This series
was my first introduction to this author, and I’ve loved every word of it. And
having read this series in order I really didn’t think I would like this book.
But I’ve also been dying to read it to see everyone all together at the end of
their careers after having first met them way back in college. I feel like I’ve
watched them grow up and start families and break apart and come back together.
Trevor has
been such a selfish acehole who jeopardised the relationships and friendships
of everyone around him and I wanted him to go crawl under a rock and die. Don’t
get me wrong I felt for him, kind of. He made a mistake, and he owned it and
didn’t try to hide from the stupid. He just didn’t course correct. And as
humans I think we do tend to hold onto things and it’s especially hard to move
on from relationships that have such huge significance on our lives.
When we
first met Sage, she caught my attention hard. She was not someone I immediately
took to, but she was so unapologetically herself that I respected her. I was
dying to know what her story was and when we finally got it, I found I liked
her and saw her soft underbelly a lot more.
Trevor’s
redemption was really awesome to watch, and I completely forgave him all of his
past indiscretions. I also loved and hated that we didn’t see Sebastian’s
feelings on the changes in Trevor or his relationship with Sage. I thought for
a moment we were going to see him have a chat with Sage about the whole Trevor
/ Erica thing, but alas I was wrong. Not that what actually transpired wasn’t
better.
The whole
book had so much happening and so many different types of relationships being
shown in their different styles and stages. I couldn’t wait to see how
different things were going to come to light or be resolved. I’m just so sad to
be at the end of the series and having to say goodbye to all of these
characters. Now I have to stalk the author to see what else she has for me to
jump into.
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I'm so sad
to say goodbye to Calamity. I have read this series so leisurely that I have
mostly forgotten the characters and their stories. Until we bump into them in downtown
Calamity, and I get the warm fuzzies just seeing their name on the page. And
although I will definitely miss Calamity, I know I have so many awesome reads
still to come from this author.
Wilder and
Iris seemed like such a mismatch in the beginning. I was fairly confident that
there was going to be a twist in Wilder's grief for his wife. And thank God I
was right. Dead spouses always make me nervous.
Iris was
just beautiful. I loved that she was such a free spirit living life on her own
terms. Plus, she had such a pure heart, but she didn't let the opinion or
judgement of anyone steer her.
Honestly, at
about the halfway mark I kind of got this idea of how things would play out to
get Iris and Wilder to their happily ever after. And I was so wrong and so
happy about it. I put the book down with a big smile and now my only issue is
what to read next.
I stumbled across this author by complete fluke and then read everything she's written. Then stalked her until I found out how to get my grabby hands on an arc of this book. It's one of those moments where I'm so excited to find a new to me author and so miserable that there isn't a massive back catalogue for me to devour. So now I have to wait for each new book to be written.
Callum and Lilac were so perfect together. I'm becoming a little obsessed with these psycho guys and their possessive over the top ness. And Callum delivered. But I loved that Lilac just accepted his crazy stalkerness and embraced it.
There was so much going on here that I couldn't wait to get to the bottom of it all. I had so many different theories about the who's and the why’s that I was dying to see how Callum, Tristan and Hayden were going to keep their ladies safe. Almost as much as I was waiting to see what the next slightly (entirely) unhinged thing they were going to do or say next.
And yet with all the murder and mayhem there was so much humour. And for a virgin our boy had a filthy mouth and knew exactly what he was doing. This series has been awesome and I am really excited to get Winter and Tristan, but damn, October feels way too far away. I hate waiting.
This is
another one of those moments where I completely hate my brain along with a few
random strangers. I fell into the alphaletes series by fluke and loved it. As I
put down each book, I added the next one to KU and then took my sweet time
getting to it only to want to kick myself for it. Then I was trying to pick
what to read next and I made the epic mistake of reading reviews.
Now my first
question is why the F do people feel the need to write a “review” about a book
they haven't read. Or give their opinions on things that they are assuming
happened. Because honestly, I had this sour taste in my mouth picking this up
assuming that those reviews were genuine reviews of the book. And I almost
removed it from my kindle and skipped to the next one. To those people, FU.
Because this
book was nothing but awesome. And the whole story had literally nothing to do
with the ex-wife, his man wh0re ways, or Scarlett ever being second best to
anyone. They just had bad timing and realistic circumstances that got in their
way. And that goes for both of them. Scarlett wasn't sitting around pining for
him, watching him screw his wife. She was living her life and having a great
friendship with the guy she has been friends ONLY with since they were 7.
