miras_booverse's reviews
411 reviews

Finishing last year with Jill Ramsower's "Devil's Thirst", the first book in her "The Moretti Man" series, was a great decision that wasn't even planned.

Before I started "Devil's Thirst" I had no idea that it would be my last book for the past 2024 and that it would put such a surprisingly good end to the year in this field. I don't think I was in the mood for the tropes that I had previously understood there were in the story, but after I started it, my mood immediately turned.

The writing style is extremely good and this is noticeable in the first 4-5 pages. It is so detailed, although it continued to keep the characters shrouded in mystery even after the author has introduced them to the readers and we have begun to get to know them. Very deep and rich in everything that a reader needs to be attracted to, and after the first few chapters, I was absolutely immersed in the story.

The characters are greatly built, and the upgrade in them over the course of the story is seen without a problem and is so well done that it is a real pleasure to follow.

I really liked Sante right from the start. He certainly knows how to choose his words to ignite the spark in Amelie and make my legs wobble. He is a big manipulator and plays a lot with her, and although his methods of keeping the main character by his side are quite questionable, it is obvious from afar that he wants her, he knows that she is the only woman for him, he does not stop fighting for her and is ready to do anything to get her. I also don't miss that he fixes the messes he has did, so - what's not to like about him?

Amelie will see me for exactly who I am, and she will come to accept that she's meant for me. I'll prove to her that my brand of f*cked up is what she needs. It may be a challenge, but that doesn't worry me. I can be relentless when it comes to getting what I want. And I don't just want Amelie Brooks; I'll go f*cking insane without her.

Amelie seems like a heroine who has been through too much and is quite overwhelmed emotionally by life, but she continues to fight, which I really liked about her. She is an extremely strong heroine, without being the typical rebel or bad girl, who only rose in my eyes throughout the story, although she had her moments of uncertainty that pulled her a step back from her progress.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but that's not how this works. You chose me. I chose you. We haven't f*cked yet, but that's only because I want you to get to know me first. We can skip ahead, though, if it means you start to understand that you're mine."

The erotica and intimacy in the relationship between the two of them is felt without even a hint of any erotic scenes, and this also shows how good an author Jill Ramsower is. Of course, their erotic scenes themselves are extremely hot, but after I had already seen the rest, I had no doubt that she would do amazing with them too.

The climax is great. It's not exactly tense or with more action, as I expected it to be, but it developed in an interesting direction, without unnecessary dramatization or dragging out the action, which I really liked.

The ending was also great and makes me want to look at the rest of the author's books. I was very pleasantly impressed.
~~~
Rating: 5/5

~~~This book was provided to me by Valentine PR for my honest opinion.~~~ 

Kathy Lockheart's writing style is not new to me and in "Crossover" I mostly liked it again - descriptive and detailed, delving into the story and the emotional state of the characters. But I have a feeling that in this book, she has spoiled the characters that we already know from the first book.

I don't remember Ivy being so irritating and nerve-wracking with her behavior in the first book. She is extremely indecisive here, she wants something, but she doesn’t know what either. She blames Grayson for something she herself knows he is also a victim of. The drama between them, no matter how much it lengthens the plot and shows that in the end their relationship is stronger than all their problems, in my opinion, was completely unnecessary, or at least it was not approached in the right way, although it was a plot twist. And her disgusting behavior towards Grayson and this procrastination of the action, made me read slowly and honestly, from time to time I didn't even want to reach for the book knowing how far the characters had gone.

From the middle onwards, the story got better and the dynamics improved. There were some moments that were meant to superimpose more action, but they were also approached in such a way as not to aggravate the plot.

I realized in that moment that I wanted every one of his kisses to belong to me. I always had. I was only fooling myself to think I could ever walk away from him.

Already towards the end, with all the action and the direction in which the plot went, I started reading with eagerness again. This is what I was waiting for throughout the whole book.

The climax was quite tense, extremely strong and I really liked it. There was a lot of action in it, it seemed realistic enough for me to enjoy it and it really made me wonder if everything would be okay in the end.

I would also read some of the author's other books about the other brothers, although in this duology I lacked something so that it couldn’t completely grab me.
~~~
Rating: 3/5

~~~This book was provided to me by Valentine PR for my honest opinion.~~~ 

 J Rose stunned me again, this time with the second book of her "Harrowdean Manor" duet – "Burn Like An Angel".

It's hard for me to collect my thoughts after this book, but I'm really going to try. J Rose leaves me speechless when it comes to her books again, and the two things I'm angry about is that I didn't find her books sooner and that I won't be able to start any other of them right away. I am absolutely mesmerized by her ability to write a story in such way, that it can captivate the reader with its darkness, and not only make you want to not stop reading until you finish it, but after that, she makes you want and need more.

For the past few days, while reading "Burn Like An Angel" I was not just immersed in the story, I was WITH the characters, I was running for my life, I felt their horror and helplessness, but at the same time their hope for salvation and a better life, I saw the ruins of the riot in the institute and prayed that society would believe the patients, and not reject them or even worse - bury them even deeper because of the sins, they were forced to carry out in order to protect themselves from the horrors of the Incendia Corporation. I laughed, I was afraid, I loved and I cried along with these characters – this book was THAT good. The author is also THAT good.

