Teacher and millionaire with teenage son in New Orleans โ contemporary romance
I live in New Orleans, so it was fun to read a contemporary romance set here. The details of the setting were wonderfully accurate. Iโm just left with one burning question: Do people elsewhere seriously not drink at funerals? Now, I donโt mean during the service. Iโm talking about at the gathering afterwards. A character says New Orleanians drink at all events, even funerals. And I went, โWhat do you mean, even?โ
There isnโt a funeral in this. Itโs not a tearjerker. It has its drama, but it left me feeling good, optimistic. The characters are complex and believable. There were things I liked about them and things I didnโt, which makes them feel real. Would I want to date Tyler? No, but I wouldnโt be or date Easton either. Neither of them do relationships anyway. They treat sex much too casually for my taste. But many people do, so if that doesnโt turn you off right from the start, then I recommend this. It is a fast, enjoyable read with lots of humor that I have come to expect from Penelope Douglas.
The sex scenes were hot and well written. Tyler could be a little dominant, but Easton could dish it right back, playing with him in an amusing way. There is a possible trigger – she says no when she acts yes. He doesnโt stop, and she doesnโt want him to. This bothers me a little as It is so dangerous. Later he argues that she canโt say no to him, and I went, โBut, actually, she did!โ I got past this easily, but I like dark romance. Since this isnโt dark, maybe it bothered me more, because no should mean no, you know?
I liked and enjoyed this but didnโt love it so much that I would read it again, so 4 stars.
1st person past tense with chapters from both Easton and Tyler.
This is very well written and edited. I only caught 6 errors, and thatโs amazing.
Favorite Quotes:
Easton: People didnโt trust signatures so much as they trusted your ability to bullshit while you were drunk.
Easton: Probably midthirties, judging by the faint lines around his eyes. And although that wasnโt old, it was almost outside of my generation at twenty-three. I liked that, too. If his hands were sure, maybe his tongue would be, too. Conversation-wise, I meant.
Easton: It didnโt matter if you were fourteen or twenty-three, a student, a teacher, or a parentโyou still got nauseous when the principal called you down.
Tyler: She wouldnโt be easy. In fact, I had a strange feeling it would be like high school, and Iโd feel like Iโd scored if I just got my hand up her shirt.
The All Saints High books are about the kids of the people in Shenโs Sinners of Saint series. I found them when I was looking for dark high school romances. I havenโt read the parentโs series but went ahead with these. Itโs a mood thing. These all had crazy amounts of reviews, mostly 5 star, and are tip top ranked on Amazon. All of these books are written in 1st person present tense with chapters from the two main characters. They each have a couple of chapters from the parents of one of the main characters, which I loved.
Iโm so glad the first book was as good as all the reviews and rankings said it would be. Itโs actually SAFE, which I was surprised by, but itโs true. And the editing was amazing. I found so few errors in this! 4 since I always say. What a pleasure to read. In all these books, the bitchy banter is very amusing, there is a lot of great humor, and the sex scenes are hot.
When I was about 12 and started keeping a diary, my mom told me I shouldnโt write anything down that I didnโt want my grandmother reading in a newspaper. This is what code that can only make sense to you is for if you canโt stop yourself. I think everyone should pass on this wisdom to their children!
Favorite Quotes:
Daria: The only way I could protect myself from the fire was by creating a bigger blaze. If they thought I was untouchable, theyโd fear me instead of taunt me. If they thought the hard-nosed principal had my backโor had me on my back, for that matterโI would not be messed with. So I nurtured the rumors, made them grow, gave them wings, and let them fly, like butterflies from a Mason jar.
Penn: I need to make sure that Daria is a hobby, not an addiction. Adolescent hearts are trash and as loyal as a starving stray cat. Theyโll take anything. Even scraps. I donโt want to feed my rusty tin heart junk. And Daria, she stomped on it hard enough for me to know sheโs not even a greasy burger. Sheโs a Pop-Tarts covered in cyanide.
Daria: High school is an aquarium full of sharks. People are always broiling with the need to burst free. Only the strong survive.
