mel ��'s bookshelf: all

mel ��'s bookshelf: all en-US Tue, 01 Apr 2025 22:52:18 -0700 60 mel ��'s bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Sweet Little Nothing 220303200 EMMY
My fall from grace was one for the books. All it took was his word against mine for everything to topple.
Liar. Slut. Snitch.
Now, I wear my shame like a scarlet letter pinned to my chest.
People say I ruined his life. Except, he’s the one who irrevocably broke me—my heart, my body, my soul…my will to live.

STERLING
Like a little coward, she thinks the span of five states is enough to keep her safe. But I know where she is and I’m going to make her pay.
She ruined my best friend’s life. Now…I’m going to ruin her.
One by one, I’ll spill her secrets, until she has nowhere left to turn—except to me, her very own big, bad wolf.]]> 408 L.K. Farlow 1964341035 mel �� 0 currently-reading 1.50 2020 Sweet Little Nothing

author: L.K. Farlow
name: mel ��
average rating: 1.50
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/01
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Sincerely, Your Enemy (Silver Springs)]]> 230191413 It all started with a phone call.

I was trying to reach my sister. So, you can imagine my surprise when a deep, ridiculously sexy voice answered the phone��

Mathias Jacobs embodies all that is wrong with basketball players. He’s arrogant, hotter than hell, and the worst part? He’s my new dating coach.

He says I lack confidence. And if anyone can help me land the man of my dreams, it’s him.

All I have to do in exchange is tutor him in math before his grades get him kicked off the team. Piece of cake.

And it would be, if it weren’t for the massive lie he tells my crush to make him jealous.

The next thing I know, TJ is my fake boyfriend, and I’m toeing the line between hating his guts and craving something real.

He might not care if it ends in disaster, but I’d rather die than let a basketball god set my world on fire.

And if I have to go down weaving a web of lies and deceit?

He’s going down with me.

Sincerely, Your Enemy is a spicy, fake dating college sports romance. It is a complete stand-alone.]]> 433 Eliah Greenwood mel �� 0 currently-reading 4.11 Sincerely, Your Enemy (Silver Springs)

author: Eliah Greenwood
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.11
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/30
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Glass Heart Hero (Glass Heart Academy #3)]]> 56531630 Loyalty. Corruption. Family.
A gauntlet rooted in love and jealousy may be the destruction of the students at Glass Heart Academy.

Delaney
Parts of me were stolen in the confines of a dark room. No matter how hard I fought, I got nowhere. The damage has already been done.
Now I find myself in the arms of an unexpected boy. He catches me in the darkness, where I’m too afraid to face the cruel world I now know exists.
He wants every piece of my heart. But how far is he willing to go when it already belongs to another?
After everything, Breaker Davenport haunts my dreams and loving me quickly becomes his own worst nightmare.

Breaker
I have always been certain of a few things in life. Birth doesn’t make a family and when you find someone worth dying for, you fight until you bleed.
Delaney Chambers is worthy of painting the world red.
Fighting for her hadn’t been something I expected to do. Little did I know, he wasn’t the only one trying to take her away from me.
They won’t whisper her name, but I’ll make sure they curse mine.
The monster inside of me won’t stop until they’re buried amongst all their skeletons.]]> 289 Lindsey Iler mel �� 1 4.38 Glass Heart Hero (Glass Heart Academy #3)

Glass Heart Hero (Glass Heart Academy #3)

author: Lindsey Iler
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.38
book published:
rating: 1
read at: 2025/03/30
date added: 2025/03/30
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]]> False Start (Second Down) 141542430
Zhanna Hale

THEN

My father is a legend. Some call me football royalty, and in my hometown of Louisiana, I suppose I am. His legacy didn’t prepare me for Bryant Hudson. The quarterback. I swore I’d never date football players. Permanently. Yet Bryant had other plans.Three dates and a handful of conversations, I handed him my heart without realizing it. But, Bryant shatters my soul. I’m left picking up the pieces. If only erasing him from my heart was as easy.

Bryant Hudson

NOW

I lost at the only game that matters. And it wasn’t even a game. It was and is my forever with Zhanna. I am the best quarterback out there. That should be enough, right? Achieving my dreams. But none of that matters without my woman beside me. When she left, she took my heart with her.Now I’m back. To remind her of what we had. To see me—the man whose heart she owns, not the quarterback.Our love is fate. Our lives are forever intertwined. I refuse to let a false start signal our end. I’m ready to repeat the play and show Zhanna she is my everything.]]> 265 Sasha Marshall mel �� 2 2.00 False Start (Second Down)

author: Sasha Marshall
name: mel ��
average rating: 2.00
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2025/03/30
date added: 2025/03/30
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]]> <![CDATA[The Trouble with Love (Sex, Love & Stiletto, #4)]]> 23300214 As Lauren Layne’s salacious Sex, Love & Stiletto series returns, a jaded columnist discovers a steamy way to get over an old falling for him all over again. As Stiletto magazine’s authority on all things breakup-and-heartache, Emma Sinclair writes from personal experience. Five years ago, Emma was Charlotte, North Carolina’s darling debutante and a blushing bride-to-be. Now she’s the ice queen of the Manhattan dating scene. Emma left her sultry Southern drawl behind, but not even her closest friends know that with it she left her heart. Now Emma’s latest article forces her to face her demons—namely, the devilishly sexy guy who ditched her at the altar. After giving up everything for a pro-soccer career, Alex Cassidy watches his dreams crumble as a knee injury sidelines him for good. Now he’s hanging up his cleats and giving journalism a shot. It’s just a coincidence that he happens to pick a job in the same field, and the same city, as his former fiancée . . . right? But when Emma moves in next door, it’s no accident. It’s research. And Alex can’t help wondering what might have been. Unlike the innocent girl he remembers, this Emma is chic, sophisticated, and assertive—and she wants absolutely nothing to do with him. The trouble is, Alex has never wanted her more.Praise for The Trouble with Love“The Trouble with Love is a heartwarming read I devoured in one sitting and haven’t been able to stop smiling over since.��—New York Times bestselling author Violet DukeLauren Layne’s New York Times bestselling Oxford Novel series can be read in any IRRESISTIBLY YOURSI WISH YOU WERE MINESOMEONE LIKE YOUI KNEW YOU WERE TROUBLEI THINK I LOVE YOUDon’t miss any of Lauren Layne’s hot The Love Unexpectedly BLURRED LINES | GOOD GIRL | LOVE STORY | WALK OF SHAME | AN EX FOR CHRISTMASThe Sex, Love & Stiletto AFTER THE KISS | LOVE THE ONE YOU’RE WITH | JUST ONE NIGHT | THE TROUBLE WITH LOVEThe Redemption ISN’T SHE LOVELY | BROKEN | CRUSHEDThe I Do, I Don’t READY TO RUN | RUNAWAY GROOM Includes a special message from the editor, as well as an excerpt from another Loveswept title.]]> 248 Lauren Layne mel �� 2 4.23 2015 The Trouble with Love (Sex, Love & Stiletto, #4)