Ok rant
over. The book was great. I loved catching up with the alphaletes. Trevor
redeemed himself hugely and so freaking hotly I actually had to take a moment
to cool down. Slater was an epic hero who loved Scarlet so completely it was
sweet and also oh so hot. The dirty talk was on point.
The twist at
around the 70% mark was huge and took me on a journey I absolutely didn't for a
second even suspect. I struggled to put it down. The ending was cute, but I
wanted more (I'm greedy AF) but now I get to read Trevor's book and I just know
we are going to get a lot of future alphaletes and their beautiful wives and
possibly more children so I'm off to grab it on KU and hopefully read it sooner
than later.
I wasn't sure how this book was going to be a part of the series and then I started reading it. Both characters are key parts of the equine therapy program and both characters have stories that made me cry like a baby. Throw in a surprise child and two very traumatic backgrounds and yeah I get it, this belongs in this series.
Emmett drove me nuts. But being a long term foster carer I completely understood his reasoning and felt the devastation for the child he had been when he lived it. Being a romance reader who wants her heroes all in and overly possessive I wanted to smack him in the head. But then he would go all cave man growling and I would think yes he's got it, only to flop back to keeping his distance.
Luckily for me Lilah was forged in fire and knew that she deserved more. Even if all she really wanted was Emmett. And despite all the concern around her past resurfacing she made adult decisions that kept her safety at the forefront while still protecting her heart from Emmett's hot and cold bs.
Normally for me I'm here for the heroes, in this book I couldn't get enough of Lilah. And obviously the secondary characters were great, what with the horses being part of the Barnes family enterprise. But that said Emmett did have his come to jesus moment. And despite it being Lilah led he was still a pretty good hero overall so I enjoyed the story and got all my feels. And now we have the next one to look forward to.
This book
has given me a very upsetting realisation of just how lacking my stalker skills
are. I was looking for something to read last weekend when I thought I'd see
what was recommended to read after The Pucking Wrong number and to see when the
next book in that series was coming out. Then I thought I'd see what else the
author might have for me to read, when I saw this was releasing at the end of
the week. Cue the longest week of waiting. Luckily for me Jase's book is next
in this series, and I think he's going to have some good ideas I can steal to
up my stalking game. 🤞
Anyway,
while I was not so patiently waiting for this to release, I checked out the
blurb and realised that Parker is Disney's baby brother. And I was really
hoping that he was going to turn to big brother for some hint on how to win
over Casey. And maybe we would get some cameos and some pearls of wisdom from
the circle.
Parker and
Casey were both awesome characters with their share of grief weighing them
down. They had awesome chemistry, and I couldn't get enough of them. But for
the first half of the book Parker wasn't quite psycho enough for my
expectations. He had moments and I was expecting a few different twists and
turns to the dark side that didn't come. But he started to get a little more
dubious in the second half so I ended on a high.
Although
that said I had withdrawals every time I had to put the book down. And
now that we have to wait so long for the next books in both of these series
that I'm currently obsessed with I really am going to have to dive into the
back catalogue and see if I can find some new psychos to add to my book
boyfriend list.
This book was exactly what I needed. While also
being exactly what I wasn’t expecting when I picked it up. The first book in
the series was set in college and I assumed this one would be too. But once I
picked it up, I didn’t care at all that it wasn’t set in college because I was
so busy falling for these characters and waiting for the drama bombs to start
dropping.
From the first page I was in and needing to know
exactly what had happened to get Vi to that point. Then we jump to the first
chapter and Declan was beyond perfect, and an idiot, at the same time, but in
all the right ways and for all the right reasons and I just couldn’t get enough
of him. Their relationship happened so organically and realistically and just
smoothly but with so many little strings left dangling that I couldn’t put it
down. I had so many theories of how things were going to be revealed and what
was going to be the fallout of each revelation.
We got the perfect amount of the OG characters and
a great introduction to some new characters. But I was so busy obsessing over
Vi and Declan and how perfectly they handled everything involving Tucker. I had
all the feels while reading this, but the main one was just pure swoon over
Declan. I am off to add the next one to my kindle. Toodles
I really don't know how to review this book. I've
been enjoying binging this series and I was so excited to finally get to Max’s
book. And I was expecting fireworks from Daphne over the fact Max had taken
over her family legacy. I was expecting a lot of snark and arguing and
drama.
