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annica_reads_books's reviews
549 reviews
Devil's Redemption by Natasha Knight
2.0
The first half of this book captured my attention more than the first book in the duet, but I struggled to stay interested and ended up skimming quite a bit.
Devil's Pawn by Natasha Knight
3.0
Mixed feelings. I enjoyed Isabelle (the heroine) and Angelique (Jericho’s daughter). The other characters feel sort of bland to me, and I’m having trouble believing some of the dialogue. The plot was interesting, but parts felt predictable and recycled from other books I’ve read by Natasha.
The Eclipse Ritual by Kate Rivenhall
2.0
I wanted to like this, and it had the potential to keep me hooked with the cult-like setting and religious rituals, but dear God, the writing was terrible.
The Rocker's Muse by Penelope Ward
5.0
I was in a massive book slump, and this audiobook pulled me out of it. 5 stars for keeping my attention from start to finish, the plot twists, and the surprisingly emotional moments. I'm thrilled that I listed to this!
P.S. This is a very slow burn. You'll get detailed spice scenes, but this is a book "with" spice, not a "spicy" book. The story focuses heavily on plot, tension and character development over smut just for the sake of it.
P.P.S. The narrators were perfect—Connor Crais and Andi Arndt were expertly cast for the two love interests.
*I was gifted a copy of this audiobook from Must Love Audio and Penelope Ward, but all thoughts and opinions here are my own. Thank you Penelope and MLA!
P.S. This is a very slow burn. You'll get detailed spice scenes, but this is a book "with" spice, not a "spicy" book. The story focuses heavily on plot, tension and character development over smut just for the sake of it.
P.P.S. The narrators were perfect—Connor Crais and Andi Arndt were expertly cast for the two love interests.
*I was gifted a copy of this audiobook from Must Love Audio and Penelope Ward, but all thoughts and opinions here are my own. Thank you Penelope and MLA!
Lone Star by Lauren Gilley
🥹🥹🥹
4.0
I’ll take whatever scraps of this series I can get! This book was a little harder to follow because the story mostly takes place in the Texas chapter, even though we do see our Knoxville family too. The story also follows three different couples whom we haven’t seen much of until now. Reese and Tenny completely stole the show, and I can’t wait for more of them. Reese, “Mercy’s little murder duckling.” 😍
“It’s from a poem,” he explained. “It’s called ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade.’ I don’t really know what it’s about, but I liked that bit about the cannons. About being shot at, you know, and facing Death? It reminded me of–”
“Us,” Tenny said. “It reminded you of us.”
“People like us,” he said, relieved. “The club too, I guess.”
Tenny swallowed. “Yeah, I guess.”
“The man who wrote it was pretty famous, I think. His name was Alfred, Lord Tennyson.”
Tenny stood very still, but he vibrated like a plucked cord.
“Ten is a number,” Reese went on. “But I thought, if you were going to be Tenny, that maybe your real name could be Tennyson. Like the poet. If you like. And then you could be a person. Like me.”
🥹🥹🥹
On Loverose Lane by Samantha Young
4.0
Audiobook Review
Narrators: Shane East and Zara Hampton-Brown
Narration Style: Dual
Standard Length:
Should I have read On Dublin Street prior to listening to On Loverose Lane? Probably, but I don't care. While it would have helped me to understand some character's histories, my lack of understanding their stories didn't affect my listening experience at all (in fact, I want to go back and read their books now!). I didn't expect to enjoy this story as much as I did, but this audiobook took me by surprise and I ended up loving just about everything about it. Callan and Beth met and fell in love when they were younger, had to spend time apart, and meet again years later. Of course, they dislike each other due to misunderstandings from when they were younger, despite their current attraction to each other. Regardless of the past miscommunication between them, rest assured that in present day, these two were mature and acted like it. Callan and Beth were generally quite honest and straightforward with each other as they were older, which I really appreciated.
Admittedly, I wasn't thrilled when I learned that the heroine's career was social media management as frequent mentions of social media and the problems that come with it tend to irritate me in fiction. However, I'm eating my words now. The way that Samantha Young wove this in with the heroine's battle with anxiety was honestly so beautiful and relatable to me. I'd be shocked if Samantha didn't have personal experience with this with how well I thought this aspect of the story was executed. I immediately forgave all irritation I might have with social media written as a topic in fiction. It ended up having a purpose, and the author delivered it well.
The narration was spectacular. I was particularly in awe of how well Shane and Zara managed multiple character accents and genders. Well done!
I highly recommend this audio to anyone who loves second chance romances with mature characters and topics of anxiety.
A big thank you to Must Love Audio and Samantha Young for the audiobook ALC. All opinions here are my own, and I left my review voluntarily.
Narrators: Shane East and Zara Hampton-Brown
Narration Style: Dual
Standard Length:
Should I have read On Dublin Street prior to listening to On Loverose Lane? Probably, but I don't care. While it would have helped me to understand some character's histories, my lack of understanding their stories didn't affect my listening experience at all (in fact, I want to go back and read their books now!). I didn't expect to enjoy this story as much as I did, but this audiobook took me by surprise and I ended up loving just about everything about it. Callan and Beth met and fell in love when they were younger, had to spend time apart, and meet again years later. Of course, they dislike each other due to misunderstandings from when they were younger, despite their current attraction to each other. Regardless of the past miscommunication between them, rest assured that in present day, these two were mature and acted like it. Callan and Beth were generally quite honest and straightforward with each other as they were older, which I really appreciated.