But let me start from the beginning.

"Burn Like An Angel" picks up right where "Sin Like The Devil" left off and throws us shockingly back into the story. Inside the institute, of course, there is complete chaos, absolute anarchy, as the riot is just gaining momentum and is breaking out with a force that sweeps everything in its path, which makes the dynamics supreme from the beginning.

"You didn't silence me." I stare into his petrified eyes. "You just made me desperate. I'll never let you take my voice again. Never."

The book kept me on my toes all the time. Even in the moments of calm, there were still hints of skepticism on my part that the characters were safe and that I could safely rest for a few seconds before they were thrown back into a new melee and something bad happened to them. And yet, there was not a second in which I felt disoriented. Every time I sat down to read it, I immediately sank back into the story, without wondering what happened last, without losing the thread and without wanting to stop.

The action, the tension - I feel like they are repeatedly amplified when reading, once because I experienced them with the characters and once because I experienced them as a reader for the characters. The factors that made me fall in love with the duet are many, but this emotional impact it had on me, is one of the most important ones.

I feel at home curled up in Raine's arms. Breathing in his citrus, sea salt scent. Arguing with Lennox. Drowning in his watered-down green eyes. Touching Xander and dragging a smile from him on the days he closes himself off.
Somewhere along the way, they became my home.
I don't have to be alone anymore.

In this book, we get to know the men around Ripley much more, while at the same time continuing to get to know her. Or rather, a completely different version of her, which she has so far diligently tried to hide from everyone, including herself. The version of Ripley who is not afraid to rely on someone, to love, and who no longer has to deal with everything on her own because she has help by her side. And the responsible people for bringing this version to light, are Raine who was the first to reach her and break her walls made of ice; Xander, who, by opening up to her, made her fall in love with him and his vulnerability; and Lennox, who, although had the the hardest times with all this of all three of them, was the reason she realized that she wanted to have a “forever” with the four of them together.

It isn't a weakness to love or be loved. Those connections are actually what make us strong.

The moments of each of the men separately with Ripley are so full of emotions that it is impossible not to feel them while reading. You can't help but feel everything they feel and read it in their behavior. However, when they are all together, then they are a force that no one can knock down and nothing can stop. However, I can't hide that I was most excited about Lennox (not because he's my favorite, because I said about the first book and I still have the same opinion, that this is the first rh book in which I can't choose my favorite from everyone, just because I like them all and every one of them stuck out differently), but because he was the most obstinate of all, and refused to admit even to himself how much he was in love with Ripley. Which made everything even sweeter.

Beneath all that goddamn beautiful rage, we're just alike. Together, we could be unstoppable. Our rage will burn the whole fucking world.

The climax is killer good! Extremely strong and full of action, twists and emotions. It kept me on my toes, and the agony I felt as I read what was happening was only fueled by the need to go further to make sure that everything would be okay in the end.

The ending is so beautiful that I wanted to cry and rejoice at the same time. And the small surprise in the epilogue only makes me want to pick up the author's previous books faster.

If you haven't read "Harrowdean Manor" yet, fix this error as soon as possible. Only then will you understand what I am talking about.
~~~
Rating: 5/5

~~~This book was provided to me by Valentine PR and J Rose for my honest opinion.~~~ 

As Christmas approaches, I start to bring my holiday mood up with Christmas books, and this year I started early with "Gifted to His Dad" by J. Wilder.

Short, hot, with a decent story, which is there along the erotic scenes, unobtrusive or overly annoying characters and a lot of Christmas mood - that's how I like my Christmas books.

The author's writing style is not bad, it is quite light and quick to read, without unnecessary details. The erotic scenes are placed in such a way that you don’t get bored with their quantity, and I was very impressed that for a book that is 100 pages, the author has tried to make readers feel the sexual tension and the slow burn between Eve and Griffin until it comes to the actual action between them, so she gets bonus points for this.

I can't say that there is much plot, because let's not kid ourselves - I haven't read this book for the plot.

The characters are not bad, but if you are looking for a good build in a short erotic novel like this - you better change your expectations. I think the only thing that really irritated me was how insecure Eve was, even though Cole kept showering her with love and affection.

What I didn't really like was how rushed things were going on, how quickly Griffin fell in love with her (he literally knows her for 3 days and is already telling her that he loves her and can't do without her), which made the whole thing too cheesy for my taste.

In general, I don't have a bad impression of the story, it left good feelings in me, and it was the perfect choice for a short Christmas book.
~~~
Rating: 3.5/5

~~~This book was provided to me by Grey's Promo for my honest opinion.~~~ 

I rarely reach for paranormal dark romances, as I don't think they are my thing, but so far the few I've read have appealed to me a lot, and Ash Redd's "Water's Edge" is no exception.

I can't deny that it was the darkness in this story that originally attracted me to the book. However, there were so many more factors that kept my attention on it and made me like it so much.

