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ClareR (5556 KP) rated Cat Lady in Books

Aug 14, 2023  
Cat Lady
Cat Lady
Dawn O'Porter | 2022 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry, Humor & Comedy
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I loved this! We meet Mia at a pet bereavement group - but her cat, Pigeon, is alive and well. She lives with her husband, his son and her beloved house cat. Oh, and the ex-wife comes and goes as she pleases with her own key!

Mia’s life is very regimented, and this is apparent in every aspect. Especially work. She works for a socialite jewellery maker, who seems to have no business sense and asks Daddy for money for the business all the time.

And then everything seems to start going wrong at the same time, and Mia makes a lot of questionable, yet understandable, decisions.

There’s some graphic sex scenes (not a problem for me, but fair warning, as some of my fellow readers on The Pigeonhole didn’t appreciate them), and scenes where Mia struggles with her mental health, culminating in suicidal thoughts.

On the outside, Mia is all business and appears to be emotionally detached. On the inside, it’s clearly a maelstrom of feelings which are mainly caused by a terrible childhood and a stupid husband (I couldn’t think of a more appropriate word, and he is stupid).

I’ve read a couple of Dawn’s books now, and I should stop being so surprised at how thoughtful, emotional and funny they are. I thoroughly enjoyed this, and I’m no cat lady (dogs all the way - but I do like cats too, so perhaps I’m a bit of both).
  
Hunted (Blood Moon, Texas Shifters #5)
Hunted (Blood Moon, Texas Shifters #5)
Kat Kinney | 2023 | Paranormal, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
HUNTED is the fifth book in the Blood Moon, Texas Shifters series and we have River and Ellie's story. I would recommend you read this in order as it does have an overall story arc that might be confusing if you don't know how it got to this stage.

River and Ellie have a history together, and it's not always a good one! River had to take Ellie's memories, even though she was his mate, leaving her with crippling anxiety. It's for this reason that Hayden refuses to speak to River and threatens him at every opportunity.

River and Ellie have moved past that - although I'm not exactly sure when. Maybe it was in the past books, but it's been a while since I read those, so I'm not sure. Their relationship did throw me a little in the beginning. Especially the 'projection' sex, when it wasn't always clear that's that what it was.

The overall story arc moves along at a fast pace, with new and old characters helping it along the way. It will be interesting to see what happens in August and Rowan's story, which is up next.

A great addition to the series but definitely recommended to read as a series.

** same worded review will appear elsewhere **

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Sep 29, 2023
  
Room Service
Room Service
Mindy Wilde | 2018 | Contemporary, Erotica, Fiction & Poetry
6
7.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Desperate Woman Gets Housekeeping Job at a Brothel
Genre: Erotic Romance

My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Word Count: 17,530 words


After getting conned and dumped by a traveling guitar player, Lucy is struggling to make ends meet and things only get worse when she’s laid off from her waitressing job. Her last customer– a sexy, mysterious man wearing clothes that cost five times her annual salary– leaves her a $1,000 tip out of sympathy, but that money will only last so long.

But when she gets offered a job as a housekeeper at a brothel, things are looking up. Cleaning up after sex isn’t her usual line of work, but at least she won’t have to struggle financially anymore. When she literally runs into her heavy tipper at the brothel, however, things might get a little more complicated, especially when just looking at him is enough to fill her fantasies.

I’m still not sure what to make of this book, but I definitely wish there was more of it. I’m fascinated by this high-class brothel where everything is safe and 100% consensual and everyone treats each other like old friends. There are panic buttons in every room and all of the “Room Service” workers carry panic buttons on them as well (where they carry them isn’t mentioned, unfortunately).

I’m a little uneasy about what happens if one of the staff wants to quit, though. That’s never really mentioned, and Mrs. Stark, the owner of the brothel and Iron Man’s mother, isn’t someone to cross. Are they allowed to leave as long or have they taken a blood oath?

” Just know that if you accept you will be all-in. The secrets you keep will need to go to your grave with you. We take this vow very seriously.” — Mrs. Stark

Sounds like a blood oath to me.

