The Villain by LJ Shen Book Review

February 5, 2023February 18, 2023 by zajikalimakes ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

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Blurb

Cruel. Coldblooded. Hades in a Brioni suit.
Cillian Fitzpatrick has been dubbed every wicked thing on planet earth.
To the media, he is The Villain. To me, he is the man who (reluctantly) saved my life.
Now I need him to do me another, small solid. Bail me out of the mess my husband got me into.
What’s a hundred grand to one of the wealthiest men in America, anyway?
Only Cillian doesn’t hand out free favors. The price for the money, it turns out, is my freedom.
Now I’m the eldest Fitzpatrick brother’s little toy. To play, to mold, to break.
Too bad Cillian forgot one, tiny detail.
Persephone wasn’t only the goddess of spring; she was also the queen of death.
He thinks I’ll buckle under the weight of his mind games.
He is about to find out the most lethal poison is also the sweetest.

Triggers

This book is what I would consider dark romance. If you aren’t a fan of the genre then this book might not appeal to you. I have included some of the content that I believe may be sensitive to some readers:

Abusive Relationship
Alcohol
Assault
Blood
Bones
Child Abuse
Childhood Trauma
Death of a family member
Emotional Abuse
Infertility (indirectly/mention of)
Misogyny
Pregnancy
Profanity
Sexually Explicit Scenes
Stalking (surveillance for “protection”)
Violence

Ratings

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Your Place or Mine? by Portia Macintosh Book Review

February 1, 2023March 18, 2023 by zajikalimakes ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link. Read the Disclosure here.

Blurb

Two reluctant housemates. One question: Is this your place or mine…?

When Serena is kicked out of her flat, an offer from her friend, Taylor, to house sit for her while she and her husband go travelling could not be better timing. But unfortunately for Serena she’s not the only one to have received this offer…

Enter Ziggy: arrogant, messy (and annoyingly handsome) musician, and friend of Taylor’s husband. Living with him is far from ideal, especially when he claims the best room, has loud parties – and the least said about his kitchen manner the better…

There’s just one solution for Serena – drive him out of the house by being twice as difficult to live with than he is! But Ziggy knows Serena’s game and as war ensues between them, being forced together under one roof may result in some unexpected consequences…

Don’t miss bestseller Portia MacIntosh’s brand new laugh-out-loud romantic comedy, guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

Triggers

There are not trigger warnings for this book. Here is some of the sensitive content I observed while reading:

Alcohol
Cheating (not between MCs)
Death of a Loved One
Financial anxiety
Fire
Grief
Profanity

Ratings

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Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score Book Review

January 31, 2023March 7, 2023 by zajikalimakes ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link. Read the Disclosure here.

Blurb

Bearded, bad-boy barber Knox prefers to live his life the way he takes his coffee: Alone. Unless you count his basset hound, Waylon.

Knox doesn’t tolerate drama, even when it comes in the form of a stranded runaway bride.

Naomi wasn’t just running away from her wedding. She was riding to the rescue of her estranged twin to Knockemout, Virginia, a rough-around-the-edges town where disputes are settled the old-fashioned way…with fists and beer. Usually in that order.

Too bad for Naomi her evil twin hasn’t changed at all. After helping herself to Naomi’s car and cash, Tina leaves her with something unexpected. The niece Naomi didn’t know she had. Now she’s stuck in town with no car, no job, no plan, and no home with an 11-year-old going on thirty to take care of.

There’s a reason Knox doesn’t do complications or high-maintenance women, especially not the romantic ones. But since Naomi’s life imploded right in front of him, the least he can do is help her out of her jam. And just as soon as she stops getting into new trouble he can leave her alone and get back to his peaceful, solitary life.

At least, that’s the plan until the trouble turns to real danger.

Triggers

There are no sensitive content warnings from Lucy Score for this book. Here are some of the potentially sensitive content that I observed while reading:

Abusive Relationship (not between Main Characters)
Alcohol
Blood
Child Neglect (not by Main Characters)
Financial Anxiety
Kidnapping
Profanity
Sexually Explicit Scenes
Violence

Ratings

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Fractured Freedom by Shain Rose Book Review

January 21, 2023March 7, 2023 by zajikalimakes ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link. Read the Disclosure here.

Blurb

Is it so bad that I tricked my older brother’s best friend into taking my v-card?

Maybe.

In my defense, it was Dante Reid—my crush, my first love, and the one I ended up pushing away.
Our paths split in opposite directions.
I went to college on one coast while he returned to work with the US Army on the other.
The end.
Or so I thought.

