Ragnarok Rising by Nora Ash

2 Star

Annabelle thoughts you're just taking a vacation to Iceland.  Come to find out it's not just a trip to Iceland it's the beginning of Ragnarok. To help the demigods not end the world she's going to have to meet with them to give them a leg up. Will she be able to help them?

I wanted to like this one it's an interesting concept but when you take away someone's choice to choose and force yourself on them there's nothing else to the story but rape.  Annabelle ends up with 5 Norse gods.  Who do nothing but fight even though they need each other to survive. They demand that Annabelle make a decision as to who she's going to be with because can't possibly be with the enemy. And to top it all off, you then have the book ended in a cliffhanger.  At this point I'm not interested in continuing the series but that may change if I hear good things about it

Book 1 The Omega Prophecy

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Enchanted by Demelza Carlton

2 Star

Enchantress Zuleika was summoned by the king to help him with a problem. Instead of letting her do her duty he forces himself on her. She curses the King and swears she will never help him again. She travels the world learning new things and helping those in need. When one of her father's ship goes off course causing financial problems she heads to the last known location and discovers the Beast. The Beast is Prince Vardan. He's been cursed and will only help if she breaks the curse. She's willing to help even if he's a beast. When secrets are revealed will they be able to find their happy ending?

I love a good retelling of a fairy tale. I don't mind explicit sex scenes. What I do mind is misogynistic statements being made and then we're supposed to brush it off as a joke. No thank you. I liked Zulerika. She was a woman who is dealing with a lot after she's sexually assaulted. She deserves better than a love interest who cracks a joke about wanting to ravish the FMC who had already been raped. When the Prince is called out on the statement, he's all it was a joke. He was just an ass through most of the book. I would skip this one.

Book 1 Romance a Medieval Fairytale

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Sanctuary by Melle Amade

 

2 Star

Shae’s crush is dating her best friend. To help her get over the hurt she decides to go with the bad boy Aiden. When secrets are revealed what will she do?

Everyone is lying to her. Her parents are abusive and it's never explained why. Her friends suck a lot and not in a good way. Everyone just kind of bad for her and leave her out which ends up hurting her. Then it ends on a cliffhanger. Rope on all future books.

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Immortal Secrets by Renae Wright

2 Star

Her mother is Cinderella and the fairy tales have it all wrong. Cinderella isn't a down on her luck woman abused by her family but a siren. Now with her daughter Kira, they are the last sirens. The rest of the world wants then dead and gone as Cinderella has been nothing but evil. Kira is forced to go to school and her classmates want her dead. She's just trying to survive. She may have allies who love her or are they just using her for a means to an end?

The description of the book makes it sound awesome but it wasn't. I skimmed so much of this book. It had an interesting concept but it just doesn't work. Kira has been abused by her mother her whole life and ends up having this continue at the academy. The men she ends up with all use her to one get Something out of her because of her mom and two physically assault her as punishment. Again all because of her mom. At least by the end of book 1 these people had done nothing to make up for being massive dicks. I'm skipping the rest of the series.

Book 1 Royal Glass Hearts

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Blair by Evie Ellis

2 Star

Blair has the perfect life until she perfumes as omega. Now her dad is looking for the perfect match for her whether she likes it or not. She forced to live with her stepbrother and his friends. She wants them all but can't have them. Is she willing to risk it all for what she wants?

For me this story read very disjointed and lacked world building. The bit of development it did have contradicted things previously shared. Blair's father was all about love match until she perfumed omega than it was finding the best match that got him something he did change this in the end, but it was jarring. Blair was also very immature, and I didn't really like the men she ends up with. Overall, meh.

Book 1 Get Knotted

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Found by Jayne Rylan

 

2 Star

The Shields security team works in a gray area. They go in when the police can't. The team has been trying to take down a sex trafficking ring and find Laurel, the boss’ sister. With the latest raid they are finally able to track her down.  How she will be is anyone’s guess. Nolan brings her and her friend Jace in to be protected. Will he keep them safe and keep his hands to himself?

Sex trafficking warning!

 

I wanted to like this book. I've read other books by her and I like her style. My issue is Nolan hooks up with Laurel and Jace almost immediately after they are rescued. They had been trafficked and used. Even though they’ve been out of it they still have the trauma and it was never addressed. I find it hard to believe someone who had been through what they have would jump into a relationship. The other issue is it says book one but it's apart of another series and you need to read that one first to understand what is going on. I’ll skip this one in the future.