Lucy’s a pretty cool character. She took getting fired well and she’s pretty kind and relatable overall. But her emotions when it comes to her ex are really simplistic. She’s just enraged that he left her destitute. And she definitely has reason to be. But anger is all she’s feeling. She’s not sad that he didn’t love her enough to stick around. She’s not regretting her decision to squander her savings on his debt (and it really was her decision. He might have sweet-talked her into it, but he didn’t hold a gun to her head). There aren’t even any lingering feelings of love or any sign she loved him at all. When it comes to her past, her entire character falls flat.

Of course, she’s better than Adam Palmer, the heavy tipper we know next to nothing about so far. The description “billionaire alpha” basically sums up everything about him. Not that I really mind Adam. He was actually pretty nice to Lucy. Despite the circumstances, I didn’t sense a disturbing power imbalance between them and he seems to genuinely care about her. I wish we saw at least one scene from his point of view. It would have gone a long way to making him a real character instead of an alpha-billionaire-on-the-verge-of-manly-tears stock photo.

I have a theory that he’s the one who got her the job at the brothel, but this has yet to be confirmed. I’ll be sad if this isn’t the case.

The sex scene, was honestly more comical than sexy to me. Reading about them screaming out each others’ names while doin’ it made me giggle.

“OH ADAM,” I cried out at the top of my lungs.

For real, have you or anyone you know actually shouted your partner’s name during sex because you were so caught up in the moment? It doesn’t count if you’re faking it.

Honestly, they talked a lot for two people who were supposed to be lost in the magical sensations of expert boning. Adam could even get out full sentences.

“Fuck Lucy, you are going to make me explode and I am definitely not done with you yet.”

As you can probably guess, this story is in need of some editing. Not just for punctuation issues (not too distracting, but still there), but also for the dialogue which is about as good as the best-written porn out there. The first chapter is also just Lucy straight-up telling her backstory. It only lasts for about a page, but it kept me from getting pulled into the story immediately and kept me from connecting to Lucy.

But despite all its faults, I still enjoyed the story. I thought it was really cute and I want to see more of Lucy and Adam together.
  
The Forgotten Child (A Riley Thomas Mystery #1)
The Forgotten Child (A Riley Thomas Mystery #1)
Melissa Erin Jackson | 2018 | Horror, Mystery, Paranormal
7
7.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Well Written Characters (1 more)
Spooky Scenes
Pointless Sex Scenes (1 more)
Cheesy Dialogue at Times
A Spooky Read
The synopsis for The Forgotten Child by Melissa Erin Jackson really drew me in. It was one of those books that I knew I had to read. I even pre-ordered the book. Luckily, I won it on a Goodreads giveaway, so I had the chance to read it before it was released.

I found the pacing to be fairly consistent for The Forgotten Child. For the most part, it was a fast paced read which I thoroughly enjoyed! There were a few times that the pacing slowed down a bit, and I was wishing for it to speed up again. However, those moments weren't very often.

The plot for The Forgotten Child has been done before, but Ms. Jackson made the story line interesting enough for me to enjoy the story. Riley, the main character, gets roped in to going to a house that has been featured on a popular ghost hunting show and known to be very haunted. It was also the site of some very brutal murders. Riley is reluctant to go due to her ability to see and interact with ghosts and because of something that happened when she was 10 years old involving a spirit. While there, she interacts with the ghost of a little boy as well as the infamous serial killer who used to live there. After getting completely freaked out by a ghostly encounter with the serial killer's ghost, she leaves early to go back home. However, the ghost boy has followed her home. She feels sorry for the little boy and vows to find out what happened to him. Finding out what happened to him won't be easy, and it will put her in grave danger. While trying to uncover the mystery of the little boy, she also is juggling her love life with her new boyfriend. I felt like there were no plot twists, but there were plenty of spooky moments! There was one point in the story where I was really regretting my decision to read The Forgotten Child late at night due to a very spooky scene! Even though this book is part of a series, there were no cliffhangers. All of my questions were answered by the end of the book which I was thankful for. I wish this focused more on Riley's abilities and on the ghostly aspect instead of Riley's relationship with Michael, but that's just a personal preference. I also could have done without the sex scenes between Riley and Michael as I felt like they didn't really fit the tone of the book. Perhaps that's just a me thing though.

