Romance

McGowan Mafia Series: Books 1-5 by Effie Campbell

 in Books / Romance / Series by

The McGowan Mafia series by Effie Campbell is such a spicy and amazing series. When I tell you I read 4 books in like 2-3 days, I am not joking! I would have read all 5 but I actually didn’t know the 5th book was released until I started writing the review for book 1-4.

The series is:

  1. Dark Escapes
  2. Dark Enemies
  3. Dark Obsessions
  4. Dark Desires
  5. Dark Corruption

Each book is a standalone technically, so you can just read one if it draws you in. But I read it one after the other, and it was kind of nice because you got to see a little bit of character development and how each character got to have their own story. I enjoyed that certainly and I pretty much inhaled the entire series. But if you just want to dive in because one stands out to you, you definitely can!

I felt book 1-3 were really like the dark romance, morally grey, attitude woman kind of story. They were 1000% my cup of tea and I loved the story. While the books were dark of course, overall they weren’t dark dark and if you got to some of the darker themes, you could kind of fast read by them. But, I wasn’t as much of a fan of book 4 – mostly because there was a wider age gap, the FMC used “daddy” which I’m not personally a huge fan of, and it was more about hedonism kind of themes which didn’t really interest me. It was a good book and kept me engaged, but wasn’t what I was expecting based on the first few books. But the last one, Dark Corruption, which had a similar vibe to book 4 I loved – that one worked for me!

These books are SPICY. I’m talking like 5 out of 5 on the spice scale. These are absolutely not books for under 18 by any means due to the language and the themes that are in the book. But good god did I keep wanting to come back for more! I will note that a lot of the words used for certain actions were quite vulgar as well. I know not everyone likes certain words being used so if that’s not your cup of tea, a bit of a warning there.

If you are looking for a deep story with your romance then this isn’t it. This really is primarily focused on the smut and spice side with a hint of a mafia story – the traditional mafia vibe that you would expect.

Going into it, honestly, I had no clue that they were based up in Scotland which I felt was a bit of a struggle. I felt they were in New York the whole time and then when they’d mention going between Glasgow and Edinburgh, that was really the only reminder that this wasn’t based in the USA. Maybe a bit more of the local dialect could have added a bit more to really make you feel immersed. But if you are reading this kind of series, you aren’t going to be really focusing on that. That’s just me being nit picky to be honest.

Once again, this isn’t a book that with a review you can say too much about. Each MMC was hawttttt, each female had that spunk and the spice was perfectly spicy. This is most likely going to be a book series that I will want to add into my comfort rotation, along with The Predator by Runyx.

All I can really say is it was a page turner and really hit the spot nicely for me. Exactly what I wanted. I initially fell into the book from some reel I saw on Instagram related to Book 3 and I am glad that I did because gosh, was it good! I’d give this a solid 4/5 as it was enjoyable, decently written for what it was and kept me wanting to come back for more. I was engaged and it was an absolute page turner!

Happy Reading!

 

North Queen by Nicola Tyche [Book Review]

 in Book Reviews / Books by

Summary

“The Return of a Lost Heir …
The kingdom of Mercia has been at war with the Shadow King and his dark army for ten years. To escape the seer’s vision of her capture, Mercia’s heir to the throne, Princess Norah Andell, is secreted away by her father to keep her safe. But when he dies in battle, so too dies the knowledge of where she’s hidden. She’s lost to the world—until three years later, when she’s found with no memory of who she is or the kingdom that now rests on her shoulders.

A Conflicted Duty …
Loyal and fearless commander of the Mercian army, Alexander Rhemus, has protected the realm against the threat of the Shadow King, awaiting Norah’s return. Not only does she hold the fate of the kingdom, but also his heart. However, when she’s found, he discovers she has no memory of him, or what was once between them. With war still looming, Norah is expected to wed and secure an alliance—one Mercia desperately needs to stand against the Shadow King. Now, with Mercia’s future at stake, Alexander finds himself torn between his duty and his heart.

A Twisted Fate …
Norah is thrust into a world she doesn’t know, in a role she’s unprepared for, to save a kingdom she doesn’t remember. Under the hardship of winter and a dark enemy against them, Mercia is on the verge of breaking. As things start to unravel, the Shadow King draws Norah down a path of twisted fate—and it could cost her everything.”