After graduating and attempting a bucket list of self-discovery, guess who I find standing outside the jail, bailing me out from a crime I didn’t commit?
Dante freaking Reid—this time with more muscles, more tattoos, and more demands.
One of which is to move in across the hall from him so he can keep me safe. Like I need protection after a little felony mix-up.

I don’t.
Unless it’s from him.
Because Dante has been my downfall before …

And living next to the guy I gave my innocence to a long time ago may actually end in my complete devastation.

Triggers

Shain Rose does include sensitive content warnings on her website so I have included those here plus any other potentially triggering content I observed while reading:

Alcohol
Blood
Depression
Hostages
Miscarriage
Murder
Profanity
Sexually Explicit Scenes
Stalking
Violence

Ratings

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King of Battle and Blood by Scarlett St. Clair Book Review

January 12, 2023February 20, 2023 by zajikalimakes ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link. Read the Disclosure here.

Blurb

An instant USA Today bestseller! From fan-favorite Scarlett St. Clair, the bestselling author of the Hades & Persephone series, comes a new fantasy filled with danger, darkness, and insatiable romance.

Their union is his revenge.

Isolde de Lara considers her wedding day to be her death day. To end a years-long war, she is to marry vampire king Adrian Aleksandr Vasiliev, and kill him.

But her assassination attempt is thwarted no m, and Adrian threatens that if Isolde tries to kill him again, he will raise her as the undead. Faced with the possibility of becoming the thing she hates most, Isolde seeks other ways to defy him and survive the brutal vampire court.

Except it isn’t the court she fears most―it’s Adrian. Despite their undeniable chemistry, she wonders why the king―fierce, savage, merciless―chose her as consort.

The answer will shatter her world.

Triggers

As this is a fantasy romance, there was no content warnings or triggers list so these are the potentially sensitive topics I observed while reading:

Alcohol
Blood
Bones
Death
Decapitation
Gore
Murder
Profanity
Sexually Explicit Scenes
Violence

Ratings

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Lovelight Farms by B. K. Borison Book Review

January 2, 2023February 18, 2023 by zajikalimakes ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link. Read the Disclosure here.

Blurb

Where the lovelight gleams …

A pasture of dead trees. A hostile takeover of the Santa barn by a family of raccoons. And shipments that have mysteriously gone missing. Lovelight Farms is not the magical winter wonderland of Stella Bloom’s dreams.

In an effort to save the Christmas tree farm she’s loved since she was a kid, she enters a contest with instafamous influencer Evelyn St. James. With the added publicity and the $100,000 cash prize, she might just be able to save the farm from its financial woes. There’s just one problem. To make the farm seem like a romantic destination for the holidays, she lied on the application and said she owns Lovelight Farms with her boyfriend. Only … there is no boyfriend.

Enter best friend Luka Peters. He just came home for some hot chocolate, and somehow got a farm and a serious girlfriend in the process.

Lovelight Farms is a romantic comedy featuring a handsome, freckled data analyst, a messy, optimistic Christmas tree farm owner, and a small town with the best hazelnut lattes on the east coast. This sweet and steamy romance is a holiday happily ever after.

It is the first book in a series of interconnected standalones following the three Lovelight owners.

Triggers

These are the the potentially sensitive topics that are discussed in this book:

Alcohol
Anxiety
Cancer (not Main Characters)
Death of a parent (both Main Characters)
Profanity
Sexually Explicit Scenes

Ratings

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Tangled in Tinsel by Trilina Pucci Book Review

December 21, 2022December 21, 2022 by zajikalimakes ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link. Read the Disclosure here.

Blurb

Imagine being snowed in with four hot successful men.
P.S. they’ve all played the hero in too many of your naughtiest dreams.
Problem is, you work for them, and that makes them off-limits.
Except now they’re looking at you like you’re Santa’s cookies.
And they definitely want to take a bite.
Talk about making you reconsider your life choices.
These four are aiming for Santa’s naughty list, and I’m pretty sure I’m getting:
Jace
Reed
Alec
…and Cole
for Christmas.

It might’ve started as a decorating job.
But it ended Tangled in Tinsel.

Triggers

This book is very spicy and is intended for audiences 18+! There is not a content warning of any sort for this one so I’ve included the potentially sensitive topics I observed while reading:

Alcohol
Degradation
Group Sex
Profanity
Sexually Explicit Scenes

Ratings

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Tis The Season For Revenge by Morgan Elizabeth Book Review

December 11, 2022December 17, 2022 by zajikalimakes ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link. Read the Disclosure here.