The Trouble with Love (Sex, Love & Stiletto, #4)

author: Lauren Layne
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2015
rating: 2
read at: 2025/03/30
date added: 2025/03/30
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]]> <![CDATA[Glass Heart Broken (Glass Heart Academy, #2)]]> 55712411 LIES. SECRETS. MAYHEM.
The campus of Glass Heart Academy will never be the same once we’re through with it.

Palmer
They tried to break me, but they underestimated my strength.
When Marek says things aren’t always what they seem, I don’t want to believe him.
Now, I know the dark truth in his words.
As a participating player in this wicked game, how do I know who to trust when it seems our past is doomed to repeat itself?

Marek
Cruelty is my love language, and Palmer's ready to make me pay for it.
We both know we shouldn’t want what’s right in front of us.
Will she accept the dark, broken pieces of me, or will she always watch over her shoulder, waiting for my blade to take pieces of her she doesn’t know are exposed? While we try to find ourselves in each other, darkness continues to follow us, setting off a series of events no one is prepared for.
What will be the cost of exposing the truth that haunts us?]]> 428 Lindsey Iler mel �� 2 4.30 Glass Heart Broken (Glass Heart Academy, #2)

Glass Heart Broken (Glass Heart Academy, #2)

author: Lindsey Iler
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.30
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2025/03/30
date added: 2025/03/30
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]]> <![CDATA[Glass Heart Savage (Glass Heart Academy, #1)]]> 49268705 The elite come to play on the campus of Glass Heart Academy.

𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐦��𝐫
My sister was their everything. I’m their nothing.
They waited three hundred and sixty-five days after her disappearance to acknowledge I’m alive.
Their wicked games should scare me.
Except they don’t know I’m not much different than her.

𝐌𝐚𝐫��𝐤
Palmer Weston isn’t anything like her sister.
She’s sweet and naive. There are plenty of reasons why I should keep my distance.
Except where’s the fun in that.
I’m a boy who loves his toys and I’ve kept her on the shelf long enough.
It seems someone is determined on giving Palmer the same fate as her sister.
Problem is I’ve never been good at sharing.

{Glass Heart Savage is the first book in the Glass Heart Academy Series.}]]> 248 Lindsey Iler mel �� 1 4.07 2020 Glass Heart Savage (Glass Heart Academy, #1)

Glass Heart Savage (Glass Heart Academy, #1)

author: Lindsey Iler
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2020
rating: 1
read at: 2025/03/30
date added: 2025/03/30
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review:

]]> Maestro: A Love Story 181867608
When a music audition at the world-renowned LaGuardia Arts high school brings together two thirteen-year-olds, unassuming Aurelia Ramirez Preston and confident Chadwick David, the serendipitous encounter becomes an unbreakable friendship.

A friendship develops into an unyielding love.
A love spanning decades and continents.

With New York City as their playground, best friends Chad and Aurelia navigate the turbulence of adolescence. They blossom, and so does their love. An awkward first date turns into a night of intoxicating kisses and together, they lose their innocence.

Years later, Chad is “Maestro,�� the tattooed virtuoso, the James Dean of classical music.

And Aurelia is an accomplished cellist. His muse. The enduring love behind his greatness.

But when the maestro falters, even for a moment, the most beautiful symphony can spiral into unrelenting chaos. And the greatest of loves can become the most tragic heartbreak.

Maestro is a symphony of words, four movements filled with longing, secrets, betrayal, and the grace of forgiveness.]]> 602 Auden Dar mel �� 4 4.72 Maestro: A Love Story

author: Auden Dar
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.72
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/24
date added: 2025/03/25
shelves:
review:

]]> A Dark and Drowning Tide 174146852 A sharp-tongued folklorist must pair up with her academic rival to solve their mentor's murder in this lush and enthralling sapphic fantasy romance from the New York Times bestselling author of A Far Wilder Magic.

Lorelei Kaskel, a folklorist with a quick temper and an even quicker wit, is on an expedition with six eccentric nobles in search of a fabled spring. The magical spring promises untold power, which the king wants to harness to secure his reign of the embattled country of Brunnestaad. Lorelei is determined to use this opportunity to prove herself and make her wildest, most impossible dream come to become a naturalist, able to travel freely to lands she’s only ever read about.

The expedition gets off to a harrowing start when its leader—Lorelei’s beloved mentor—is murdered in her quarters aboard their ship. The suspects are her five remaining expedition mates, each with their own motive. The only person Lorelei knows must be innocent is her longtime academic rival, the insufferably gallant and maddeningly beautiful Sylvia von Wolff. Now in charge of the expedition, Lorelei must find the spring before the murderer strikes again—and a coup begins in earnest.

But there are other dangers lurking in the forests that rearrange themselves at night, rivers with slumbering dragons waiting beneath the water, and shapeshifting beasts out for blood.