The world building for The Forgotten Child was written fairly well. There were some times where I was wondering about the dialogue in the book. Some of the choices of phrases used were a bit cheesy. I hadn't heard anyone use some of the phrases used in the book ever! However, the dialogue was still very believable for the most part. I loved the way some of The Forgotten Child was set a creepy ranch in a spooky house. I do wish more of the action took place here, but I still enjoyed the book.

I enjoyed the characters in The Forgotten Child. Melissa Erin Jackson did a fantastic job in making each character feel like a real person. Not one of the characters was lacking. I found each one to be interesting. I really enjoyed the chemistry between Riley and Michael. I enjoyed their banter a lot even if I wish the book would have focused less on their physical and romantic relationship. I also enjoyed reading about Jade and Riley's friendship. You could feel how strong their friendship was. I loved how Miss Jackson wrote about Orin and Hank. I could feel the evilness of both Orin and Hank oozing from the pages! Both of them made fantastic evil characters.

Trigger warnings include a lot of swearing, violence, a few graphic (but not too graphic) sex scenes including a non-graphic rape, murder including child murder, drinking, an evil spirit, and other scenes dealing with the occult.

All in all, The Forgotten Child was a good read. I loved how spooky it was as well as how great the characters were written. I would definitely recommend The Forgotten Child by Melissa Erin Jackson to those 18+ who love a good paranormal mystery. I will definitely be reading the next book in the Riley Thomas Mystery series.
  
Holding Out for a Hero (Jelvia: Not Human #1)
Holding Out for a Hero (Jelvia: Not Human #1)
L. Wise, T.E. Kessler | 2018 | Erotica, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
6
7.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
What I liked best about this book is that it stayed true to the erotica style. Many erotica books tend to fall too much toward the side of a mushy romance instead. It also contained a strong storyline (0 more)
What I liked least about the book is actually a common complaint of mine. Parts of the story were repeated multiple times as information was spread from one person to another (0 more)
Honest Review for Free Copy of Book
WARNING: FOR READERS 18 YEARS OLD AND OLDER ONLY!

Normally I would put who I believe the target readers are at the end of my review, but because of the genre of this book things are going to be a little different. The target readers for this book are adults, 18 years old and older. This book is labeled as an erotica. There are vivid sex scenes with mild bondage and kinky play throughout this book. You have been warned.

Jelvia Not Human 1: Holding Out for a Hero by T. E. Kessler was originally published under the author name of L. Wise and with a different cover. Most erotica fantasy books use vampires or werewolves as a main character type but this book introduced is an entirely new race, the Jelvia. From reading this book I have learned that they are similar to humans and appearance, only they are significantly taller. I don't want to give away too much about who or what they are as I enjoyed learning about them during the book.

Macy, a journalist for a newspaper called the London Echo, lives with her friend Courtney. One night Courtney is attacked by a group of guys outside of a store. Suddenly her attack flee and Courtney find herself face to face with a Jelvia. Now Macy's sets out to prove that Jelvias are not the dangerous threat to mankind that everyone seems to think they are. After William, the owner of the paper Macy works for, sees a video of Macy speaking to a Jelvia he invite her to work directly for him. He has this idea of a special team for a paper that will report the truth on Jelvias all of the fear inducing media hype other papers publish.

As it turns out William is not exactly who he says he is. He askes Macy to get close to a Jelvia to get information from him. As it turns out the Jelvia, named Narcifer, has received the same orders in regards to Macy. Things get even more complicated when Macy and Narcifer fall for each other and realize that both of their bosses are using them. The two races do not approve of or trust the other, so now it is up to Macy and Narcifer decide if their love is worth everything they may lose. Can they approve to humans that the Jelvia are not as dangerous as they are made out to be? Can they prove to the Jelvias that look down on humans that humans are not just wheat creatures that are in the way or a danger to their own race?