Penn: A perceptive little thing, she is. I donโt think people give Daria the credit she deserves. She couldโve found Bin Laden in a week had she been given enough Red Bull and good internet service.
I was hating this for a long time. I mean itโs beautifully written, but it is one hell of a tearjerker! It reminded me of Present Perfect by Alison Bailey, which kept knocking me over the head with tragic events. I read that in December 2013 (I keep a spreadsheet) and still remember it for screaming, โEnough already!โ Broken Knight wasnโt that level of angsty and got better, happier, as it went on.
I have to give it only 4 stars because I donโt want to go through that (read it) again. Thankfully, there are very necessary moments of laugh out loud humor in this book. It needs the comic relief. The humor got me through it. This one is definitely not SAFE. We have to suffer through sex scenes with Other People. At least they are short snippets and not detailed.
This is the first book I have read in a very long time that I didnโt find any errors in!
Favorite Quotes:
Knight: Footsteps thudded in the hall, and I stretched in the large bed, nudging the woman sleeping on my chest to wake up. โYour husbandโs back. Pretty sure he wonโt be so happy to see a stud like me in his bed.โ Mom looked up, blinking the sleep from her eyes. She swatted my chest, then coughed. โHide. I wouldnโt mess with him.โ
โWe always thought we were going to have girls, Rosie and me.โ I couldnโt help but smirk, mainly because all they had were boys. And we were about the most testosterone-filled creatures in the history of mankind. Sometimes I wondered if I had blood or jizz in my veins. Mom looked down, flattening her palm over my linen and brushing it absentmindedly. Bad idea. This shit is ninety-nine percent spunk, one percent fabric.
After Broken Knight, I had to take break and read some other books, afraid of another tearjerker. But Angry God was back to what I loved in the first book. Iโm glad I came back because this was fantastic.
This one isnโt SAFE because we have to endure Vaughn getting blowjobs from Other Women. But I knew this going in from the previous books. He wasnโt in a relationship with Lenora at the time. What really bothered me was the casual way all the teens thought about this. I wanted to scream that you can catch STDs from oral sex too.
Favorite Quotes:
Vaughn:
Empedolces emerged from the rosebushes, strutting his ass like a Kardashian in my direction. Iโd named my blind black cat after the Greek philosopher who discovered the world was a sphere. This cat, like the philosopher, thought himself to be God. He had a fierce sense of entitlement and demanded to be stroked at least an hour a dayโa wish that, for a reason beyond my grasp, my sorry ass granted him. It was by far the most human thing I ever did, being pussy-whipped by a literal pussy. Emp brushed past my dirty boot. I picked him up, rubbing the spot behind his ear. He purred like a tractor.
I came buckets. I hadnโt come often before my arrangement with Good Girl, and never this much. Iโm talking enough to fill a milk carton. I had to Google that shit to see that it was normal.
I pushed the door open, hoping to find her working or reading or converting to a religion where she could only have sex with people named Vaughn Spencer.
Hot adult romance, with flashbacks to teenage years, continuation of Devilโs Night series
โBook 4โ is Conclave: A Devil’s Night Novella. It takes place between Kill Switch and Nightfall. Itโs a nice setup for Nightfall, โBook 5โ.
Will and Emory.
Again, I donโt want to give too much away if you havenโt read the previous books in the series. It was very good, just like the others. 5 stars. I loved the snippets we get where Emory witnesses a piece of a story we know so well. We donโt see much of her in the earlier books, but she was actually everywhere.
We finally get a solid resolution to the overarching plot lines of the series. Everything was tied up nicely. There is an epilogue that introduces some intrigues with the next generation that will lead to another book or series, which hasnโt come out yet. โFire Night: A Devil’s Night Holiday Novellaโ takes place between the end of Nightfall and itโs epilogue. Itโs a good, fast read and gives us some more clues about the next generation to look forward to.
This is darker than books 2 or 3 but not as dark as 1. There is unwanted touching of a sexual nature, lots of violence, and physical abuse.
There are graphic sex scenes, including some same sex ones.
Now for the grammar:
1st person past tense with chapters from both Kai and Banks.