As Lorelei and Sylvia grudgingly work together to uncover the truth—and resist their growing feelings for one another—they discover that their professor had secrets of her own. Secrets that make Lorelei question whether justice is worth pursuing, or if this kingdom is worth saving at all.]]> 384 Allison Saft 0593722345 mel �� 0 to-read 3.59 2024 A Dark and Drowning Tide

author: Allison Saft
name: mel ��
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/22
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Never the Best (Savannah's Best #5)]]> 221833024 She was never just a bet. She was always the best.

I’m Rhett Vanderbilt, and it’s time to make things right.

When I was seventeen, I made a terrible mistake. What started as a reckless, heartless bet spiraled into something far worse. Pearl Beaumont was awkward, sweet, and hopelessly trusting—and I took advantage of every bit of it. By the time I was done, I’d left her with a broken heart and a ruined reputation. She left Savannah not long after, and now, fifteen years later, she’s back. A lot has changed. I’m not the same selfish kid I once was. I'm determined to right my wrongs.

What I don’t expect is to find myself working alongside Pearl—or to see the woman she’s become. Confident, driven, and completely uninterested in my apologies—or me. She’s nothing like the girl I once knew. Somehow, we manage to rebuild a fragile friendship; and the more time I spend with her, the more I find myself drawn to her. But then my fiancée decides to dig up the past, dragging Pearl’s name through the mud all over again. It’s then that I finally understand the depth of the pain I caused—the toll it took on this kind, remarkable woman.

Ending my engagement is the easy part. Proving to Pearl that she was always the one? Earning her trust? That’s going to be the fight of my life.

Never The Best is an enemies-to-lovers romance and includes all your favorite

🐝Enemies to Lovers
🐝Other Woman Drama
🐝�´ǰ��
🐝Betrayal & Grovel
🐝��𲹰��
🐝Slow Burn
🐝Complete Standalone
🐝No Cheating

Trigger Warning: This book contains themes of bullying, body image struggles, eating disorders, and recovery, which may be triggering for some readers.]]> 354 Maya Alden mel �� 2 3.73 Never the Best (Savannah's Best #5)

author: Maya Alden
name: mel ��
average rating: 3.73
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2025/03/19
date added: 2025/03/19
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review:

]]> <![CDATA[Sorrow and Starlight (Zodiac Academy, #8)]]> 59808792 All stars must fall.

Bloody, lost, broken. We live to fight another day. But with so much stolen from us, can the fates ever twist in our favour again?

My sister and I have been torn apart by shadows and despair, and now we each stand alone.

Our sorrow is spun like a web, trapping us tight, and I fear our enemies will soon come to feast upon our souls.

But if I have my way, the merciless sky will have dealt us its final fortune. It’s time for us to take back the power that’s been ripped from our grasp and turn the tide of this war.

All stars must fall, and all Phoenixes must rise.

Long live the Savage Queens.

*This will now be book 8 of 9 in the series*

***This is a dark, bully romance �� don’t go expecting a sweet school for magic with friends around every corner. Fae fight for everything they own and Zodiac Academy is a cutthroat school for students aged 18+ where only the strongest prevail. There’s no Dumbledore here to save anyone’s ass and Lionel Acrux will give Voldemort a run for his money in the evil dictator category. So hold onto your stardust (broomsticks not required) and get ready for a bumpy ride***]]> 1242 Caroline Peckham mel �� 0 currently-reading 4.03 2022 Sorrow and Starlight (Zodiac Academy, #8)

Sorrow and Starlight (Zodiac Academy, #8)

author: Caroline Peckham
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/19
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> Breaking 228155479
When her best friend Sasha tragically dies in a car accident, leaving behind two foster children, Jenna is forced to confront the harsh truths of her existence. While taking on the care of Leah and Dylan, Jenna begins a journey of self-discovery and renewal, reigniting her passion for art and finding strength in her independence. However, her decision to walk away from her marriage is met with resistance from her husband, Troy, and their children, who fail to see the quiet pain she has endured for years.

As Jenna builds a new life, she learns to confront her past, embrace her grief, and reclaim her identity. Along the way, she discovers that resilience lies in allowing herself to be vulnerable and in daring to demand the love and respect she deserves. Will Troy learn his lesson or is this goodbye forever?]]> Raegan Salander mel �� 0 3.53 2025 Breaking

author: Raegan Salander
name: mel ��
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/17
date added: 2025/03/17
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]]> Leave Me Behind 221287780
So what is she to do when she finds herself on a plane to California and on her way to a sure death sentence? A one-night stand. At least, that’s all it was supposed to be—one last night to be free. Only, she finds out too late that the dark and mysterious man she solely wanted as a fling is not only her new comrade but also the one she dreaded meeting most—her immediate superior and untouchable devil in the field. Bones.

He’s hell on earth—cruel and unforgiving, but most of all, he hates her, and he makes sure she knows it. And yet, she finds herself unwilling to leave his side when he’s unable to get to the evac point when their mission goes awry.

She stays behind with the devil and the secrets he keeps. They only have one another to trust when no faith is left.]]> 464 K.M. Moronova 1963474074 mel �� 1
why even make her end up with the actual mmc when she mostly thought bout her ex and whatever tf happened at the end? spoilers: [spoilers removed]

don’t even get me started on that weird unnecessary scene with the mmc’s twin and her getting off after she literally just gave the mmc a blowjob. or the scene where the mmc assaults her, carves her up and she gets turned on. self-respect where?

no one here was likeable. i didn’t hate anyone - just indifferent. which is worse.

everyone and everything felt very surface level.

