Happiness is Earned by Letty Frame

 

2 Stars

I’ve fought death. I’ve mastered survival. Now, I’ll willingly bleed for happiness. Because happiness isn’t given—it’s earned.

Six years ago, I lost everything when my fated mate rejected me—my family, my pack, even my wolf.

But against all odds, I found something worth fighting for again: my mates, the other parts of my soul. They’ve caught me every time I fell. They’ve loved me even when I was broken. And with their unwavering love, I’ve mostly pieced myself back together.

But as I step out of the shadows of my darkness, it makes me a much clearer target for the hunters to attack.

My men are gearing up for the final fight, planning the strike that could end it all, but when fate delivers one last, unexpected gift, everything I thought I knew about my future changes forever.

Family ties shift all around me—the parents who betrayed me when I was rejected, the sister who stole the life that should’ve been mine, and the brother who loved me through it all. Each one is tested—and not everyone survives the reckoning of Alpha Atticus Phoenix.

Happiness isn’t a gift. It’s a choice. A fight. A sacrifice.

And if I want to keep the future we’ve bled for, I’ll have to face every shadow that’s ever haunted me—without losing the men who’ve become my everything.

Reading the last book was a mistake. This series started nicely and then just fizzled out. I would definitely skip it. There was no growth with Nora at all and she never works through her trauma.

Book 3 Second Chances

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Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez

3 Stars

After a wild bet, gourmet grilled-cheese sandwich, and cuddle with a baby goat, Alexis Montgomery has had her world turned upside down. The cause: Daniel Grant, a ridiculously hot carpenter who’s ten years younger than her and as casual as they come—the complete opposite of sophisticated city-girl Alexis. And yet their chemistry is undeniable.

While her ultra-wealthy parents want her to carry on the family legacy of world-renowned surgeons, Alexis doesn’t need glory or fame. She’s fine with being a “mere” ER doctor. And every minute she spends with Daniel and the tight-knit town where he lives, she’s discovering just what’s really important. Yet letting their relationship become anything more than a short-term fling would mean turning her back on her family and giving up the opportunity to help thousands of people.

Bringing Daniel into her world is impossible, and yet she can’t just give up the joy she’s found with him either. With so many differences between them, how can Alexis possibly choose between her world and his?

Pretty solid read. I loved the give and take between FMC and MMC. Watching them find a way to their HEA was fun. I loved the struggles FMC had figuring out her HEA. Definitely interested in more books by this author.

Book 1 Part of Your World

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A Giant Love by Flora Quincy

4 Stars

He was a giant.

She was a socialite.

Can I make it anymore obvious?

Society's golden girl, Charis Grace, is about to make an indecent proposal to her cousin's sexy as sin ex-husband.

It's that or give up her trust fund.

But if he says yes, what does he get out of this unusual arrangement?

Hephaestus has been lusting after Charis for sixteen years.

She’s pure, untouchable but that doesn’t stop him wanting to show her exactly what men like him do to women like her.

When she walks into his forge, all bets are off. She’s his and nothing and no one will stand in his way.

I love Greek stories and this one hit all the right notes. Hephestus is one of those forgotten gods and this one gives him a HEA in the best way possible. I loved Charis and how she was with him. I just wish the author was still writing cause I want so much more from her.

Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Giant-Love-Monsters-Not-Romance-ebook/dp/B0BGJNXFD1/

The Forever Rule by Carrie Ann Ryan

4 Stars

Blakely

The moment I met Aston Cage, I knew my life had changed. A single dance later, we’re both all in. Until he ghosted me.

Then my boss fires me for dancing with the enemy.

Three months later, working for the Cages is my last resort. Now I’ll work beside him day by day, trying not to let my feelings take control. It’s heaven and hell. Except I’m starting to think there’s a part of this story I’m missing…

Aston

I made myself walk away from Blakely after my family’s dirty laundry hit the news. My father’s secret family complicates everything. In order to keep our inheritance intact, we’re forced to do monthly dinners with both sides of the family—the brothers I grew up with and the new set of siblings we never knew about.