Book 1 Powertools: The Shields

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A Beauty for the Beast by Emma Bray

 

2 Star

Lily takes on her father’s debt and obligation to Colin Davenport. He figures he knows her but he finds her to be headstrong. Will he be more than force?

Well, I finished it the book. This story takes place in like 48 hrs from meet too forever. It was also mostly sex and no real plot which is fine if you know that going in. It just overall didn't work for me.

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Never Say Never by Harlow James

2 Star

Damian and Charlotte have been rivals for years. After high school graduation they went to different colleges in California. It's been 12 years of not seeing each other and now they keep seeing each other. When Damian tells his boss he has a girlfriend to help get an account he needs to come up with someone. Charlotte’s mother keeps trying to set her up with another guy she decides to create a boyfriend. Since they both need a partner they decide to set aside their rivalry and help each other out. Will they be able to ignore their chemistry?

I hated both of these people. I couldn’t care less about them getting their happy ending. The biggest issue I had was Damian literally feels he is owed the ad campaign for women issues. His boss was perfectly fine giving him the campaign as long as he had a girlfriend. What does that have to do with him understanding what women are looking for. This is how we get pad ads that use blue liquid to show period blood. Charlotte was a push over with her parents until she blew her top and then instead of owning up to what she had to say she hid in her apartment until it blew over. Gah It was just a no for me.

Book 1 Ladies who Brunch

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Dragon’s Bride by Katee Robert

 

2 Star

Briar Rose is trying to escape her abusive husband. She thought she had made a clean break but he found her. When a demon shows up and saves her for a deal she will agree to almost anything. All she has to do is marry a dragon from another planet and stay with him for 7 years. Will she survive this new planet and husband?

I wanted to like this book more than I did. I found myself putting it down more than I was reading it. The story had no build up. It went 0-100 within minutes. Briar was abused by her husband for years and she basically jumps into a new marriage immediately. There's no real story here I would skip it.

Book 1 A Deal with a Demon

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Zephon by A.M. Griffin

2 Star

 Angie and her twin are left alone in the world. Angie's married to an abusive man who she wants to get away from but doesn't know how. The aliens come to Earth waning women for their men her sister is selected to go to this new planet. Instead of her twin sister going Angie's put on the shuttle to take her to this new place and a new adventure. The problem she's already pregnant and she's married. How is she to keep all of this information from her new husband?  When he finds out about all of her secrets how he treated her and what will he do about her pregnancy?

Angie was interesting. I wanted to like her more than I did. She took the place of her twin since she was already married and pregnant. I get why Angie needed to leave but I just didn't enjoy this plot plus I wanted to know what happened to the sister and the husband. This came out Nov 2021 so may be more coming with more answers, but the series currently fizzled for me.

Book 3 Teague Bride Experiment

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Drive by Brenda Rothert

 

2 Star

Two years ago, Kate and Ryke were brought together by tragedy. When Kate suffers another miscarriage, she spirals. Will Kate and Ryke be able to work through their grief and trauma again or will they be able to survive this most recent trauma?

I really really really didn’t like Kate in this book. She keeps things from her husband that should be shared. She is so wrapped up in her own head she can’t see a way out and she still doesn’t get the help she so desperately needs. She is a grief counselor and just kind of buries everything and handles the loss of her second pregnancy in the worst way possible. It is one of those rare times I felt the main male character should actually leave his partner. They end up working everything out but even with that I got to a point of not caring that they did.

Book 2 Fire on Ice

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Blue Love by Leona Page

 

2 Star

Heather knows she’s not good enough for Reid. She was raised by the town whore, and he was wealthy golden boy of the town. It was barely tolerated for her to be friends with Reid’s younger brother. She spends her time taking care of her little brother Will. She tries to do whatever she can to give him a good life even if it means walking away from him. When she finds out he was being abused she takes him and runs. Reid has tried to stay away from her for years thinking she had something going on with his brother until he finds that to be a lie. Then she runs. He will chase after her until he can have her. Will they find a way to have a happy ending?

Holy crap this book was all over the place. It had so many issues with the timeline and not being clear on when it was. It made it hard to follow the story. Not to mention it jumps ahead several times and it led to a major disconnect in feeling the relationship made sense. On the relationship Reid literally spends most of the time “dating” someone else which leads to Heather staying away thinking he was happy. It was incredibly frustrating. Definitely not worth the time it took to read.