*sigh* i unfortunately am, again, a victim of booktok hype.]]> 3.75 Leave Me Behind

author: K.M. Moronova
name: mel ��
average rating: 3.75
book published:
rating: 1
read at: 2025/03/15
date added: 2025/03/16
shelves:
review:
i knew something was wrong when the fmc wouldn’t shut up about her “dead�� ex.

why even make her end up with the actual mmc when she mostly thought bout her ex and whatever tf happened at the end? spoilers: [spoilers removed]

don’t even get me started on that weird unnecessary scene with the mmc’s twin and her getting off after she literally just gave the mmc a blowjob. or the scene where the mmc assaults her, carves her up and she gets turned on. self-respect where?

no one here was likeable. i didn’t hate anyone - just indifferent. which is worse.

everyone and everything felt very surface level.

*sigh* i unfortunately am, again, a victim of booktok hype.
]]> Shattering 229076524
*Read on if you are worried about triggers like cheating. But this might spoil the plot

* No, no actual cheating. But there is a kiss which has an explanation. So ,if that is too much, its possible this is not the story for you.]]> 387 Raegan Salander mel �� 0 3.96 Shattering

author: Raegan Salander
name: mel ��
average rating: 3.96
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/12
date added: 2025/03/12
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]]> Night 59690022 40 Caroline Peckham mel �� 4 4.37 2021 Night

author: Caroline Peckham
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/12
date added: 2025/03/12
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]]> <![CDATA[Heartless Sky (Zodiac Academy, #7)]]> 56474282
On the run and cast out from society, we’ve been forced to hide from the mad man who stole our throne. But as more secrets come to light and my sister and I work harder than ever before to reach our potential and claim our birth right, the end is finally drawing closer.

There is no turning from this path now. The curse chases on our heels as time rushes by and the blood drenched destiny of the man I love looms ever closer just like the monster who stole our throne.

We must prepare for the final battle, but three things are clear now.

The cards have already been dealt.

Blood will spill for a new future to rise.

And the stars themselves can’t help us.

The fight for the throne is upon us. All hail the heartless sky.]]> 991 Caroline Peckham mel �� 3 4.20 2021 Heartless Sky (Zodiac Academy, #7)

author: Caroline Peckham
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/11
date added: 2025/03/11
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[Anchor: An MC Second Chance Romance (The Huntsmen MC Book 4)]]> 228595557 Anchor
The moment I saw her, I knew she was mine.
I knew she’d be my life, but so was the club,
And she understood that she understood me.
Growing up, I always wanted to prove myself,
To the brothers, my father.
But with my Angel, she loved me for who I was.
And I took her for granted.
I messed up; she left me, and rightfully so.
She no longer agreed with club life; She no longer agreed with me.
But losing her is not something I’m willing to stick with.
She means everything to me,
And it’s time she understood that.
Yes, I messed up, but I promise my Angel,
I’ll spend a lifetime making it up to you��.

Heaven
Having a relationship wasn’t something I planned on,
Especially at such a young age.
But bumping into him changed everything.
He became the reason why I breathed.
I thought I’d spend the rest of my life with him,
I thought he proved my mother wrong about men.
Until he hurt me, and he hurt me good.
I decided to put myself first, and I walked away.
I moved on with my life, or I tried.
He wouldn’t give up and refused to let me live without him.
He wants to try again, to prove himself.
But what is it that people say?
Once a cheat, always a cheat��. Right?

This can be read as a standalone. It is book 4 of 4 of the Huntsmen MC series, with a HEA. Due to mature content and themes, this book is recommended for readers aged 18+; this novel may contain triggers.]]> 296 Charlotte McGinlay mel �� 2 4.19 Anchor: An MC Second Chance Romance (The Huntsmen MC Book 4)

Anchor: An MC Second Chance Romance (The Huntsmen MC Book 4)

author: Charlotte McGinlay
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.19
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2025/03/09
date added: 2025/03/09
shelves:
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]]> I Wanna Dance 223133709 She Wants To Dance With Somebody Who Loves Her.

Five years after her divorce shattered her world, Leah Stahl is still piecing her life back together. Betrayed by her husband’s affair and estranged from her children, she’s channeled her pain into a new career as a divorce attorney, fighting to help other women get the justice she never received. But even as she builds a new life, her heart feels stuck in the past—until a surprising Christmas gift sets her on an unexpected path.

Marco Cabrera has been a widower for nearly three years, burying himself in his work to avoid the ache of loss. At the urging of his two caring but persistent daughters, he reluctantly agrees to step out of his comfort zone and take salsa classes. He never expects to meet someone like strong, guarded, and yet brimming with a quiet vulnerability that mirrors his own.

As Leah and Marco begin to find solace in each other—both on and off the dance floor—their connection deepens. But just as Leah starts to believe in the possibility of love again, her ex-husband returns, stirring up trouble. When her doubts tear them apart, it takes courage, honesty, and the support of those who love them to bring them back together.

I Wanna Dance is A Modern Vintage Romance novella that delivers the charm of classic Mills & Boon stories with a fresh, sexy twist and dual POV. It features your favorite

💃🏻 Second Chance At Love
💃🏻 Later In Life
💃🏻 Other Man/Woman Drama
💃🏻 No Cheating
💃🏻 Complete Standalone
💃🏻 A Novella (Not Available in Paperback)]]> 194 Maya Alden mel �� 2 4.14 2025 I Wanna Dance

author: Maya Alden
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2025
rating: 2
read at: 2025/03/07
date added: 2025/03/07
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[Cursed Fates (Zodiac Academy, #5)]]> 50391615 Lionel seeks to hurt us, the Nymphs seek to hurt the entire Fae race, and between all of it, we just have to try and survive each day as it comes.
I'm afraid of everything falling apart, but it looks like it already has.
]]> 886 Caroline Peckham mel �� 5 4.31 2020 Cursed Fates (Zodiac Academy, #5)

author: Caroline Peckham
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/05
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Shadow Princess (Zodiac Academy, #4)]]> 220366265
With a secret binding them to Darius and Orion, they must find a way to all work together for the greater good. But some things are easier said than done...]]> 864 Caroline Peckham mel �� 5 review to come (?? idk maybe ??) �� 4.5 stars ✩⋆

I AM SHAKING. RAGING. RAVING. BLAZING. FUMING. SEETHING.

i have never, in my entire 25 years of existence, have ever hated a character more than i hate this one particular character.