An additional obstacle: Blakely is my new sister’s best friend.

Meaning the moment I give into temptation, I not only risk the woman I’m falling for, but the family legacy just starting to reveal itself.

But Blakley is worth it. I just have to prove I am as well.

I loved all the drama and the give and take between the characters. Aston is dealing with a lot with his family secrets that are coming out. He screws up so much with Blakely but he does have his reasons and he does make it up to her. The story flows nicely and this builds off of the Montgomery books. I can't wait for the rest of the Cage books

Book 1 The Cage Family

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Their Pucking Omega by Tericka Black

2.5 Stars

Omegas are weak and submissive... and definitely should not roll their eyes during meetings with potential packs.

Holly Riley was many things. Sassy, snarky, easily irritated, and curvy. None of those things align with the ideal image of a proper omega. With her Senator father breathing down her neck, Holly is running out of time to find a pack on her own terms. But no one, not even Holly, expected her to scent match with her brother's biggest rivals. And she never thought they would smoosh her cupcake.

In a perfect world, Holly would be swept away by her pack... in this world, they would have to fight for her on and off the ice.

This was an ok read. I liked parts of the book but there were too much going on. The characters weren’t developed well either. It has the potential to be an amazing story but it needs some formatting and development.

Book 1 Knotty and Ice Verse

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Wooing the Witch Queen by Stephanie Burgis

3 Stars

n a Gaslamp-lit world where hags and ogres lurk in thick pine forests, three magical queens form an uneasy alliance to protect their lands from invasion…and love turns their world upside down.

 

Queen Saskia is the wicked sorceress everyone fears. After successfully wrestling the throne from her evil uncle, she only wants one thing: to keep her people safe from the empire next door. For that, she needs to spend more time in her laboratory experimenting with her spells. She definitely doesn’t have time to bring order to her chaotic library of magic.

 

When a mysterious dark wizard arrives at her castle, Saskia hires him as her new librarian on the spot. “Fabian” is sweet and a little nerdy, and his requests seem a little strange – what in the name of Divine Elva is a fountain pen? – but he’s getting the job done. And if he writes her flirtatious poetry and his innocent touch makes her skin singe, well…

 

Little does Saskia know that the "wizard" she’s falling for is actually an Imperial archduke in disguise, with no magical training whatsoever. On the run, with perilous secrets on his trail and a fast growing yearning for the wicked sorceress, he's in danger from her enemies and her newfound allies, too. When his identity is finally revealed, will their love save or doom each other?

I wanted to like this more than I did. It started off very cute and is what led me to buying it. However, the book soon became bogged down with the details and the story moved at a snails pace. It was fine but not the best book.

Book 1 Queens of Villainy

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Wild Love by Elsie Silver

4 Stars

Rosie Belmont has been driving me wild for years. The good kind of wild. The bad kind of wild. But mostly the kind of wild that comes with wanting your best friend’s little sister and knowing you can’t have her.

After living in the city, she comes blasting back into Rose Hill like a storm. Beautiful, messy, and chaotic.

And one wide-eyed desperate plea for a job is all it takes for me to hire her.

Forbes may have labeled me the World’s Hottest Billionaire but all I care about is opening my new recording studio. Something that comes to a screeching halt when I end up face-to-face with a young girl who claims I’m her biological father.

Now I spend my days balancing business with parenting a sullen twelve-year-old all while trying desperately to keep my hands the hell off my best friend’s little sister.

I vow to keep Rosie at arm’s length. I try to stick to scowls and grumpy one-liners. But with her verbal sparring is merely foreplay—friction that turns to blistering heat.

I know damn well I shouldn’t cross that line.

But shouldn’t and can’t are two very different things.

And the only thing I truly can’t do is resist her.

I really enjoyed this audiobook. It was a friends to lovers and a second chance. Pretty standard romance rules are followed in this book but it was an amazing listen. Super spicy with some interesting curves to the story. I loved the paint scene between Ford and Rosie. The audio book was so well done and I loved the narrators. I also really loved Rosie calling Ford out on all his antics. Definitely worth a listen.

Book 1 Rose Hill

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