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Prey by L.V. Lane

 

2 Star

Omegas are prized and they must be protected by their alphas. They're rare and if they're caught in the wild they can be taken and used however the alphas want.  Omegas have their place and they must not leave it.

This one just felt abusive and not BDSM. It was heavy on the sex and control with punishment. I just never felt there was a romance.

Book 1 Coveted Prey

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Tempted by Demons by Lidiya Foxglove

2 stars

Edie is addicted to her social media accounts. When she gets trolled by someone online, she decides to detox on an island without any internet or cell reception. When she gets there, she meets three hot men, Alister, Van, and Dante. She is very attracted to them but isn’t sure she wants all the strings that come with them. Will they be able to win her over and finally break the curse so they can leave the island?

No world building or character development. There’s no real explanation as to why the demons can’t leave the island or why the witches hate them so much. There are more books in the series, but I’m not interested.

Book 1 Brides of the Sinistral

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Owned by the Alphas by Jayce Carter

 

2 Star

Claire will do anything to discover information on her friend’s murder, even break into an alpha's office. When she's caught by alphas Bryce, Joshua, Aidan and goes into heat. She tries to walk away from them, but they want her and will help her. The problem, they're keeping secrets. Will the secrets tear them apart?

This is a basic alpha/omega book and normally I would have enjoyed it more. The difference is with this one is when she finds out the lies instead of getting mad and even with them, she shuts down she continues to have sex and they know she's shut down and don't push it because hey sex. It just felt like forced sex instead of consensual.

Book 1 The Omega's Alphas 

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Ancients by Kathryn Moon

 

2 / 2.5 stars

The Ancients have been released and the Joanna and her coven need to contain them, so they don’t take over the world. It will take time and energy to protect them all and keep everyone safe. Will they discover the way to contain the ancients in time?

I am still very confused by the end of this book. The story wasn’t wrapped up nicely leaving me questions and I have no idea if she will write another book in the series. Overall, I enjoyed the series just feel unfulfilled.

Book 4 The Librarian’s Coven

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Forceful Negotiations by Eden Connor

 

2 Star

Former prosecutor Cam Calloway is at the sex club to impress his boss. He wins the bid for the lovely league. If he can't satisfy her his rivals get to step in.

There are too many competing storylines in this short book You get Cam/Teague, God Eros et.al, and the secondary characters. This led to another story The book just didn't gel for me.

Book 1 Carmine Club Chronicles

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Storm Surge by Naomi Lucas

 

2 stars

Stryker was part of an elite group of monster shifters who has seen the worst of the worst. When he gets a distress call, he sets off to see what is the problem. What he finds is Norah Lee. She’s a scientist who was investigating a planet and all of her crew has been killed with just her remaining. Now they will have to survive the planet.

I wanted to like this but just can’t. I never felt a connection between Norah and Striker. I also felt there were so many things left unanswered by what happened on the planet Norah was on. This one ruined it for me, and I’m not interested in continuing it.

Book 2 Cyborg Shifters

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The Wolf of the Woods by Savvy Rose

 

2 Star

Lux saw her mother be handed over by her father and be burned on a pyre. She's then sent off to live with her grandmother to be raised proper. There she meets. Fenrir. He's a beast who thirsts for blood and sex. He wants her and will have no matter what anyone says or does.

I Love a good retelling of a fable. This was not one. There's no development.at all for character or plot.  There were a ton of grammatical issues as well. The book ends up be smut and nothing else for the 190 pgs. One of the worst books I've read lately.

Book 1 Forbidden Fables

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A Cock and Bull Story by M.J. Marstens

 

Also now published as Shifters Anonymous

2 Star

An American Belle is trying to study at the University of Oxford. The problem she wants, needs, and Craves sex all the time. She discovers there is a S.A. group on campus and decides that's the way to curb her urges. The problem it's not sex aholic anonymous but Shifters' Anonymous. She's human and not supposed to know about shifters. The men she meets don't want to lose her so they will do anything to keep her safe. Will they be able too?

I really didn't like Belle. She came across as a spoilt brat. I also felt like the book was just paced really weird. Because the pacing was off the development of the characters was lacking. Skipping the rest of the series.

Book 1 Shifter's Anonymous

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