!!! i’m only 3% in book 5 and this character did something worse!!!

for those who have read this series, you know who i am talking about because WHAT. THE. ACTUAL. FUCK. i am so angry that i’ll finally (maybe) write a full-on review after not writing one for awhile. please pray for me because i don’t know how i can survive this.

i know i’m a masochist but i’m blaming Phu because why’d you make me read this.]]> 4.33 2020 Shadow Princess (Zodiac Academy, #4)

author: Caroline Peckham
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/13
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves:
review:
review to come (?? idk maybe ??) �� 4.5 stars ✩⋆

I AM SHAKING. RAGING. RAVING. BLAZING. FUMING. SEETHING.

i have never, in my entire 25 years of existence, have ever hated a character more than i hate this one particular character.

!!! i’m only 3% in book 5 and this character did something worse!!!

for those who have read this series, you know who i am talking about because WHAT. THE. ACTUAL. FUCK. i am so angry that i’ll finally (maybe) write a full-on review after not writing one for awhile. please pray for me because i don’t know how i can survive this.

i know i’m a masochist but i’m blaming Phu because why’d you make me read this.
]]> <![CDATA[The Reckoning (Zodiac Academy, #3)]]> 49551172 The answer to your question will be revealed on the Lunar Eclipse. But when finding the truth, don't let the shadows take you.

The week of The Reckoning has begun. And senior students have been tasked with making the freshmen's lives pure hell as they prepare to take their fateful assessment.

With the Lunar Eclipse on the horizon, Tory and Darcy have more to worry about than just passing their exams. A dark plot is unfolding and the shadows are drawing closer...]]> 561 Caroline Peckham mel �� 5 reread - upgraded to 5 stars ✩⋆

this 5 stars is purely for bluelance and bluelance only.

* * *

first read - 4.5 stars ✩⋆

this would’ve been 5 stars for the bluelance scenes but i was sick and tired of all the torycaleb scenes ew.]]> 4.33 2019 The Reckoning (Zodiac Academy, #3)

author: Caroline Peckham
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/11
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves:
review:
reread - upgraded to 5 stars ✩⋆

this 5 stars is purely for bluelance and bluelance only.

* * *

first read - 4.5 stars ✩⋆

this would’ve been 5 stars for the bluelance scenes but i was sick and tired of all the torycaleb scenes ew.
]]> Confess 22609310
For once, Auburn takes a chance and puts her heart in control, only to discover that Owen is hiding a huge secret. The magnitude of his past threatens to destroy everything Auburn loves most, and the only way to get her life back on track is to cut Owen out of it—but can she do it?]]> 306 Colleen Hoover 1476791457 mel �� 0 4.14 2015 Confess

author: Colleen Hoover
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at: 2017/09/28
date added: 2025/03/02
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Awakening as Told by the Boys (Zodiac Academy, #1.5)]]> 58800799 **This is a retelling of book 1 of Zodiac Academy from the perspective of Orion, Darius, Caleb, Seth and Max**

The Vega twins are alive.

Those five words circle in my mind like an oncoming storm. They change everything about the future we thought had been set in stone. They challenge everything we were raised to be and the stability of the entire kingdom.

They’re coming to our academy looking for the life that was stolen from them, but we can’t let them take it back.

So much hangs in the balance and we can’t risk the arrival of two naïve princesses destroying everything we worked so hard for.

I have trained in dark magic, overcome all challenges and stood in the shadow of Lionel Acrux for far too long already. I won’t let them come between me and his downfall.

Which means they have to go before they discover how powerful they truly are.

This is a retelling of the first book in the Zodiac Academy series from the point of view of Orion and the Heirs and should be read after you have finished the original story. It includes scenes from alternative points of view as well over 50k words of additional content and scenes which have never before been revealed. So prepare to step into the dark minds of the Zodiac boys and watch out for the heartbreak and carnage that will ensue.]]> 534 Caroline Peckham mel �� 4
however, imma need to bleach my eyes again for making me relive that horrid torycaleb scenes (if they have no haters, then i’m dead)]]> 4.08 2021 The Awakening as Told by the Boys (Zodiac Academy, #1.5)

The Awakening as Told by the Boys (Zodiac Academy, #1.5)

author: Caroline Peckham
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/24
date added: 2025/02/25
shelves:
review:
lance orion being obsessed with darcy since the very beginning is exactly what i needed to read

however, imma need to bleach my eyes again for making me relive that horrid torycaleb scenes (if they have no haters, then i’m dead)
]]> <![CDATA[The Rebel Witch (The Crimson Moth, #2)]]> 215955975 The highly anticipated sequel to The Crimson Moth.

A WITCH��

Rune Winters is on the run. Ever since the boy she loved, Gideon Sharpe, revealed who she was and delivered her into enemy hands, everyone wants her dead. If Rune hopes to survive, she must ally herself with the cruel and dangerous Cressida Roseblood, who’s planning to take back the Republic and reinstate a Reign of Witches―something Cressida needs Rune to accomplish.

A WITCH HUNTER��

Apparently it wasn’t enough for Rune to deceive Gideon; she’s now betrayed him by allying herself with Cressida―the witch who made his life a living hell. Gideon won’t allow the Republic to fall to the witches and be plunged back into the nightmares of the past. In order to protect this new world he fought for, every last witch must die―especially Rune Winters.

AN IMPOSSIBLE CHOICE��

When Rune makes Gideon an offer he can’t refuse, the two must pair up to accomplish dangerous goals. The more they’re forced into each other’s company, the more Gideon realizes the feelings he had for Rune aren’t as dead and buried as he thought. And now he’s faced with a terrible choice: sacrifice the girl he loves to stop a monster taking back power, or let Rune live and watch the world he fought so hard for burn.