Blurb

Abbie Keller thought that Richard Bartholemew Benson the Third would be her forever. In their four years of dating, she never doubted that she wouldn’t end up with his grandmother’s engagement ring on her finger. Sure, she had to change a few things about herself to fit that mold, like dying her hair, dressing more conservatively, and finding golf enjoyable (honestly the most difficult of the changes), but she was sure that at the end of it all, it would be worth it.

That is, until he leaves her crying outside her apartment wearing a Halloween costume, having broken it off with her because she’s just not serious enough. She was just fun, he tells her – and now that Richard has becoming a partner at his law firm in his sights, he needs to focus on work.

So she does what every girl does when she’s broken up with: she calls her friends, gets drunk, dyes her hair, and formulates her plan for revenge. It just so happens that the universe supports her efforts and gives her the perfect match to prove to her ex that he made a huge mistake: his boss.

Abbie starts dating the founding partner of Richard’s law firm, Damien Martinez, with one thing in mind: convincing him to invite her to the huge annual Christmas party as his date.

But when the relationship starts to become something more than casual dating and Abbie sees that the tough New York lawyer has a soft side, will she be able to follow through with her plan of deceit?

Tis the Season for Revenge is a contemporary, grumpy sunshine, age-gap, Christmas romance.

It is a full-length romance with a Happily Ever After that features sexually explicit material and profanity. This book is intended for 18+

Triggers

This book seems like it would be lighthearted but there are some pretty sensitive topics discussed. Here are the potentially triggering content I observed while reading:

Abusive Relationship (not between Main Characters)
Alcohol
Cheating (not between Main Characters)
Emotional Abuse
Misogyny (and internalized misogyny)
Physical Abuse (not between Main Characters)
Profanity
Sexually Explicit Scenes
Slut Shaming (not between Main Characters)
Violence (not between Main Characters)

Ratings

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In The Event of Love by Courtney Kae Book Review

December 5, 2022December 10, 2022 by zajikalimakes ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link. Read the Disclosure here.

Blurb

With her career as a Los Angeles event planner imploding after a tabloid blowup, Morgan Ross isn’t headed home for the holidays so much as in strategic retreat. Breathtaking mountain vistas, quirky townsfolk, and charming small businesses aside, her hometown of Fern Falls is built of one heartbreak on top of another . . .

Take her one-time best friend turned crush, Rachel Reed. The memory of their perfect, doomed first kiss is still fresh as new-fallen snow. Way fresher than the freezing mud Morgan ends up sprawled in on her very first day back, only to be hauled out via Rachel’s sexy new lumberjane muscles acquired from running her family tree farm.

When Morgan discovers that the Reeds’ struggling tree farm is the only thing standing between Fern Falls and corporate greed destroying the whole town’s livelihood, she decides she can put heartbreak aside to save the farm by planning her best fundraiser yet. She has all the inspiration for a spectacular event: delicious vanilla lattes, acoustic guitars under majestic pines, a cozy barn surrounded by brilliant stars. But she and Rachel will ABSOLUTELY NOT have a heartwarming holiday happy ending. That would be as unprofessional as it is unlikely. Right?

Triggers

This is a sweet book that doesn’t have very many sensitive topics that arise but I’ve included the potentially sensitive content that I observed:

Alcoholism (not MCs)
Death of a Loved One
Profanity
Sexually Explicit Scenes

Ratings

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Resting Scrooge Face by Meghan Quinn Book Review

December 4, 2022December 17, 2022 by zajikalimakes ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link. Read the Disclosure here.

Blurb

From USA Today and Amazon Charts bestselling author Meghan Quinn comes a festive short romance about old flames and mistaken identities.

After a bad breakup, Nola wants nothing to do with Christmas, especially in her quaint hometown of Bright Harbor, Maine. Infuriatingly charming and
cheery, Nola’s surroundings only worsen her sour mood.

To make matters worse, Caleb, the boy who broke her heart years ago, is all grown up and still living in town. While doing her best to avoid him, Nola bumps into the local mailman, who gives her a mysterious letter. And when she finds that the writer is a fellow Scrooge, she can’t help but feel her spirit lifting.

Nola writes back to her new pen pal-who,
unbeknownst to Nola, is none other than Caleb. When Caleb gets a response hand delivered by the mailman, he’s intrigued by the mystery sender. A friendly correspondence develops-and quickly turns flirtatious.

Although Nola and Caleb claim they can’t stand each other, they can’t deny the simmering attraction that brought them together in the first
place.

Can these nameless pen pals write their own love story—or will they be too caught up with the ghosts of their Christmases past to find a future together?