-From Amazon.com

Review

So I happened to stumble upon these series because @tata.lifepages posted a reel about it. Wow, wow, wow! I was not ready for this book at all. This is the second time I’ve been incredibly surprised by a recommendation on bookstagram. The last one was when @triologyofromance shared about the book The Predator by Runyx. Now about this book, was it ever a page turner! I literally devoured it in one day and was reading it on my e-reader while  my family watched television.

You want enemy to lover? This got you!

This was the perfect enemy to lover book. It was kind of a slow burn for the first few hundred pages or so that I didn’t really know how it was going to ultimately go. I wasn’t sure who Norah would end up with, what would happen or if it was actually going to turn into romance in book 1. This is a series with at least 3 books (not sure if there will be any more as I am not reading up on the series until I’m done!). So you got lots of books to read through to see how the story progresses.

A loveable and hate-able enemy.

Ugh, the Shadow King! I sometimes wanted to smack him (thank you for helping me out Norah) and then was very much in love with him. He was a good character that I felt had a nice duality of being the firm bad guy to the lover that you started to fall in love with. I was certainly interested to see how Norah and his relationship would progress and until the last page you were guessing. Guess that’s why there’s a whole series because their relationship is certainly not a clean one!

A strong FMC!

You know me, I need a strong FMC. I don’t love when women are written as demure and gentle. I like when they have fire, will fight for themselves and will give other characters (especially men) a run for their money. Norah definitely did fit that bill. I enjoyed to see her relationship progress, her personality change and the internal struggle that she was having with the situation she was thrust into.

Parts of the story felt a little unfinished?

Maybe it’s because I have not finished the whole series yet but it did feel that there are parts of the story that were a little unfinished or maybe rushed. When Norah was attacked (no spoilers!) I felt that was just out of left field and wasn’t fully expecting it. I also felt the whole memory loss thing went from being a big part of the story to suddenly not being anymore but hauled back out at the very end. It was a little confusing but I don’t think it detracted from the story. I am sure the later books will begin to unravel it so as I complete them I will update this review accordingly.

Overall this was a highly enjoyable read. I just kept wanting to read it. It was a simple story but the characters drew you in, I did feel decently transported into that universe and certainly did enjoy the book. I read this as an ebook but depending on how the series goes, I may get myself a physical copy too! Definitely recommend.

I give this a solid 4/5 stars!

Happy Reading!

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros [Book Review]

 in Book Reviews / Books by

Summary

“Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders from New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Yarros

Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.

But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away…because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.

With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.

She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.

Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom’s protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.

Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda—because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die.”

-From Amazon.com

Review

So this review is honestly going to be a bit of a hot take. I’ll be up front and say that I really didn’t enjoy this book. With all the hype around it and then all the positive things I had seen about it, I had high expectations. I even got this for myself as a birthday gift and honestly….I regret it. Please keep in mind these are my personal opinions.

 

More than half the book didn’t really go anywhere.

Honestly I felt like a lot of the book didn’t really go anywhere. It was just about Violet training and having this weird verbal sparring match with Xaden and this odd sexual tension that was constantly a will they/won’t they feeling. I was waiting for something to actually happen and then that was thrown at you at the very end like…what? I mean I don’t mind books set in academies or something, but I just felt this kept rehashing the same thing over and over again in the book.

I felt the story could have progressed at a much faster pace and cut down on some of the pages. There was plenty in this book, in my opinion, that I felt did not add to the story at all. It was just there to read.

 

Um…dragons….where you at?

Considering the academy had dragons, I didn’t really feel you got to connect with the dragons. They are a big part of the academy where Violet was and I just didn’t feel that they were a major part of the story. I didn’t get to really imagine the dragons or connect with them. A lot of the dragon interactions, for the most part, was through their mental communications so you kind of had this weird disconnect so I wasn’t able to imagine them or really realize they were dragons. Kind of a let down as I love dragons.

via GIPHY

What spice are you even talking about?

Now I know that this is technically a YA book so spice can only be so much (although that is a whole other conversation right there), I felt all the spice in this book was pretty lame. Admittedly I have read a lot of spice books so this didn’t feel like spice. For a new spice reader, this would have possibly been a decent bit. But for what people were saying with “Oh Xaden *bats eye lashes*” I honestly didn’t see it. Xaden annoyed the heck out of me for the most part and he wouldn’t really be ranked in like my top 50 of bookish boyfriends. I’d give this like a 2/5 on the spice scale.

 

Violet – weakling or dragoness in disguise??

