vrstal's reviews
549 reviews

I liked Ollie, it was interesting to have a character that had narcolepsy and it wasn’t presented as something to fix. I loved the exploration of how his specific needs as a person with narcolepsy interacted with their lifestyle. All in all, I enjoyed it.

I liked seeing characters and a friend group laced together over this series, and Red is adorable. I liked that he had established connections and a life (he was a romance novel writer) instead of having nothing to rely on. Makes characters feel more 3-dimensional. The pacing was a little quicker on this one because Nate hadn’t ever been into BDSM and here he was playing Daddy, but it wasn’t bad at all.

Reread 2022

I feel a lot different about this book now. I understand Marx’s instalove formula and it works great here. The sex scenes were hot as hell (although none of them are detailed anal scenes for those who wonder about that), and the way Shawn helps Frankie is sweet. Plus, he has a totally bad complication of a day which was pretty amusing-but-sad to read about. The friendship between Ollie and Frankie was sweet as well.

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OG Review 2021

For some reason, this relationship felt even more unbelievable than most of Marx’s works. Also it felt a tad weird for the fact Franklin didn’t have anywhere to go and was it Shawn somewhat taking advantage of that? In a more realistic novel, I think it would be considered dark that he didn’t instead try and offer some alternative that wasn’t just ‘live with me, a stranger’.

2.5/5.

“Maybe he’s some crazed mountain man who hasn’t had contact with another person in years. I mentally shrugged. Eh, nobody’s perfect. Besides, apart from Dax, this is the most attention a man has given me in...ever!”

ETA: As I was reviewing a more recent book I read by her I was remembering that she mentions the use of “smudging” here too. That is a specific indigenous ritualistic practice, and she could’ve easily used “smoke cleansing”. Not to mention white sage is endangered because of over-commercialization and cultural appropriation. I’m knocking down my review stars for this.

———
As usual, Jayda Marx is hilarious and I really enjoy her writing. Part of her humor to me is some of the things she’ll say mention casually — like “oh yeah if he rejects me my life will spiral into a depressive abyss I can’t recover from but you know, whatever”. Lmfao. She sometimes was repetitive here and there, but the fact is I’ve read so many of her books I’m bound to notice such things popping up more often!

Rory and Phoenix were pretty cute - this wolf shifter universe works a little different than her other shifter books, such as how once two fated mates meet, they will essentially get pushed into a heat until they mate and bond. I liked that idea a lot, although there is no omegaverse/mpreg shenanigans here. As usual they fell together pretty quickly, and I liked how they met from Rory being physically hurt. It’s some sweet hurt/comfort trope without it being super angsty.

Marx has a bit of a formula she uses sometimes - tall big protective guy and virgin twink - that was here, and I loved it regardless. These two were hot under the sheets and had some great scenes, such as the intercrural one. Overall, I’m very happy with this read and can’t wait for Dax’s book!

4/5!! Another great Jayda Marx book.

Tropes:
✅ Shifters
✅ Fated mates
✅ Instalove, low-angst
✅ Experienced x Virgin

Honestly, this book was so hilarious lmao. I don’t agree that the MC having sex with someone else before he even met his mate is cheating. This was very Three Stooges, a series of events that was himbo Talon just desperately trying to get and talk to his mate. Everything was understood and imo no groveling needed to be done, but he did apologize even so because it was awkward and a bit terrifying regardless.

Brandon was sweet, very shy and innocent compared to Talon who was more outgoing and experienced. I liked their dynamic and of course we get a repeat on the lore for shifters which I assume come in ever book Jayda writes with shifters in this universe. I like the idea of a lion pride gay bar AND I’m very curious for Cedric’s story and I really hope it means Jayda will write mpreg Omegaverse!!!

If you wanna laugh, read this for sure.

2/5.

Angelo by Silvia Violet is a story of almost-second-chance-romance, enemies to lovers, and dubious consent from the get-go between the mafioso Angelo and the lawyer Cameron.