Honestly, I am not disappointed I was wrong, but
I'm also kind of missing the fireworks. I think I needed the fireworks to keep
me glued to the pages and when I didn't get them it felt a little
anticlimactic. Like every time I thought we were getting close to the top of
the rollercoaster it flattened out and became a gentle slope down.
Daphne and Max worked well together, and they had
pretty solid chemistry. I am really looking forward to continuing with the rest
of the Kingston family and I can't wait to see them all in the family boxes
with even more kids and happily ever afters.
I’ve kind of been reading these a little backwards.
See I saw the promotions for the second generation of the Kings of Kroydon so I
thought I would binge the OG Kings before I read that one. Then I read the new
generation and realised it was the next generation of all of those kids, not
just the footballers but also the actual Kings and the Beneventi’s and so I
added all the other books to my TBR promising myself I would come back before
the next new generation novel and binge the rest. And here I am.
This one kind of overlaps Sebastian’s book so I
felt like I was on pins and needles waiting for things I knew were going to
happen but not sure of the when in this book. And Amelia and Sam were together
but not together and obviously we didn’t know what was going on with them from
Sebastian’s book, so I was trying to guess and coming up way off.
Sam was awesome and I loved how he loved the people
in his life. It was hard to reconcile him as the man who also ran THE family
with the man that loved and protected his family so fiercely. Amelia was just
as fierce in her own way, and she really was the perfect match for Sam.
I can’t wait to read the rest of this series and
all the other adjacent books, but I do feel I need to note that they absolutely
all work as standalones unless your FOMO is strong (like mine). And I really
love getting little bits and pieces of all of these guys as each book
introduces us to each of them in the eyes of their friends and family. And the
timelines are all so close that the occasional crossover is just icing on the
cookie.
Oh, and this one I listened to on audible which was
awesome. But having them all on KU is another cherry on top. Can’t wait for
Scarlett's book next.
Bash and Lenny’s book was
probably the hardest and the easiest book for me to read in this series. I
couldn’t put it down. Every time I turned a page there was another hit and I
had to see how they were going to overcome each one. Bash has been my quiet
favourite since I started the season. It’s really hard to fight against being
what everyone around you is and expects you to be and Bash didn’t for a second
think twice about it except for his love for his brother.
I honestly couldn’t wait
to get my hands on this after reading the last 3. But I was also so nervous
because I expected there to be a bit of other woman drama from the previously
met train wreck. But everything I was expecting didn’t happen but then so much
more did.
Lenny had the patience
of a saint and I had several moments where I wanted her to call uncle and walk
away for her own sanity. But then Bash is a hard character not to love and
trust and he never left her in any doubt as to his feelings.
Now though, I have added
a load of other books to my TBR that I can’t wait to read.
I
have been binging these books and loving every word of it. But going into this
book straight off the last one kind of felt like I had read spoilers. Luckily
for me, although I had an idea of what and when for one part of Declan and
Annabelle’s story but there was so much more to it.
I
loved watching them come together from their own points of view. The title was
very fitting because of everything Annabelle had been through and the way
Declan worked for everything he wanted. It felt like it happened suddenly, but
it also feels like they worked for it.
Tommy
was the absolute star for me. Having a son on the spectrum, I always love when
you get a character that's a genuine reflection of the awesome uniqueness and
the challenges. As I read in the notes at the start of the book autism is such
a huge spectrum that there's no typical. Except for the damn dinosaurs. Lol
Although
the way that Declan loved Tommy made my day too. The twists and turns in this
book were the right mix of I know where this is going but I'm not sure how we
are getting there. And I am so glad that I can jump straight into Sebastian's
book now. Right after I add Sammy's to the TBR that is.
I
put down the first book in this series and then read a different college sports
romance and after I put that down, I decided to take advantage of my KU and
binge read the rest of this series. And I’m so glad I did that. Except I read
the blurbs for all the books and each time each future couple is mentioned I am
dying to jump to their book and see how the bit from this book’s perspective
plays out in their book. So many times I had to stop myself from double
checking things and just stay in this story.
Not
that that was hard to do because this book was great. I honestly had no idea
how Sabrina and Aiden were going to work together. And then I read the teaser /
start of this book and I had so many theories and worries and even more
confusion on how these two could work.
Until
I was around chapter three or four, and I loved them together. They were the
perfect mix of opposites attract and being beautiful, similar people at their
hearts who just meshed well together. I didn’t really pick up on the whole
politics thing for Sabrina in book one so I’m not sure if it was introduced in
this story, but it made them seem even more unlikely yet even more perfect.