In Kristen Ciccarelli’s The Rebel Witch, the exciting conclusion to The Crimson Moth duology, love has never been so deadly.]]> 455 Kristen Ciccarelli 0008650616 mel �� 0 to-read 4.26 2025 The Rebel Witch (The Crimson Moth, #2)

author: Kristen Ciccarelli
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Crimson Moth (The Crimson Moth, #1)]]> 208890196 A steamy game of cat and mouse between witch and witch-hunter, played out against a backdrop of opulence, secrets, and bloody history.

On the night Rune’s life changed forever, blood ran in the streets. Now, in the aftermath of a devastating revolution, witches have been diminished from powerful rulers to outcasts ruthlessly hunted due to their waning magic, and Rune must hide what she is.

Spending her days pretending to be nothing more than a vapid young socialite, Rune spends her nights as the Crimson Moth, a witch vigilante who rescues her kind from being purged. When a rescue goes wrong, she decides to throw the witch hunters off her scent and gain the intel she desperately needs by courting the handsome Gideon Sharpe - a notorious and unforgiving witch hunter loyal to the revolution - who she can't help but find herself falling for.

Gideon loathes the decadence and superficiality Rune represents, but when he learns the Crimson Moth has been using Rune’s merchant ships to smuggle renegade witches out of the republic, he inserts himself into her social circles by pretending to court her right back. He soon realizes that beneath her beauty and shallow façade, is someone fiercely intelligent and tender who feels like his perfect match. Except, what if she’s the very villain he’s been hunting?

Kristen Ciccarelli’s Heartless Hunter is the thrilling start to a romantic fantasy duology where the only thing more treacherous than being a witch...is falling in love.]]> 415 Kristen Ciccarelli mel �� 0 to-read 4.35 2024 The Crimson Moth (The Crimson Moth, #1)

author: Kristen Ciccarelli
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Shadow in the Ember (Flesh and Fire, #1)]]> 57282383
However, Sera’s real destiny is the most closely guarded secret in all of Lasania—she’s not the well protected Maiden but an assassin with one mission—one target. Make the Primal of Death fall in love, become his weakness, and then…end him. If she fails, she dooms her kingdom to a slow demise at the hands of the Rot.

Sera has always known what she is. Chosen. Consort. Assassin. Weapon. A specter never fully formed yet drenched in blood. A monster. Until him. Until the Primal of Death’s unexpected words and deeds chase away the darkness gathering inside her. And his seductive touch ignites a passion she’s never allowed herself to feel and cannot feel for him. But Sera has never had a choice. Either way, her life is forfeit—it always has been, as she has been forever touched by Life and Death.]]> 647 Jennifer L. Armentrout mel �� 0 to-read 4.43 2021 A Shadow in the Ember (Flesh and Fire, #1)

A Shadow in the Ember (Flesh and Fire, #1)

author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Nocticadia 136470356 A dark, atmospheric tale of deadly secrets and forbidden love.

Mortui vivos docent.
The dead teach the living.

After watching my mother succumb to a mysterious illness, I promised myself two things. I’d find the cure for what ravaged her. And leave the godforsaken city where she abandoned me.

Four years later, I receive an acceptance letter from Dracadia University, one of the oldest, most prestigious schools in the country. Nestled on a secluded island off the coast of Maine, it’s rumored to be haunted by the souls of the mental patients exiled there centuries before. Those whose bones are said to make up the island’s white sandy shores.

And restless ghosts aren’t even its most daunting peculiarity.

Devryck Bramwell, known on campus as Doctor Death, is a brilliant pathologist in charge of the midnight lab. He’s also my devastatingly handsome professor, who seems to loathe tenacious first-years, like me. Except, his dark and enigmatic gaze tells me all the ways he’d devour me if given the chance, and his stolen kisses burn my lips with forbidden jealousy.

I crave his authority.
He aches for redemption.
Together, we’re toxic. Delicious fodder for the prying eyes hellbent on exhuming the rotted skeletons of our pasts.

For the dead have much to teach, and it’s only a matter of time before Dracadia’s most depraved secret is resurrected.

Nocticadia is a standalone dark academia gothic romance.]]> 682 Keri Lake mel �� 4 4.23 2023

author: Keri Lake
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/24
date added: 2025/02/24
shelves:
review:

]]> Foxy Tales 61168411
A Charity Novella for The Fox Project Containing a Collection of Bonus POV Chapters By Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti

PART ONE
ZODIAC ACADEMY 2: RUTHLESS FAE
DARIUS ALTERNATE POV POWER SHARING

PART TWO
ZODIAC ACADEMY 2: RUTHLESS FAE
ORION ALTERNATE POV THE SWIMMING POOL

PART THREE
ZODIAC ACADEMY 3: THE RECKONING
ORION ALTERNATE POV SEX ED CLASS

PART FOUR
ZODIAC ACADEMY 4: SHADOW PRINCESS
DARIUS ALTERNATE POV THE SHIMMERING SPRINGS

PART FIVE
KINGS OF QUARANTINE
BONUS EPILOGUE]]> 201 Caroline Peckham mel �� 4 4.23 2022 Foxy Tales

author: Caroline Peckham
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/18
date added: 2025/02/18
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[This Could Be Us (Skyland, #2)]]> 182762109 fixes everything. She’s a domestic goddess who's never met a party she couldn't host or a charge she couldn't lead. The one with all the answers and the perfect vinaigrette for that summer salad. But none of her varied talents can save her when catastrophe strikes, and the life she built with the man who was supposed to be her forever, goes poof in a cloud of betrayal and disillusion.

But there is no time to pout or sulk, or even grieve the life she lost. She's too busy keeping a roof over her daughters' heads and food on the table. And in the process of saving them all, Soledad rediscovers herself. From the ashes of a life burned to the ground, something bold and new can rise.