16 errors: missing words, wrong words, missing periods, and quotation mark issues.
Favorite Quotes:
Frankly, Iโd been surprised he even spoke English. Figured him for someone who communicated solely in emojis.
That was the hardest fucking thing Iโd ever had to do. Like harder than prison, detox, and the Doris Day double-feature at the drive-in my mother asked me to take her to when I was seventeen. Combined.
Hot adult romance, with flashbacks to teenage years, continuation of Devilโs Night series
Damon and Winter.
I donโt want to give anything away.
Winter is another strong woman.
I liked that I got a good grovel, explanation, and an apology (gasp!).
Someone has a โdisabilityโ but doesnโt let it keep them back. They are still going after their dreams. I loved how this was handled. Itโs a different experience of the world, not a lacking one.
Now for the grammar:
1st person past tense with chapters from both Damon and Winter.
โYou may not be the happiest wife, Arion, but Iโm told this is why God invented Saks and Xanax.โ
Damon: When women think, shit didnโt go the way I wanted it to.
Damon: Iโd rather chug a gallon of piss warm milk than stay in bed, doing nothing. Iโd rather get a third degree burn on my dick. Or develop a peanut allergy.
Hot adult romance, with flashbacks to teenage years, continuation of Devilโs Night series
Devilโs Night continues with Kai and Banks. We didnโt meet Banks in Corrupt, Devilโs Night Book 1. You must read Corrupt for this one to make sense. I canโt say much about the plot without giving away things about Corrupt. So Iโll just say Hideaway is very good, and you should keep reading if you enjoyed Corrupt.
Hideway isnโt anywhere near as dark as Corrupt was. There are far fewer triggers here. I was again kept up way too late reading this.
I loved Banks. She is another strong woman and saves herself when needed. Kai is great. I liked him in Corrupt and enjoyed getting to know him better. We also got the same great secondary characters here.
There were less sex scenes in this one, but they were still hot. If you would be so offended by some things happening inside a church that you couldnโt go on, you should stay away.
I give this five stars because I would read it again.
Now for the grammar:
1st person past tense with chapters from both Kai and Banks.
11 errors: spelling, quotation marks, and italics problems.
Hot dark romance, new adult (college and a little older) with flashbacks to teenage years
Three years ago, Erika โRikaโ, did something bad and sent Michaelโs three best friends to jail. Now they are out, and the four men want payback. Rika has left the safety of her relationship with Michaelโs younger brother and their small town and transferred to a new college in the city where Michael lives. This puts her exactly where the four men want her, in their grasp.
We donโt find out what happened until well into the book. I enjoyed the way it was given to us in flashback chapters along the way. In the beginning, I was chaffing at not knowing. What can I say? Iโm a wait and binge watch girl. But at the end, I can say the book was much better for not front-loading this information at the start.
Penelope Douglas is an excellent writer, keeping me up way too late because I canโt stop reading and must find out what happened. The story and pacing kept me gripped the entire way through. There was much drama and some welcome humor to relieve the tension.
The characters are complex, believable, and I liked them even when they didnโt like themselves. They are all flawed, but this is what makes them great. I loved how strong Rika is. I was thrilled that she saved herself several times, not needing a man to do it for her, or at least she did a lot of damage before help arrived.
The sex scenes were hot and very well written. Their little kinks made things more interesting. There was nothing repetitive or boring here.
I do have a couple of complaints. 1. The guys are all promiscuous. They donโt make women pay or feel shameful, so at least they arenโt manwhores. Thankfully, we donโt have to read any sex scenes with other women. 2. I donโt want to give too much away, so Iโll just say a major apology is missing. Someone should have had to grovel and didnโt do so at all.
I must caution some readers. This is a dark romance. It does not contain actual rape, but rape is threatened several times by different characters. There is sexual molestation and harassment, including unwanted touching and kissing, again by different characters. Anyone with these types of triggers should stay away.
This is a sexually graphic novel. It contains many sex scenes. There is one menage scene. It felt right for the story, not gratuitous, dirty, or shameful. I actually thought it was the hottest sex scene in the book.
