Kats

A magical sisterhood

“They were witches by their blood, the product of generations of power, built and cut down, burned, yet surviving still. They were mastery and dominance, subtlety, and silence.”

What an intro! In the first chapter we meet the Bay sisters, witches from an old and powerful magical family who now reside on Star Island. This book is Laurel's story, but her sisters Rosemary, Sage, Lavender and Verbana are featured throughout. They are a cosy little sisterhood with hearth and home specialties that seem to complement each other. Laurel is able to traverse another realm, the Hedge World, and it's here she finds remnants of a past life where she was Amee, and the love she had with Onfroi. Then begins a series of events that will fulfill the Beltane prophecy about the Bay sisters.

“My soulmate showed up in the Hedge World. Shit's about to hit the fan.”

Indeed it does. As the story unfolds Laurel meets Onfroi, who is now Owen in his present life, and together they face the threat of a family curse, while getting to know each other in a lovely romance. There was tension and action and many intertwining stories from past lives.

The story ended on quite a tense moment and it's clear there is much more story to come both for Laurel and her sisters. I'm eagerly awaiting the next instalment to learn more!

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

In this short story, a prequel to the book Sweet Revenge, we follow Jackson confronting his birth father about abandoning his mother in order to marry his mistress. Turns out Dad is complete jerk so who feels bad about a cheeky bit of blackmail between estranged family? Coincidentally Jackson runs into an upset women on the street and learns she is Malcolm's new mistress Carrie. This discovery leads to his years long scheming on how to seek revenge on his father, which is the story told in Sweet Revenge. It was great to get some background to how they all first met, though I read this after Sweet Revenge I still recommend reading it either way!

I absolutely loved the format of this book, with the story told via DMs and group chats. If you're a fan of Greek mythology you'll recognise a lot of the characters and their experiences in the modern world are both charming and hilarious. I'm a Hades and Persephone fan and their dynamic was so good, I laughed a lot particularly in their interactions. I'd highly recommend this book for a YA audience in particular, but as an older adult I still very much enjoyed it.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I absolutely loved the format of this book, with the story told via DMs and group chats. If you're a fan of Greek mythology you'll recognise a lot of the characters and their experiences in the modern world are both charming and hilarious. I'm a Hades and Persephone fan and their dynamic was so good, I laughed a lot particularly in their interactions. I'd highly recommend this book for a YA audience in particular, but as an older adult I still very much enjoyed it.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Charming MM romance

A Match Made in Hell is the second installment in the Monster Matchmaking series. Draven is a saucy incubus looking for a challenge and Father Theodore is just looking for a friend, but after an incident with his sign up form the Librarian matches the two. Obviously Father Theodore is initially not thrilled to be matched with an incubus, but soon falls for the charming, devilishly playful Draven, who falls just as hard for his Teddy. With Teddy's religious life comes some barriers and he ultimately must decide what is more important to him, Church or love. There are some great spicy scenes and although it's a novella it didn't feel too short. I'm looking forward to next in the series!

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Awaken is a charming historical romance with a little time travel thrown in. Abandoned as a baby, Florence has always wondered about her past. When she takes a job as a personal secretary to Alexander Sterling, things seem fairly odd at first. Mr Sterling is often hidden away due to illness, and his housekeeper is fiercely protective of him, not allowing Florence to get close. They do manage to have a few strange encounters and soon develop feelings for each other, but there is something more that neither of them can yet explain.

When Florence encounters someone from her past and is able to travel back in time she find answers to many of the questions plaguing her today, where she came from, who are her family and why is she so drawn to Mr Sterling? It's a lovely story told between the two timelines, with a host of wonderful characters alongside Florence and Alex.

I look forward to reading more from Marcia Armandi.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Xander is a somewhat grumpy vampire who hasn't dated in half a century, so when he meets the Matchmaker and is matched with Luke things are looking up. Initially there is some awkwardness as human Luke learns what is true vampirism and what is offensive stereotype, but they quickly fall into lust and get spicy. Despite suggestions of bedroom predilections that might be too wild for Luke, there wasn't anything too risqué. Xander is body conscious of his cold vampire body and it was sweet to see Luke encourage him to be more open. They have a rocky start but they work to overcome this.