I did not enjoy this book. Part of this reason is not Violet's fault: I do not like second chance romance, I do not like enemies to lovers, and the dubious consent in this did not have dubious consent trigger warnings. You can look at my GR and see I read noncon and dubcon, so this issue is not that it exists, but the lack of content warnings for it. So, my personal issues with certain tropes aside, I do feel that some of it wasn't handled well.

Let's talk about enemies to lovers. The reason that Angelo hates Cam is because

Spoiler

Cam, when he was a fifteen year old, who had suffered a rough home life and bullying at school, did not let Angelo cheat off his math test and homework because he was a scholarship student and could get booted. When Angelo insisted he'd pay him to tutor him, he refused, calling his family out for being a dirty mafia who killed people. All of these things are true about Angelo's family, even if they didn't kill the person that had died recently.

. That is the reason this man, now 30, has hated someone. Twelve years and he didn't get over one comment. Meanwhile, he storms into Cameron's bakery and

Spoiler

demands he either fuck him and do everything he says or he'll take the bakery from him. The one piece that Cameron has left of his grandparents, by the way.

That is a pretty fucking justified reason to hate someone, in my opinion, but that dubious consent situation only came about because Angelo wanted revenge over the prior spoiler. What? Are you still sixteen? Get over yourself. You can't pretend like people aren't going to have opinions of you, because you do kill people.

So, I found the "enemies to lovers" part of this unrealistic when the power imbalance is completely fucked, the justification for 'revenge' is some shitty comment from high school, and it was made out that Cameron was the bad person in all of this. Several times, Cameron eventually apologizes and realizes he misunderstood some things from high school. There is very little comfort spared for all the trials and tribulations he was going through as a kid and furthermore, like his

Spoiler

homophobic mother who prayed over him to not be gay

that is never brought up. No, who gives a shit what Cameron was also struggling with, it is poor Angelo and his feelings because the boy he occasionally bullied didn't like him and his family for being known mafia criminals. What?

I don't know. It makes me angrier the more I think about it. Violet also once more leans into the kink here, which was hot. However, there is a lot of claims of "you don't want safewords, you just want me to control you" type shit, which. Hm. I'm not sure about that one, but it does pair up with dubious consent in this case I suppose. It's not that these men didn't eventually have tender moments, but the whole premise of this supposedly mutual hatred was asinine.

Finally, the editing. This book needs editing. Spelling errors, formatting issues, too many mis-typed quotation marks. I know Violet is a prolific author, and this book came out in 2020. It is not that old. What happened? Why are there so many issues here? It's a shame.

3.5/5.

What Really Matters is a funny, sweet story about an established couple discovering ABDL and age play within their relationship, and how it brings them closer together.

I think for me "established relationships" as a trope is not my favorite, but I found this one believable and funny. Not only are the characters in love and sweet together, but the way their day-to-day dynamic comes to be is rather entertaining. I loved Zac's investment into romance books and the hilarity that comes from how much he is into the different genres - the line about Antonio the biker is one that still makes me chuckle.

This book is good for those new to daddy kink and age play I think, because it runs the gamut on activities and explores a lot about why both for Daddy and little this is something they enjoy. This does make it rather fluffy, and for beginners, but even diaper use is brought up so its got that depth and substance. We get some hot scenes between them, *and* we also see their balance as just being husbands and why the kink brings them closer together. There is also a lovely switch scene where Zac tops and it is great!

I like Innes instalove and I think the reason this wasn't a four star for me is that I like her books about new relationships better than something established. This almost was too sweet for me, but I dd enjoy reading it and am glad this book exists.

2.5/5.

Secrets in the Dark has an interesting premise of daddy and boy meeting at blind date in the dark - though they weren't paired together. Logan is an older lawyer who is formal and traditional, and Mason is a younger freelancer who has a hard time talking about his desires.

This book was just okay. Logan read as ND to me because of his habits and relying on formality when struggling with a social situation, which isn't a bad thing. Mason didn't express his desires well at first for fear of judgement, understandably, but is able to open up to Logan through therapeutic exercises that Logan is advised to use.