I give this five stars because I would read it again. Iโm definitely reading the rest of the series.
Now for the grammar:
1st person past tense with chapters from both Ericka and Michael.
โGrindedโ and โthrustedโ are not a words. The past tense of grind is ground. Itโs thrust in the present and past.
12 other errors: spelling, quotation marks, and italics problems. Two minor problems with continuity.
Favorite Quotes:
Rika speaking to her mom:
โWe could re-watch Thor again. I know you like his hammer.โ
โIโll see what Noahโs up to tonight, but if I need bail money or I come home pregnant, you only have yourself to blame.โ
Michael:
Rika was a lot like I was a few years ago. Confused, caged, and corruptible. The most valuable lesson anyone learns in life should be learned as early as possible. That you donโt have to live in the reality someone else had invented. You donโt have to do anything you donโt want to do. Ever.
Redefine normal. None of us know the full measure of our power until we start pushing our boundaries and pressing our luck, and the more we do, the less we care what others think. The freedom feels too good.
Rika:
There was no one to help me. There was no one to help me but me. Youโre not a victim, his words came back, and Iโm not your savior. I turned around, looking back at the house and seeing the lights inside slowly come on. They were in there. And onceโฆ I was one of them. Once, I ran with them, kept up with them, and stood next to them. I wasnโt their victim, and I had their attention. Iโd learned how to fight. This was on me, and while I wouldnโt make it easy for them, I wouldnโt run. I would never run. I was built for this.
Michael:
โโฆI respectfully request that, when you come home, you do me before your homeworkโฆโ
Oddball equals interesting, pure SciFi, not romance
This novella is a riff on the thought, โWhat if aliens didnโt recognize humans as sentient and kept them as pets?โ
It must be taken at face value. It is not an allegory. I sensed no intention to comment on the history, tragedies, and foibles of humanity. If you canโt put these things aside, you will probably be offended or even disgusted.
I personally found this very easy to imagine as I *know* that my cats are sentient. They control me. I am their slave. You donโt see them going out to work or the grocery store or cleaning my toilet! They understand English but would never stoop to speaking it as they have a much more elegant language comprised of subtle nuances on the basic sound โme-owโ. Besides, they get their point across to me just fine, know it, and point this out with just a look at me from time to time. I accuse them of โbeing all cute againโ and they say, โItโs the treats I train you with. You know you love it.โ I do.
The entire novella is 1st person present tense from the alien who is conducting the breeding project. We donโt get the alienโs name until the very end, in an epilogue that is an interview with our scientist. Very little is revealed about the alien species. No gender is given. We donโt even know if these aliens have genders.
There is some forced mating between the experimentโs subjects, but it is clinical rather than violent. These are the scientific notes of the doctor, so that tone removes most of the emotion and trauma we might otherwise feel when reading about these. There is nothing sexual between the aliens and the pets. I viewed it like putting cats or dogs together for mating as that is how the doctor views it. It is clear that the doctor canโt remain an impartial observer and truly cares about the pets, so mistakes made during experimentation are corrected.
Amanda said this wasnโt funny, but I found some very amusing nuggets. Overall, I found it interesting, amusing, and a fast-paced read. I think other animal lovers or anyone who doesnโt view humans as vastly different from other animals will have an easier time accepting the spirit in which this was written and appreciating the cuteness.
There you go Amanda, being all cute again!
Favorite Quotes:
Because of the male inclination towards bellicosity, most males are not fit for household pets.
Distractedly, Iโm aware of how welcome even her intrusions are to me. Her staring is so loud that I often pause whatever Iโm working on to pay her some small attention. If I were wise, I would put a stop to her disruption; it is somewhat rude behavior. [My cats!]
โNo. You donโt mark the indoor plant. Only outdoor plants.โ Then Dr. Xanโ-Tay `เฑ turns to me and sighs. โYou see environment enrichment? Male tenders see targets.โ
Contemporary romance with imperfectly perfect hero and lots of humor
As a female mechanic, Eden suffered way too much sexual harassment until she was hired by Gage. Gage has his own troubles keeping his garage running with a wandering mind, the fidgets, and the stress of his business partner and mentor just dying. Hiring Eden helps, and Gage would like to be more than her boss, but he would never want to make her uncomfortable.