I
enjoyed these two as a couple. They complimented each other and were both so
protective and possessive it made my little romance loving heart super happy.
And since I’ve already added the next two books to my kindle, and I got the
little bit of future info on Annabelle and Declan I am even more dying to jump
in.
I read a few reviews before I
picked this up and I went into it not sure if I was going to love it or hate
it. Thankfully, I enjoyed it. Yes, it kind of read like a debut novel but the
story was fun and kept me interested. The characters were 18, which made me
feel even older and I can honestly say the comments about them calling in their
parents to help solve the issues were unfounded. I met my husband at 18 so I
understand them meeting and knowing. And we now have kids that age and we are
basically as involved in their lives as these parents were. I think calling in
your parents when shit hits the fan is a normal reaction regardless of your
age, provided you have a good relationship with your parents. Especially when
they have the tools and resources to help you with your problem.
Everything I read that made me question reading
this book was all nitpicking imo. If you're reading new adult romance you have
to accept that they are young and this is a romance. It would be a pretty lame
romance if they met, waited however many years you feel is appropriate for them
to be ready for the commitment and didn't deal with their problems in the most
logical way possible.
After
a really terrible week in reality, all I wanted to do was escape into a good
book. But picking one was a challenge all of its own. I kept switching back and
forth between wanting something dark and angsty or something light and fluffy.
I even pulled up a heap of options and a random number generator before I
decided I needed something happy. And that always describes a Lauren Blakely
novel.
First
thing I want to say is I was expecting a laugh out loud room com with a heap of
steam. I wasn't expecting all the feels. From the start I really connected with
Trina and watching her figure herself out and overcome her own self-doubts was
great. I loved her quirky, book obsessed self and seeing her get there was
perfect.
Now
the whole two guy thing. I didn't expect them to have such complex and
understandable issues. They were so open and mature and communicated
beautifully even when they were communicating their mistakes. And yes, the
steam factor was through the roof.
I
really enjoyed this book, and it was the perfect escape from reality. I don't
know that I'm going to race out and read the next one but I'm definitely adding
it to my TBR for those days I need something steamy and all consuming.
I
always finish these books and feel like an idiot for putting off reading them
and wanting to jump into the next one immediately. And then I one click the
next one and get off tangent and take forever to pick it up and read it. Rinse
and repeat. But I came to the Devney Perry party late and I started them and
somehow ended up reading 3 different series and crossing over all the
characters in my head.
I
remember Sabrina showing up at the end of the last book. I know we got a fair
lot of Beau previously, but I don't really remember much about him due to my
terrible memory. But it honestly doesn't matter, these books are all beautiful
slices of their own that don't really need to be read in order. Except for the
timelines for the crossover characters.
Beau
and Sabrina were so different, I didn't know how they could work. But their
instant connection couldn't have been written any better. Sabrina was so strong,
and I seriously admired her and the way she dealt with everything. Even when I
wanted to scream at her for the way she acted, I couldn't.
The
story flowed so smoothly, and I enjoyed getting lost in it. And unsurprisingly
I'm wanting to jump right into the next one. Although I also got a little tiny
tease for a different series and there's a new one coming soon and some others,
I still have on my kindle so I'll probably get there later.
As
soon as I put down Offsides I went straight to KU to grab this and then I got
distracted by a teaser for a dark romance that for some reason I couldn’t
resist. So, after I fell down that little rabbit hole I was a little worried
that this would be hard to pick up. But from the first page I was hooked.
This
absolutely could be read as a standalone, but I would highly recommend
reading Offsides first just because it gives some good insight into the friend
group. Plus, it reads just as well as this one; great writing, awesome
characters, loads of all things college sports romance plus a little bit of
extra spice.
Tyler
was introduced in the previous book, but we didn’t get to know Sera until this
one. And I immediately loved her. She was far from perfect and despite the fact
I couldn’t personally relate to anything she was going through I loved her.
Sera was so incredibly real and everything she was going through ensured there
was never a moment I wasn’t wondering how it was going to play out and turning
pages.
Tyler
was book boyfriend goals and then some. Everything about him from their first
anonymous meeting that we only hear about in retrospect was hot. He absolutely
lived up to the Hades tag. And the drama that I was expecting from the Chase
reveal, played out to beyond what I was expecting. I couldn’t have asked for
more. And now I’m going to go spend hours on Goodreads trying to figure out
what to read next.