While this is a novella it felt a bit rushed and I was left wanting more, especially the background and interactions with the Matchmaker. Hopefully there will be more to come in the future.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Love Across the Tabletop is a charming romance between new friends. Ash recently escaped an abusive relationship where his toxic ex abused and manipulated him to believe he was not worthy of anything good, especially love. He escapes this relationship and moves to DC where his cousin invites him to join a B&B tabletop game. Here he is introduced to a wonderful collection of friends, all who are amazingly supportive of each other. Being a new player with social anxiety, Mika takes him under wing and helps him learn the game. Although they are both attracted to each other from the start, Mika also recently ended a relationship so they try to keep things casual and hang out together as friends, but inevitably feelings develop and they start dating. There is a third act breakup, a trope I'm not too fond of, but the impacts of previous toxic relationships was a driving factor and the trauma of such was handled with care. Overall it's a lovely slow burn friends to lovers and the tabletop game elements were intriguing enough to have wanted a little more of this.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Study. Eat. Sleep. Kill.

Rae is a young woman out for revenge after surviving a brutal assault that ended her swimming career aspirations. College student by day, by night she and her bestie are the crime scene cleanup crew for a mysterious serial killer. While plotting to murder one of her abusers, “The Lion”, she has encounters with three interesting men - the Gabe the Detective who was on her assault case, his son Cormac who is a fellow student, and Blake the thief who teaches her how to shoot a gun and we find also works for the serial killer.

Threads between these three men become more clear as her involvement with each develops. Rae also becomes more confident in herself, more able to deal with the trauma and panic attacks that her assault caused, helped in some part by the men she is getting involved with who are all supportive and mindful. Rae sometimes has childish tantrums with them, but this doesn't seem out of character considering her past. As Book 1 comes to an end the mystery around the serial killer remains and the ending is such a cliffhanger! Without spoiling the story I needed to know more about these romantic interests, I still have questions that I hope will be answered in the next books.

There is some spice which is explicit but fairly tame for a dark romance and the reverse harem aspect I suspect will develop further in future books too. There is some spice which is explicit but fairly tame for a dark romance and the reverse harem aspect is mild and I suspect will develop further in future books too.

I look forward to the next books in the series to find out where this story goes with both Rae and the serial killer.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

As always check the trigger warnings! This is the first book in the Blackmore University series but can be read as a standalone or out of order (as I did).

In this story we meet Kaye and Xavier, step-brother and step-sister although they did not grow up together. Now Kaye has turned 18 and is off to college Xavier is now ready to break her, as revenge for her mum breaking up his dad's marriage. Initially the bully aspects plays into their interactions a lot, although as Kaye realises her attraction to him they become more involved and both their feelings start to develop. There are dubious consent moments, some I would classify as non-consensual, although it happens off page. The other spice is great and although it was a hot and angsty romance I ultimately was not really rooting for these two to stay together particularly with how it ended.

The other books in the series were more engaging stories in my opinion but I'm still glad to have read all three to see the opposing perspectives from other characters. I look forward to more in this series in the future.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Revenge is spicy and sweet

As always check the trigger warnings! This is the third book in the Blackmore University series but can be read as a standalone or out of order.

In Sweet Revenge we meet Jackson, the lovechild of yet another affair with a mistress. Set on seeking revenge on the father who abandoned him, he sets his eyes on Carrie, Malcolm's new wife. After they meet at a charity function Carrie starts having an affair with Jackson but eventually the truth starts to unfold and things get more complicated.

There are some great spicy scenes and we find out the difference between an domineering man who is abusive and cruel versus a hot sexy domineering man who takes charge and claims you (but with consent and mutual feelings). Total opposites even when they say the same words.

I enjoyed the story overall, though the big reveal and ending was a bit quick and I would have liked a bit more tension there. Although there is some age difference and a forbidden romance aspect, you never feel ick from Jackson being Malcolm's stepson due to his age and their estrangement. Definitely could have read even more of this story.

Malcolm's son Xavier and Carrie's daughter Kaye are the subjects of Book 1 Cruel Intensions, so the story overlaps some and it's definitely worth reading the other books in the series to learn more about other characters.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

There are some trigger warnings for this story, check them before reading.

Christine and Niccolo are stepdaughter/stepfather, as well a student/teacher. Initially their relationship is hot stolen moments with great chemistry and spicy scenes. However it's not long before they find themselves in love and Nic changes from an obsessed domineering stepfather to more of a devoted lover. This change came quite quickly, I would have liked a bit more of the taboo dynamic before the change in tone.

Both Christine and Nic come from mafia families but have limited involvement, until they couple up and Christine's family decide this is not a suitable match. Her uncle pledges her to marry a violent mafia man in order to gain favour for their family. After a violent incident involving this man and Christine and another realised threat to Nic's family, the story takes a turn with Nic joining his mafia family to go full “who did this to you” mode to seek revenge and extract Christine from this forced marriage. The latter half of the book focuses more on the mafia family dynamics and I enjoyed learning about Nic's brothers more.

Overall this was a great story with mildly dark romance elements and I look forward to reading more from this series. Note: I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.