This was fast paced, engaging, and funny, with a writing style I appreciated. A fantastic job of โshow not tellโ is done throughout. I loved that we donโt get a label put on Gageโs psychological struggles until midway through, so much so that I donโt want to put the label in this review. When we label something, we often dismiss it and discount the unique experiences of those who suffer with it. The great descriptions and metaphors used allowed me to laugh at and empathize with Gageโs thoughts.
I loved all the characters in this, main and secondary. My absolute favorite is Aunt Iris. She doesnโt get much screen time, but I want to invite her for a long stay and might keep her. Sheโs hilariously unfiltered and reminds me of my mother who had to make sure she was wearing Depends before I came over for a chat because we made each other laugh so much. I laughed often throughout this book, which nicely balanced the serious parts.
Eden is a strong woman, confident in herself and her abilities. She was reluctant to get into a relationship with her boss. Of course I wanted them to get together, but her reasons were sound, logical. I wasnโt irritated with her or thinking she was stupid. Gage is honorable, hot, cute, and funny. They both grow along the way. The secondary characters add lots of spice to this stew. I appreciated how developed they all were with strengths and flaws. No one was one dimensional.
I donโt know much about cars, but I didnโt have to. Both of them being mechanics and the background of the garage added flavor but didnโt leave me confused. At one point, Gage laments that, โโฆmechanics never topped the list of womenโs fantasies.โ True, they didnโt rank in mine, but the ones that have worked on my cars have looked nothing like Gage! Having a hot man who can always fix my car sounds very appealing now that I think about it.
3rd person past tense from alternating main characters. Graphic sex scene (just one, so not a big part of this novel). No cheating or OW/OM drama. Occasional mild foul language.
Grammar โ the author fixed the errors I pointed out.
I highly recommend this and would read it again in the future, so 5 stars!
Favorite quotes:
Gage: (After coming home with a dog when he was supposed to pick up a car part.) โฆhe hoped heโd never stray so bad that heโd end up at a nearby farm purchasing a llama. But even if fate doomed him to seek out llamas, heโd probably load up a Jersey cow instead.
Eden: An elderly man even struck up a conversation while she selected feminine hygiene products at the pharmacy. Most men would avoid stopping in front of the tampon display but not this guy. Midway through the conversation, she thought about heading to the condom aisle to see if he would follow but decided against it. She doubted heโd gossip about her selection of tampons with plastic applicators, but he might start a rumor if she lured him near the prophylactics.
Apparently, the lonely senior made a 911 call when faced with the insurmountable challenge of opening a jar of pickled beets. The police attended to the matter, broke the seal, and left with one of her delicious apple pies.
Telling an anxious person to relax was akin to cleaning a cat by shoving it under the kitchen tap.
Being annoyed with Gage OโNeill was the equivalent of shaming a puppy for jumping on your lap.
Gage: โAunt Iris is brutal. [โฆ] Sheโs beyond horrible. At my sisterโs wedding, she tried pairing me with this long-haired blonde sitting across the room. [โฆ] And just so you know, hair color wasnโt the issue. I objected because the blonde at the wedding was a dude.โ
Gage: โThere are two times a man should do this.โ He rose from his chair, shook his head and lowered himself to his knees. โAnd one of them is when heโs scared of his eighty-three-year-old great aunt. Please, Iโll buy you whatever dress you want. Iโll even toss in a pair of shoes. Just come to this wedding with me.โ
Aunt Iris: โMaybe if you went up to Lotus Point with my handsome grandnephew, youโd toss away this friendship nonsense.โ
Aunt Iris: โGetting married on the beach. A bikini and a veil. Itโs utter nonsense. I hate boring weddings but if I wanted to see a bride in her skivvies, Iโd go to a strip club.โ
I received a free copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
Lunaโs brother brings the wrath of the Dakkari down on their little human village. Luna offers to serve the horde king that comes to punish them in exchange for her brotherโs life. He accepts, and her life is changed forever.