Admittedly, I wasn't thrilled when I learned that the heroine's career was social media management as frequent mentions of social media and the problems that come with it tend to irritate me in fiction. However, I'm eating my words now. The way that Samantha Young wove this in with the heroine's battle with anxiety was honestly so beautiful and relatable to me. I'd be shocked if Samantha didn't have personal experience with this with how well I thought this aspect of the story was executed. I immediately forgave all irritation I might have with social media written as a topic in fiction. It ended up having a purpose, and the author delivered it well.
The narration was spectacular. I was particularly in awe of how well Shane and Zara managed multiple character accents and genders. Well done!
I highly recommend this audio to anyone who loves second chance romances with mature characters and topics of anxiety.
A big thank you to Must Love Audio and Samantha Young for the audiobook ALC. All opinions here are my own, and I left my review voluntarily.
Fated to the Wolf Prince by April L. Moon
2.0
One thing to know about me: I’m a complete whore for trashy shifter romances. They seem to scratch an itch in my brain when I need a palate cleanser—something to keep me captivated as a form of complete escapism from life. This book just didn’t do that. I wouldn’t say this story is bad, and it certainly could scratch that itch for someone else, it just didn’t do it for me. I was hoping for some more tension and drama, and I feel like this was missing that.
Shaman by Lauren Gilley
4.0
Ian’s novella was healing!
I really enjoyed Ian and Alec’s story. This novella was quite necessary and healing. I loved it. ❤️🩹
I really enjoyed Ian and Alec’s story. This novella was quite necessary and healing. I loved it. ❤️🩹
“What is love? Is it something you feel?
Or is it something you possess?
Something you can give to someone, like a gift.
Something they can give to you.
I think maybe it’s all of those things.
And maybe, just maybe,
it’s the thing that saves us.”
His Darkest Devotion by Addison Cain
Also Addison, count me in as someone that is very interested in Thayer and Maeve’s love story, should you choose to write it! 😍 Even though the romance between the two protagonists in this duet is complete, I need more of this world! It’s brilliant and utterly addictive!
P.S. If non-con is a dealbreaker for you in romance novels, I recommend sitting this duet out.
5.0
Wow. It’s official—this is my second favorite story written by Addison (just right after Alpha’s Claim). I have no extra words to add other than I just loved this. The ending to this book could not have been more perfect.
”You wish to be angry that I hold you above all others, that I would keep you safe? Then hate me. Hate me forever, if you must. It will never stop me from loving you.”
Also Addison, count me in as someone that is very interested in Thayer and Maeve’s love story, should you choose to write it! 😍 Even though the romance between the two protagonists in this duet is complete, I need more of this world! It’s brilliant and utterly addictive!
P.S. If non-con is a dealbreaker for you in romance novels, I recommend sitting this duet out.
His Darkest Deceit by Addison Cain
5.0
Dude.
DUDE.
Addison Cain has done it again. I don’t know what witchcraft she uses to create these stories, but I am full-on drinking her Kool-Aid and begging for seconds. His Darkest Deceit is a dark dystopian age-gap omegaverse romance with SciFi elements and maybe a splash of dark academia (think like a military training academy). Oh, and make the main characters hybrids between humans and reptiles (albeit mostly human).
The world that Cain built in this story is different from any of her others, and the plot currently has me by the throat (yes, this ends on a cliffy)! The characters are completely on brand for a Cain novel—the heroine is a sassy, intelligent badass who’s stubborn to a fault, and the anti-hero is a full-on villain who you don’t really want to like, but you can’t help but love. Oh, and of course, he’s utterly OBSESSED with our heroine. One other plus—Cain’s heroines have friends who are also intelligent with their own goals and dreams, and none of their lives revolve around men.
God, I love Addison Cain’s books. They certainly aren’t for everyone, though, and will appeal to a very specific type of reader. Every time I read one of her stories, I’m reminded why she’s one of my favorite authors. They are a slam dunk for me every single time. 🏀
DUDE.
Addison Cain has done it again. I don’t know what witchcraft she uses to create these stories, but I am full-on drinking her Kool-Aid and begging for seconds. His Darkest Deceit is a dark dystopian age-gap omegaverse romance with SciFi elements and maybe a splash of dark academia (think like a military training academy). Oh, and make the main characters hybrids between humans and reptiles (albeit mostly human).
The world that Cain built in this story is different from any of her others, and the plot currently has me by the throat (yes, this ends on a cliffy)! The characters are completely on brand for a Cain novel—the heroine is a sassy, intelligent badass who’s stubborn to a fault, and the anti-hero is a full-on villain who you don’t really want to like, but you can’t help but love. Oh, and of course, he’s utterly OBSESSED with our heroine. One other plus—Cain’s heroines have friends who are also intelligent with their own goals and dreams, and none of their lives revolve around men.
God, I love Addison Cain’s books. They certainly aren’t for everyone, though, and will appeal to a very specific type of reader. Every time I read one of her stories, I’m reminded why she’s one of my favorite authors. They are a slam dunk for me every single time. 🏀