawyer, and marry a pretty girl. Even though it's killing him a little inside, he's managed to keep his sexuality under lock to satisfy his father's plans. Up until Dash Lewis performs a drunken strip show on the roof of a party and makes Archie question everything.

Dash is a scholarship student who's not only there to study but to live out his best life as a gay man. He parties, he hooks up, and he watches Archie from afar. The man who has a demanding presence but is out of his reach. Until he's not anymore.

I loved their story so much. Yes, they are different. They walk different paths, and yet they somehow fit. Although it starts out as a one-off to satisfy Archie's curiosity, it quickly morphs into a series of hook-ups and then pretend-boyfriends. They know there's an end date, that Archie's not out and will never be. Yet they fall. Fall very, very hard. They have a magnetic connection. Passion sizzles between them, but a quiet understanding and trust also grow slowly. Despite their differences, they are on the same level when they are together.

The emotions are plentiful. There's Archie's constant struggle that only intensifies as he experiences what true attraction and love feels like. And there's Dash's heartache as he falls for a man he knows can never really be his. I admittedly cried a lot because I just wanted them to be together and happy, but it's not an easy road.

All in all, I enjoyed this book sooooo much. It's basically a longer novella, but the author managed to squeeze in everything that needed to be told. Expect scorching hot passion, guys growing soft for each other, and love that's worth fighting for.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book to share my honest review.*