I
put down Dark Intentions and immediately needed to read Nikolai and Sophia’s
story. And I don’t regret a thing. I normally avoid mafia stories, and anything
labelled as dark is normally hit and miss because dark is such a broad brush. Yes,
this had dark themes but I have no issue with blood and action, the things I
can’t stand are degradation and using the label to just let the hero be an all-around
piece of shit. The guys in this are the definition of anti-hero and they have
their moments where they are maybe a toe over the line of treating their ladies
poorly but the mitigating circumstances made me ok with it.
I
am not able to review these books separately as I made the mistake of reading
the blurb of both books because I knew I would have to read both, and I had to
check the trigger warnings and such because I am a wuss. So, I went into the
second book knowing that the cliffhanger from book one was going to be
resolved. Also, from their cameo in Dark Intentions I knew they were living
happily ever after so I was reasonably confident I could handle it.
Nikolai
was a complete psycho, but he was so completely obsessed with Sophia and
literally saw nothing but her. Their entire love story was dark and twisted and
probably the least romantic story I have read but their connection was so
intense and undeniable. I couldn’t get enough of them or their journey from
first meeting to Nikolai burning down the whole world to make sure his sparrow
was safe.
Everything
about this book had me unable to breath anything but it from the second I read
the first page. And now I am wanting to read the rest of the books around this
couple because I am in love with them all and their dark world. Oh, and now I
have a new author to stalk so YAY.
It's
been a while since I have gotten so invested in characters in a novella. I mean
I am not great at the whole patience thing so I couldn't read this prequel
until I had the actual book in my kindle. But from the first chapter I wanted
everything to be sunshine and roses for these guys.
And
I deliberately didn't read the blurbs because I wanted to enjoy the prequel
without having an idea of how it was going to play out. So I spent half of this
book trying to imagine the different ways it could play out and hanging on
every word.
And
the ending had me beyond grateful that I can jump straight into the book right
now because this is awesome.
I
feel like I'm in the opposite of a book slump. Suddenly there are all these
awesome books that I've added to my TBR over the years and forgotten about and
I want to read them all right now. Which is the opposite of my normal what to
read next dilemma. Although it still took me over an hour to narrow it down to
this one and in the end, I had to use a random number generator to pick from
the fifteenth books I couldn't choose between.
But
damn am I glad this was the pick. Plus, it was on KU so I even feel like that
was a win. That said I feel like I'm in a college hockey era and I have no
plans to leave. The biggest stumbling block for me with this book was the
length. I feel like most of the books I read are 200-300 pages and when they
get beyond that I worry. But there wasn't a single page in this that I skimmed.
Chase
Carter was the perfect hero. Seriously he fell so hard, and there was never any
doubt as to where he was in this relationship. I couldn't get enough of him and
the way he loved Bailey and put her above everything. Unfortunately, he had the
whole man whore thing down to an art form. But watching him become this amazing
man with Bailey always at the forefront of his thoughts was beautiful.
Bailey
started off a bit of a doormat before Chase stepped in and showed her the
strength he saw in her. And honestly watching her bloom and stand up for
herself made her incredibly likeable. I couldn't put this down and as much as I
want to grab the next book in the series, I think I better wait until I have
the time to get wrapped up in the pages like I did with this one.
Ah.
I'm so mad with myself right now. I saw the promo for The Wildcat and had to
read it. Then I saw it was book two in the second generation. Having a little
time up my sleeve and the OG generation being on my TBR I thought I'd start
there. So, I binged all of the Kings of Kroydon Hills and loved it. Then I
waited until I had The Wildcat on my kindle to read this book. Now I'm just
kicking this off and I'm realising that I should have read the other books that
I added to my TBR for “after”. Because it's all of those guys second generation
too and I am feeling so left out. Ah.
Ok
I just finished and yeah. I can't keep the second generation straight. I've
only read a third of the first gen but I'm obsessed and want nothing more than
to hide out and binge every book right now.
Lindy
and Easton were everything. And from the second that Lindy realised she had
gotten everything she wanted and more this book was hot AF. I think when Lindy
said Easton was the perfect mix of growly protective and supportive of her choices,
she best summed him up. The way Easton loved Lindy was awesome.
But
watching Lindy come into her own to stand up for her relationship with Easton
was just as perfect. I had all the feels, and I spent half the book waiting for
the drama to kick me and when it did hit it was perfect. I couldn't put this
book down and I can't wait to pick up the next one.