If you’ve been here for a hot second you know I love a strong MC, especially when they’re a female. But Violet just wasn’t it. Sure she progressed from this little weak girl but I just felt there was a lot of babying her and even through her little journey to find herself she didn’t come as far as I would have though. I just didn’t connect with her at all, her character progression was a little lacking and I just felt that with the story and the world, what she became just wasn’t it. Admittedly she is against Xaden who is this arrogant thing with a pretty large ego, but I just still wasn’t feeling it.

 

A little inconsistent and some holes in the story.

I did feel the story was missing things. Like things touches on and missed, things suddenly happening with little explanation, bits of the story being very rushed. It felt some areas that didn’t need as much got more focus than others that needed more attention given.

 

However, ultimately, an enjoyable single read.

With all that criticism above, it is still worth a peek if you have time maybe. This is the kind of the book that I would say is a book to put on the back burner and maybe read when you are in a reading slump or don’t have anything else. I doubt I will be reading it again which kind of says a lot to me. I regret buying it but I don’t fully regret reading it. It had so much potential with the story and the idea and that is why I was interested. But I just felt, sadly, it underdelivered with all the hype.

 

I’d give this a 2.75/5 star rating.

What are your thoughts on this book? Do you agree? Do you feel that it was slightly overhyped?

Happy Reading!

Malevolent King by Mila Kane [Dark Romance Book Review] 1

 in Book Reviews / Books by

A Dark Mafia Romance – Made of Mayhem Duet Book 1

MATURE READERS ONLY! Read TW on authors website.

Summary

“When this sheltered mafia princess meets a bratva devil on the run, neither of them will ever be the same.

When my cousin bets me in a poker game, I catch the eye of a predator who will never look away.

Nikolai Chernov is infamous in our world. Unhinged, brutal, merciless. A hot-blooded killer with a deadly laugh and a sinful body to match.

He won’t leave me alone. He says I belong to him. His prize. As time passes, I can’t tell if I want him to win or lose.

He’s a dearly devoted psychopath,,, and he has his sights set on me. Nothing can stop him. Not even being imprisoned by my father.

I’m about to learn the hard way… When the villain doesn’t get the girl.

He takes her.

Malevolent King is Book 1 in a duet, and therefore ends in a cliffhanger. The story resolves in Runaway Queen. This is a dark mafia meets bratva romance, and as such contains dark themes which may not be to everyone’s tastes. Please read with caution.”

-From Amazon.com

Summary

So it’s been a HOT MINUTE since I’ve ready a good kind of smutty book. I’m not usually a huge, huge fan when there is quite literally no story and this one absolutely was not that! There was totally a story, good character development and progression and all the good stuff! I’ll also say it’s been a while since I’ve read a dark romance book as well and Bookstgram has been recommending me a ton of books in my list, most notably the Haunting Adeline (which I may or may not read, not decided just yet). So, decided to give Kindle a month free trial to see what they have there and BOOM, immediately, recommendations. And this was one of them.

DARK but still enjoyable

So this is classified as dark romance and it absolutely is. There were some heavy themes that may not float your boat, some of which definitely wouldn’t float my boat for real life stuff but for a book I was like, hmm okay I can go with this. You’ll see what I mean in the TW on her site but definitely having a psychotic kind of character as the male makes it a pretty heavy book. And of course it’s a mafia story so there’s some other kind of weird and creepy under themes to it but honestly it does kind of add to the story. I don’t want to say mafia romance books are ever realistic, because we know that mafia and romance do not go together (let it stay in your head ladies and gentlemen) but dark mafia romance usually has the level of twistedness that makes it a bit closer to ‘reality’ for lack of a better phrase. But don’t get it into your head to find the nearest mafia hangout spot to try and catch their eye!

Steamy and kept the pages going – but vulgar.

Now I am absolutely not a prude. I love a good steamy scene as much as the next person, but there are certain words that I am not a huge fan of, some of the more…seriously extreme and crass words (it’s used in Australia as a friendly greeting to give a hint). I’m sure you can guess which ones I’m getting at. And well, the main character Nikolai loved to used some of those words and it was kind of a slap to the face. I absolutely know that it comes with the territory but you can get the dark point across without a use of a certain word, or used as much. Especially normalizing it’s use in books or making it seem sexy. Now, I now everyone has their own personal preference and this is just one of mine. But just be aware, not only is it dark but it is going to definitely expose you to new words which may or may not be your thing.

But if you want a steamy book, then this definitely may catch your interest! It kept me with the pages turning and I wanted to know more! Not only from the steamy side but also the story side.