I'll start by saying that the writing style is great. Detailed and insightful in the story and the characters, depicting the situation in detail, and showing everything the reader needs to feel the feelings and emotions of the characters, as well as to perceive and, above all, feel the place where they are.

"But damaged people are dangerous, Sheriff. We know how to survive the fires of hell and make it feel like home."

As I said before, I really liked how dark the story was, and how it made me feel depressed while imputing a feeling of hopelessness, of suffocation by the place and the power in the forest, which made me feel like I was there myself. The author has simply done a brilliant job in the show not only of the situation, but also of the surrounding atmosphere.

No longer interested in simply just consuming her, I need her to be mine. I need her fate to be intertwined with mine until I begin where she ends.

I can't deny that it was strange to me how just the moment Ripp saw Mattie, he felt attraction to her and suddenly she was the only thing in his head, but then it is explained where this came from, so it's not so unexpected and rigged.

Even if her consciounsness doesn't registers in yet, her soul recognizes its match in my shadow.

Otherwise, their relationship develops quite quickly, but I didn't feel them hasty or forced, on the contrary actually - I think it happens at the perfect pace for the story. Their erotic scenes, which are not few, are so good. After a certain moment, I realized that they filled the book and yet, I did not feel them coming in excess, simply because they are placed in such a way that the plot is not lost between them.

The dynamics are constant. The action does not stop developing and there is not a moment of stagnation in the plot. It keeps the reader interested all the time.

But I wanted to know a little bit more about Mattie's past and what she went through with her family, because most of the things are mentioned, but we don't have a clear idea of what exactly her father did to her, and more about his evil deeds.

Other than that, the characters are very well built for such a short novel. And the image of Mattie was even more interesting to me with its unusualness, because I don't remember ever coming across a similar female character in other books.

I would certainly continue with the rest of the books in the series when they come out, as well as with the author's other books, as she managed to impress me.
~~~
Rating: 4/5

~~~This book was provided to me by Ash Redd for my honest opinion.~~~ 

 I am convinced once again how much I love the stories Bella Matthews creates, this time with "The Risks We Take Duet".

I love Bella Matthews and her books! Maybe I've said it before, but I'm not going to stop repeating it, so you'll have to hear it a lot more. The vast universe with all the intricacies of the family ties in it and the palette of diverse characters, makes me feel a sense of coziness and calmness that few books manage to do. "The Risks We Take Duet" is no exception.

I thought it would be strange for me to read about the old generation, since I started the author's books with the new generation and I already know some of the characters through their children's stories. Now, however, I can safely say that my fears were not right and my interest was just as great as when reading any of the author's other books. A big plus is that I now feel more familiar with the characters, with all the family relationships, with who and what they are, with whom they are partners in general, everything that builds this universe for a long time. However, I cannot deny that thanks to this duet, I was finally able to remember at least a few couples that appear here, as well as understand how their members are related.

"There will be dosens of people who will take your breath away, but the one who reminds you to breathe is the one you should keep.

I had already met Cooper several times in the author's other books, but a completely different version of him, which has almost nothing to do with the one here. I couldn't wait to find out more about his story and what happened to him and Carys, because even if I had heard of her, I hadn't paid as much attention to her character in the future, so she was almost a complete enigma to me. And I can tell you that their love and the tribulations they go through do not disappoint. Such pure and true love, so genuine and long-hidden feelings that when they allow themselves to give themselves to them, I witnessed an extremely beautiful love story.

This woman is my endgame. And fuck anyone else who tries to tell me I'm wrong.

All the details and storylines that develop in parallel with the biggest plotline, which is the relationship and trials in love between our two main characters, are so interesting to follow, so well and perfectly thought through and placed, that they hold the reader's attention, while at the same time give him the feeling of completeness of the plot, so that it does not seem flat or single-layered.

"But what about the guys? Your team? You love them. Why would you leave?"
"I love you more."

The characters are so well built, created extremely real. Touching, multi-layered characters that you can't help but understand and sympathize with. And here I am not talking only about the main characters, as I managed to get to know a little bit each character who appeared in this book. Even the characters for whom there are already books and their stories have been completed, continue to develop here, and I like this very much. The attention to the details and the complete lack of stagnation in the characters is just one of the things that continue to amaze me in the writing of Bella Matthews.

Of course, I can't deny that there were times when I didn't agree with Carys or Cooper and their actions at all, so I was extremely annoyed with them. But even during those moments, I could see where their logic for doing what they were doing came from, so I completely understood why some things were happening. However, my disagreement with the characters in no way ruined my pleasure from reading the story.

The climax is very good - expected, but that didn’t interfere with it being strong. It doesn't drag on too much and even manages to make you wonder where things will go and how it will end.

The denouement is a little longer than I expected, but it shows the consequences of the climax great, without sparing anything, which I think is extremely important for the story.

The ending is great, especially the bonus chapters that show Carys and Cooper ahead over the years. I liked those chapters very much.
~~~
Rating: 4.5/5

~~~This book was provided to me by Valentine PR for my honest opinion.~~~