Basil Scheuring

Lillian had a stressful childhood where she felt like a burden to her mother and didn't think she was going to amount to much in or after school. She proved them wrong by getting accepted, on scholarship, to the private high school during her freshman year. She meets her unusual roommate, Madison, and Lillian feels like her life is going somewhere. That all crumbles when Madison gets caught with cocaine in her desk and her father pays Lillians's mom to have Lillian take the wrap for the drugs. She gets expelled from the school and gets into a pen pal situation with Madison for the next ten-plus years.

Lillian is contemplating what to do with her life after many failed attempts at going to college and working multiple dead-end jobs when she gets a call from Madison asking her to come over to her mansion in the Tennessee countryside to help raise her husband's two kids from his previous marriage. But there's a catch - these kids catch on fire when they are stressed or upset.

The kids and Lillian have to circumnavigate around how to keep them from catching fire, and how to assimilate them into their senator father's picture-perfect world.

I've seen this book on a lot of lists and I didn't think I was going to like it. I think if I read it in book form I would have quit, but I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was perfect. I really enjoyed the characters and I could relate to the kids (not the catching on fire part - the feeling like they're a burden part). This book caught me by surprise and I truly enjoyed listening to it.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Non con, rape, abuse, kidnapping

Anthony Griff is a son of two Doms. Around your 18th birthday you find out what your ‘second sex’ is, and that determines your fate. To Anthony’s parents dismay, two Dom’s created a Sub. All of their plans for their son to attend the Dom-exlusive college and for him to inherit the family business, is destroyed.

Since Anthony is now useless to his parents, they sell him off to a Dom who, coincidently, is going to be joining the Griff board of directors. Anthony is sent away and treated terribly by this new Dom, until Noah appears.

Noah, who is also a Dom, is at the house to try and rob it, but instead of robbing valuable items, he takes Anthony. Once he’s free with his new Dom, their lives can start.

I had a lot of problems with this book, first one was that the story was terrible. I love MM and Boy Love themes, but this book did not do it for me. I also did not like the amount of non-con and grooming that was involved. Normally non-con does not bother me, if I know that that’s going to be a part of the story before I start the book. If it’s a dark romance, you can almost expect it – but this book, based on the cover and description, did not give off ‘dark romance’ vibes. The first third of the book is grooming and non-con violence against Anthony.

Comfort and tradition are the name of the game for Maelyn Jones when it comes to her Christmas vacation. Ever since Maelyn was born her family, and family friends, vacation at the snowy cabin in Utah. This bucolic setting is what Maelyn looks forward to every year and never wants things to change - until the status quo was challenged and Maelyn's world went to hell.

Maelyn is petrified to face her families but when she opens her eyes, she realizes that she is back on the plane heading to Utah. She gets to redo the Christmas holiday over again and relive the same routines over and over. She needs to figure out how to get out of the time loop and figure out what will make her happy.

I really enjoyed this book! I thought I would hate it based solely on the description but, in the traditional Christina Lauren style, it wins you over with a very relatable main character facing (mostly realistic) predicaments of life.