Psychotic Development – Caged Bird Freed

The main character Nikolai definitely did progress a little bit over the book, going from the crazier person to someone with a little more heart. As well did Sofia going from a bit more of a timid-ish young woman to trying to kick some butt a little bit in her own way. It’s was certainly interesting to see that develop over the book and see how their stories entwined, especially with the running theme of the mafia and mafia families in the background. To also see some of the background of the families and how they all got to where they were, well that was certainly an added bonus to get some of that additional view.


Overall, I definitely enjoyed the read and can see myself reading this book again just to pick up on a few other bits and pieces going on – you know, wink wink nudge nudge. But in all seriousness, it was an enjoyable read and certainly one I’d recommend if you like more mature romance and dark romance in general. It does end in a cliffhanger and book two was definitely enjoyable too (review coming soon-ish).  It’s free on Kindle but you can also grab yourself a paperback!

Happy Reading!

Get yourself a copy here, or read it on Kindle Unlimited!

 

MyLibraryCardWoreOut is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. This in no way affects my opinion of the book(s) included in this post. 

 

Archangel’s Sun by Nalini Singh [Guild Hunter Book Review]

 in Adult / Books by

Summary

“The Archangel of Death and the Archangel of Disease may be gone but their legacy of evil lives on – especially in Africa, where the shambling, rotting creatures called the reborn have gained a glimmer of vicious intelligence.

It is up to Titus, archangel of this vast continent, to stop the reborn from spreading across the world. Titus can’t do it alone, but of the surviving powerful angels and archangels, large numbers are wounded, while the rest are fighting a surge of murderous vampires.

There is no one left . . . but the Hummingbird. Old, powerful, her mind long a broken kaleidoscope. Now she must stand at Titus’s side against a tide of death, upon a discovery more chilling than any other. For the Archangel of Disease has left them one last terrible gift . . .”

-From Amazon.com

Review

Oh man, Nalini Singh does it again with another absolutely incredible book! It’s been a while since I read one of her books and was behind on a few releases, so over the past weekend I made some impulse purchases and have been absolutely devouring them. 24 hours to get through this one!

A Beautiful & Intricate Story 

The Guild Hunter series is such a journey, getting to see all the main characters and even side characters, getting to see their life, their love and their pain. That is what I love about this series. While of course it is a romance story, there is just so much more than that! There is a story in each book and an overarching story throughout the series that keeps you turning pages.

Nalini Singh is a master with writing honestly. She writes with lots of beautiful adjectives, painting this ethereal picture of these creatures and places in her stories that you just feel transported there. It only take a few sentences to feel myself pulled into this world, experiencing what everyone is experiencing and just seeing both the beauty and horror.

Titus & The Hummingbird: The Perfect Balance

The Hummingbird, or Sharine, was always one of the characters I was so curious about. Her and her so Illium have wings in the book that are just this gorgeous indigo/blue color and I always wanted to know more about her. She was always referenced as this incredible artist and gentle and seeing her in this story was marvelous. You saw this wonderful progression of this woman who was perceived to be fragile who actually had warrior talents and was beautifully badass.

Singh always writes women who are powerful, kick ass, take no crap from men, yet have this beautifully sensual relationship with them and through that are just incredible. I’m always impressed how she manages to balance that fine line between the romance and keeping the woman strong and the men masculine.

Romance & Blood

This continued the story of all the reborn, following the destruction and mess created by the Archangel of Death and the Archangel of Disease. A lot of the story was following the clean up of so many of them and included the traditional Guild Hunter violence and gore that you all will be familiar with if you have read Singh’s writings before!

But in this one it was just so interesting to see with a character like The Hummingbird – a woman who was always presented as staying inside and being the artist who is now out in the thick of it getting down and dirty with Titus, the Archangel of Africa (who is just so very yummy!).

You got to see Titus go from an Archangel who was flippant with relationships and never promised anything more to him finding himself and questioning just so much. Seeing his transformation as well within the writing was just beautiful!

A Classic Nalini Singh Book! 

Every book that Singh writes I absolutely devour and love to read. I get capitated and transported into the world and honestly cannot put it down. This one was no different.

I absolutely give it the 5 out of 5 teacups rating, but definitely recommend you read it as part of the whole series and not a stand alone – although technically you could, just may be a little lost!

Happy Reading!

MyLibraryCardWoreOut is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. This in no way affects my opinion of the book(s) included in this post.