This was a fast paced read with likable characters. Luna was strong, and I liked seeing her emotional growth along the way. The horde king was good and honorable. Lots of details like regularly used alien language and an alien version of horses made for great world-building. We donโt learn much about why humans are living on this planet as refugees, but I enjoyed the snippets of information I did get. The sex scenes were titillating but not scorching. The aliens were similar to humans but had tails and black and yellow eyes with no whites. They have a built-in, vibrating, clitoral stimulator, which had me laughing. Donโt all the best aliens have sex toy equipment?
The Dakkari instantly reminded me of the Dothraki in Game of Thrones. Those names are similar, they are a nomadic alien-horse-riding culture, and the men all have long hair. โKallesโ is their word for woman and the first the horde king calls Luna, which is close to khaleesi to me. It isnโt overwhelming, and there are plenty of differences, but I would guess the author is a fan.
I donโt want to give too much away, so how do I say this? The climactic action was too easy to foresee and clichรฉ. But I was very happy that Luna fought for herself and didnโt just wait to be rescued by her man.
First person past tense, all from Luna. No cheating. No OW/OM drama. Several graphic sex scenes. The only foul language I noted was the occasional use of the F word when referring to sex. This is the first in a series of standalone novels. HFN.
Grammar: Error count 15 – wrong, missing, or misspelled words. Missing comma between two independent clauses, but it was consistent so accepted as style. Not terrible.
I enjoyed this and would read more books in the series. I donโt think I would read this one again, so 4 stars.
Guilty pleasure like a soap opera or CW teen series
This is a guilty pleasure, like a soap opera or CW teen series. Iโm somewhat embarrassed to admit I read it.
Raven is taken away from her prostitute mother and sent to a small group home in another town where she attends Brayshaw High. This school and town are ruled by three non-biological brothers. The beginning is a hate to love story, but thatโs over quickly. Actually not much of it takes place inside the high school.
It becomes very difficult to suspend disbelief. It has some unique twists, so it isnโt clichรฉ, but it gets ridiculously unbelievable. Secret identities, parentage, babies, and marriages. Comas, arranged marriages, mafia-like old families running the world behind the scenes, 16-year-olds having backstories fit for 30-year-olds. Itโs insane but enjoyable, a guilty /pleasure/. All three of these books are very long, but it was well paced and kept me reading to the end. I did read all three of them.
I liked some things about the characters and hated other things. Overall, Raven is a strong female character and some secondary females are strong too.
This is really one long book, split into three parts. The first two have major cliffhangers. It would properly be labeled as Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. Lots of foul language and violence. First person present tense from alternating main characters. Many graphic sex scenes. References to rape and child molestation, but none on camera.
Many reviewers have complained about an overabundance of lip licking. I absolutely agree. Itโs crazy overkill. Fortunately, this was addressed in the second two books and only happens rarely there. In part one, Raven thinks about how hot the three guys are far too much.
There is a lot of promiscuity in this novel, but it seems to be consensual. Public and group sex acts. Unprotected sex occurs with a rejected offer to use a condom. There is no discussion of birth control or sexual history. It seems neither is worried about pregnancies or STDs, which is stupidly irresponsible.
Grammar: The comma situation is gruesome with routinely missing commas where they belong and extra commas where they donโt belong. Double punctuation marks like ?! are used. This comes from email and messaging but is not correct English. Beyond that, there were: BOBH: 5, TABH: 4, ROB: 6 including wrong words, extra words, missing words, missing or extra quotation and punctuation marks.
Iโd give this three stars but the grammar problems knocked my enjoyment down a star.
Favorite quotes:
From Boys of Brayshay High: โCanโt help it.โ I throw my hand forward, weakly squeezing the packed muscles of his biceps. โYou try sitting a foot from a beast in the flesh with crazy eyes and a dirty smirk and letโs see if your thong stays dry.โ
From Trouble at Brayshaw High: โNuh-uh, child,โ Maybell reprimands and moves forward with a first aid kit. โDonโt be lookinโ at them like that. They did right, calling me. You look as bad as you did when you found out the green Power Ranger was leaving the show.โ
V. B. Law 