But then an unlikely man enters the picture—the forbidden one, the one she shouldn't want but can't seem to resist. She's lost it all before and refuses to repeat her mistakes. Can she trust him? Can she trust herself?

After all she's lost . . .and found . . .can she be brave enough to make room for what could be?]]> 416 Kennedy Ryan 1538706822 mel �� 4 4.37 2024 This Could Be Us (Skyland, #2)

author: Kennedy Ryan
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/18
date added: 2025/02/18
shelves:
review:

]]> Before I Let Go (Skyland, #1) 60568471
It couldn’t save their marriage.

Yasmen wasn’t prepared for how her life fell apart, but she is finally starting to find joy again. She and Josiah have found a new rhythm, co-parenting their two kids and running a thriving business together. Yet like magnets, they’re always drawn back to each other, and now they’re beginning to wonder if they’re truly ready to let go of everything they once had.

Soon, one stolen kiss leads to another…and then more. It's hot. It's illicit. It's all good—until old wounds reopen. Is it too late for them to find forever? Or could they even be better, the second time around?

Award-winning and bestselling "powerhouse" author Kennedy Ryan is at her absolute best in this compelling, scorching novel about hope and healing, and what it truly means to love for a lifetime (USA Today).]]> 391 Kennedy Ryan 1538706792 mel �� 2 4.32 2022 Before I Let Go (Skyland, #1)

author: Kennedy Ryan
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2022
rating: 2
read at: 2025/02/18
date added: 2025/02/18
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Between Commitment and Betrayal (Hardy Billionaire Brothers, #1)]]> 63130875
Declan Hardy, All-American heartthrob and retired NFL billionaire, is my complete opposite.
He's commanding where I'm cooperative.
Spontaneous while I am deliberate.
Loud when I stay quiet.
The only thing we have in common is that both our names are on my father's will.

He'll inherit the fitness and hospitality empire and I'll keep the one thing I hold dear.
As long as I marry him—with conditions.

One year of a fake marriage.
One year of living together.
One year of pretending I belong in his luxury lifestyle.

But stipulations are never that simple.
Especially when I can't tell if his kisses are fake or if I'm pretending when I kiss him back.
And as more conditions arise, it's clear there's a fine line between commitment and betrayal... and neither of us knows where that line falls.
Between Commitment and Betrayal is a billionaire, forced proximity, fake marriage of convenience and a father’s business partner novel. It is a complete standalone by Shain Rose.]]> 384 Shain Rose mel �� 3 3.75 2023

Between Commitment and Betrayal (Hardy Billionaire Brothers, #1)

author: Shain Rose
name: mel ��
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/16
date added: 2025/02/16
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[My Dark Prince (Dark Prince Road, #3)]]> 223461136 This Sleeping Beauty woke up...
In a nightmare.

From Wall Street Journal bestsellers L.J. Shen and Parker S. Huntington comes a twisted second-chance romance between a prince haunted by a dark secret and his reluctant Sleeping Beauty.

Oliver
I don’t usually trap women with amnesia into marriage.
But I guess there’s a first time for everything.
When the woman of my dreams falls into my lap, I can’t help but wonder what else she can do in that position.
She’s here. In my house. At my mercy.
And she thinks we’ve been lovers the entire decade we spent apart.
Briar and I have always been unfinished business.
Now it’s time to seal the deal.

Briar
I’m marrying a beautiful monster.
A crooked fraud. America’s wealthiest bachelor.
He claims we’re in love, yet all I taste in our kisses is hate and lust.
I don’t remember why or how.
But I do remember he’s the enemy.
Now, I’m stuck inside a nightmare.
And Oliver will do anything to keep me in the dark.

Authors�� Note: My Dark Prince is a standalone enemies-to-lovers Sleeping Beauty retelling, in which a damaged billionaire with a dark past and his childhood sweetheart fall in love—literally. It is set in the decadent Dark Prince Road universe.]]> 436 Parker S. Huntington 1950209172 mel �� 3 4.02 My Dark Prince (Dark Prince Road, #3)

author: Parker S. Huntington
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.02
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/16
date added: 2025/02/16
shelves:
review:

]]> On The Beach 221147855
Life is a beach, right?

When Isabella (Belle) Volnay, high-powered pharma exec, professional overachiever, walks into Reef Harbor in her fuck-me heels and zero tolerance for slackers, sparks fly—and clothes come off—on the sand.

It's the first time Belle’s ever had that kind of a beach day (oops, lay), and Mick? Well, let’s just say he's experiencing some firsts too.

But what Belle doesn’t know is that the charming beach bum she’s fallen for is actually the brilliant (and very ex) scientist she’s desperately searching for. Mick and his buddies are determined to keep that little detail buried under the sand.
After all, what could go wrong with a harmless fling? Spoiler everything.

Heartbreak hits like a high tide, but love—real love—is the undertow neither of them saw coming.

On The Beach is a warm, wistful, and wickedly funny romance that reminds us sometimes the biggest waves hit when you’re least ready—and those are the ones worth riding all the way to shore. It includes the following

👙 Secret identity (his)
👙 Insta Love (theirs)
👙 Beach/holiday romance
👙 Pee-in-your-pants funny
👙 STEM heroine
👙 Heroine cannot hold her liquor
👙 Hero can drink everyone under the table
👙 Complete standalone]]> 254 Maya Alden mel �� 2 3.83 On The Beach

author: Maya Alden
name: mel ��
average rating: 3.83
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2025/02/16
date added: 2025/02/16
shelves:
review:

]]> House of Hollow 54613751
Iris has spent most of her teenage years trying to avoid the weirdness that sticks to her like tar. But when her eldest sister, Grey, goes missing under suspicious circumstances, Iris learns just how weird her life can get: horned men start shadowing her, a corpse falls out of her sister’s ceiling, and ugly, impossible memories start to twist their way to the forefront of her mind.

As Iris retraces Grey’s last known footsteps and follows the increasingly bizarre trail of breadcrumbs she left behind, it becomes apparent that the only way to save her sister is to decipher the mystery of what happened to them as children.