What I liked best about this book is that it stayed true to the erotica style. Many erotica books tend to fall too much toward the side of a mushy romance instead. It also contained a strong storyline that remained interesting. The sex, while it was consistent, was not the main focus of the story and was appropriate in its timing. What I liked least about the book is actually a common complaint of mine. Parts of the story were repeated multiple times as information was spread from one person to another. To me this starts to make a book drag and I find myself wanting to skim over paragraphs or even pages at a time.

Overall I rate this book a 3 out of 4. It is hard to find an erotica book that bounces the sex and story well. This book is very well balanced and the plot was strong. Only reason why it got a 3 instead of a 4 was because of it being repetitive. I do look forward to reading more of this series as it becomes available and hope that I have a chance to review the rest of the books. I am very interested and where Macy's relationship will lead and if humans and Jelvia ever become mostly tolerant of each other.

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Cave Man
Cave Man
Aedan Sayla | 2019 | Erotica, Religion
4
5.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
What I liked best was that the time and location of the story is well thought out. Taking place right after the fall of the tower of Babel was a great idea (0 more)
Being a modern woman there were multiple things that I did not like about the story. (0 more)
Honest Review for Free Copy of Book
Cave Man by Aedon Sayla is classified as an Erotic Christian Fiction. That being said this is not for anyone under 18 years old. Erotica and Christian Fiction are two genres that are not generally mixed. Readers should be aware that the events in this book are from biblical times and modern rules do not apply.

Alon is a captive of the King of Babel, Nimrod. He is set to be killed on the very next night when an angel shows up. The angel has come to save Alon before God comes down and destroys Babel. Alon escapes and goes to start a new civilization that honors God. Early on in his journey Alon comes across Ayangla who speaks a different language from him. Frustrated at not being able to speak to her the voice of God tells Alon that once his seed is deep in Ayangla she will begin to understand his language. He immediately takes her there on the ground and makes her travel with him as his wife. Over time Ayangla notices that Alon cares for her and comes to love him in return as he takes the time to pleasure her unlike those who had her while she was a slave under Nimrod’s rule.

During their journey, they meet up with Enais and his wife who had the same message about making a new civilization. The two couples decide to be a tribe and call themselves Alonai. The Alonai tribe ultimately end up in a land of plenty and set up a well-guarded home there for themselves and all of their children (there is a lot). The two men end up saving two women from a shipwreck one day while out fishing and bring them back to their home. Each man takes one of the two to become their second wives to share with the first and expand their families while making the new women a part of their struggle for survival. Through it all Alon constantly thanks The Creator for all of his blessings and all the things The Creator has worked for him and within him.

What I liked best was that the time and location of the story is well thought out. Taking place right after the fall of the tower of Babel was a great idea as many people are at least somewhat familiar with that story. The need for the main character to create a new civilization explained all the sex besides just plane lust. Being a modern woman there were multiple things that I did not like about the story. The first of which being Alon attacking and raping Ayangla, made all the worse by God indirectly suggesting it. Ayangla appears to have Stockholm syndrome as she falls in love with Alon who she calls master and husband interchangeably through the book. She seems to stay with him because she learns to enjoy the sex and because being with him helps ensure her survival. I also had a major problem with Alon purposely triggering Ayangla’s milk production for his enjoyment. This may be because I approve of public breastfeeding of children and seeing the production of breast-milk as a sexual act and a grown man breastfeeding from a woman as an orgasmic experience goes against the movement to normalize breastfeeding as a non-sexual act.

Target readers for this book are adults ages 18 and older. As this is considered erotic Christian fiction Christians may have more appreciation for this book than others. Readers should be ready for and expecting heavy sexual content. I ended up giving this book a rating of 2 out of 4. While trying to stay in the mindset of the target audience I still can not put aside my personal feelings about this book completely. It is not the rough sex scenes that was a problem as much as it was how they came about. If it wasn’t for taking the period the book was written in into consideration and how things would have been done then I would have failed this book completely. Content aside it was well written so an even half score of two is appropriate in my eyes.

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