It was kinda weird that the therapist was talked to without Mason's consent, and he was never invited into those conversations when they are all about him. Now of course people talk about their significant others with their therapists but this guy is like... a BDSM/sex therapist? So I think it's a bit different. My main issue though is that while this is called an age-play book, there is only one age play scene at the very end. This is more accurately a book about daddy kink and orgasm denial. That is fine, but I wish it had been clear in the blurb so my expectations were not for something else.

Another issue I had is that this book cuts off weirdly. These two meet, get in a relationship, get deep in the dynamic in a couple of weeks and then... it ends. no "I love yous", no marriage, no moving-in-together. It ends with a chapter-long age play + sex scene. So I guess its a HFN, but it felt like the book was clipped off more than it was wrapped up nicely. A shame.

5/5.

“Then he caught Clay’s lips with his, and they kissed and kissed, and Clay loved so many things about Ethan and how he made him feel that he didn’t have a clue where to start counting.”

Honeymoon for One is an age-gap, hurt/comfort romance set mostly in Australia.

Keira Andrews is a new author to me, and I love the way she writes. Dual POV, 3rd person, and just works so well for me. I got immediately invested into the characters and their emotions, especially for Ethan. The writing wasn't purple prose/super flowery and I really liked that aspect to it. She is also good with descriptions, as I could see in my mind what she was describing of Australia and how both the characters look. Very rarely am I thinking "wow, he is hot." Clay and his aviators were definitely hot.

Clay and Ethan... oh man. I have so many things to say but don't want this chock full of spoilers. Ethan was so sad in the beginning and I felt it. While I do not have the same struggles Ethan has, I do relate to spiraling anxiety/paranoia, the "what did I do wrong?" or "I'm probably just being annoying, and now everyone thinks I'm a fool, and and and...". It was too relatable. He was also so kind, endearing, and vulnerable. Clay picks up on that but it's never in the way that is creepy or a little unsettling like some age gap romances can be, you know? They're both still individuals and show great character growth over the span of this book (despite it being short time-wise).

The awakening for Clay felt genuine, realistic, and I'm glad didn't dip into the angst of turning angrily on the person who made you realize something about yourself. There's the scenes of showing a bit of a generational gap in acceptance of one's sexuality, like around the word queer, and while I could feel the tension and pain it was just written so right. All the family interactions, too. It was so good. The representation of Ethan being HOH also felt very genuine and I know the author had personal experience with a family member having the same disability. Honestly, it feels like every detail of this book was well-written.

The romance itself was whirlwind due to its timeframe, but I did not doubt it for a second. The first kiss. The sex scenes. Everything was sweet, swoony, emotional, that I just felt it running off the pages. Small insecurities that are kissed away, protectiveness and heat -- all of it, so good. The COMFORT they find in each other when dealing with hard things, where they both find ways to rely on each other. Amazing. How they eventually came to be together and committed, and that WONDERFUL epilogue. Just, wow.

I highly recommend this book, it is so well done.

4/5, this was really good!! Steamy, cute, and a surprising move by the shy and innocent twink!

Tropes:
✅ May/December age gap
✅ Big top x Small Bottom
✅ Daddy kink
✅ Instalove
✅ Eternity collars and more!

I really really loved this. For one, Westin was so damn cute. Sweet and open, and the fact he was just so ready and willing to learn and trust Colt. Colt was also very sweet and his story of why he was in prison was heart wrenching. I liked how they were just falling so naturally into it, nothing felt forced about the story at all. They established hand signals to use in public and I loved that, just a little thing but it showed a way of managing a power dynamic and safety in public without having their kink out there where people don’t want to witness it without consent. I also liked the discussions about wants and needs, safe words, safety. All of it was so well done and healthy IMO.

The conflict that came up was not as intense as some of the other books in Jayda’s works, but it made sense. What Westin did to solve it was super surprising for what you assume about him but I loved it!

The book itself is well written, honestly, I’m glad I read this. Super sweet, steamy, it just hit right for me! Have no complaints.