The closer Iris gets to the truth, the closer she comes to understanding that the answer is dark and dangerous �� and that Grey has been keeping a terrible secret from her for years.]]> 292 Krystal Sutherland 059311034X mel �� 0 to-read 4.03 2021 House of Hollow

author: Krystal Sutherland
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Fated Throne (Zodiac Academy, #6)]]> 53535526
Without my sister, the world seems darker than ever before and the shadows loom thicker, rising up to answer the call of the Shadow Princess and changing the face of Solaria for good.

Now Lionel Acrux has the strength to make a move for the throne, I’m not sure how much time we have left to stop him.

Our only hope is to find the Imperial Star before he does. We made the sacrifice the stars called for and we’re paying the price for that decision so it can’t be for nothing. But with the stars turning against us at every move, and the last light in the world seeming to fade, I’m afraid we’re almost out of time. Hope is a dangerous thing. It’s the key to us fighting on. But it could be what destroys us in the end.

One thing is for certain, I won’t stop until I have been reunited with my other half and together we will fight to take our crowns.

A war is coming.

The throne is calling for a new monarch. And someone must answer its call.]]> 823 Caroline Peckham mel �� 4 4.32 2020 Fated Throne (Zodiac Academy, #6)

author: Caroline Peckham
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/14
date added: 2025/02/14
shelves:
review:

]]> If We Were Villains 32874746
A decade ago: Oliver is one of seven young Shakespearean actors at Dellecher Classical Conservatory, a place of keen ambition and fierce competition. In this secluded world of firelight and leather-bound books, Oliver and his friends play the same roles onstage and off: hero, villain, tyrant, temptress, ingénue, extras.

But in their fourth and final year, good-natured rivalries turn ugly, and on opening night real violence invades the students�� world of make-believe. In the morning, the fourth-years find themselves facing their very own tragedy, and their greatest acting challenge yet: convincing the police, each other, and themselves that they are innocent.]]> 370 M.L. Rio mel �� 4 4.00 2017 If We Were Villains

author: M.L. Rio
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/14
date added: 2025/02/14
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[His Wife's Secretary: A Husband's Betrayal]]> 222524560 Contains on-page cheating.
A gut-punch moment that will leave you reeling, a husband on his knees, begging for forgiveness, and a wife whose pride demands more.
Lena Sutton thought she had it all—until her husband, David, betrayed her with her own secretary, shattering her world.
David Sutton know's he's made the worst mistake of his life. He's willing to grovel, serve, and sacrifice to prove he's worthy of being Lena's husband. But can love survive betrayal? And how can Lena trust him again without betraying herself?]]> 326 Elise Camden mel �� 2 3.46 His Wife's Secretary: A Husband's Betrayal

His Wife's Secretary: A Husband's Betrayal

author: Elise Camden
name: mel ��
average rating: 3.46
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2025/02/10
date added: 2025/02/10
shelves:
review:

]]> Please Remember 223320662 Jax
2648 days. That’s how long it’s been since I last saw the love of my life. The day Allison Bennett just disappeared without a trace and left me in my own personal hell.

The night I’m running late to my engagement party to another woman is the night I walk outside to find Allie just standing there. It’s like the universe just handed me the best gift of my life, but Allie doesn’t remember me. She doesn’t even remember herself.

Allie
I escaped the basement and found the only thing I remembered. A house with a man who looks over the moon to see me again.

No matter how hard I try to remember, nothing works. It’s made even worse knowing how much I’m disappointing everyone. Jax for not remembering our love. Our friends because I don’t know them. Laura because I ruined her engagement. Even the cops who still think I may be faking. But no one compares to the disappointment I feel knowing that the new version of me will never quite compare to the old version everyone prays will return.

Laura
I won the lottery when Jax finally gave me the time of day after decades of loving him. But it all comes crashing down around me when I get that text sent to everyone, not just me. Allie’s back. Not only is Allie back, Jax no longer wants to marry me.

I can’t lose him. Not after I fought so hard. I’m not convinced Allie isn’t faking her amnesia, but if she really doesn’t remember, driving a wedge between them might just be my ticket to getting Jax back.]]> 305 Logan Gray mel �� 2 3.93 Please Remember

author: Logan Gray
name: mel ��
average rating: 3.93
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2025/02/10
date added: 2025/02/10
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Down and Out (Hawks MC Caroline Springs Charter, #3)]]> 30635229
Stricken by grief, Kalen “Dive�� Brooks drifts away from his MC brethren, only having room in his life for his child. Worried for his son, he’ll do anything necessary to protect him, even if it’s admitting he needs help.

Alone and vulnerable, Philomena “Mena�� McAdams has lost it all: her parents, her husband, her job and her home. Living out of her car, she’s learned life isn’t worth regrets. When Mena takes the job of nanny and housekeeper for Dive, she doesn’t know what she’s getting into, but neither does Dive.

Can they learn to love again when things are so down and out?]]> 322 Lila Rose mel �� 2 4.50 2016 Down and Out (Hawks MC Caroline Springs Charter, #3)

Down and Out (Hawks MC Caroline Springs Charter, #3)

author: Lila Rose
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2016
rating: 2
read at: 2025/02/10
date added: 2025/02/10
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Joshua (The Mitchell/Healy Family, #10)]]> 30534146 My parents have been pushing me to make the right choices throughout my life. Instead of taking their advice, I’ve gone against their guidance more times than I care to admit.
Now I’ve done the unthinkable; something they would never approve of.
I'm involved with a beautiful, compassionate woman, but I've also been in a complicated relationship with her best friend on and off for several years.
I don’t know how it’s possible, but I have deep feelings for both.
Now one of them is pregnant.
My choice should be easy, but nothing ever is, at least not in my experience.
I want to reach out to my family, but I already know they'd tell me I screwed up, just like in the past.
I have to figure this out.
A choice will be made.
Hearts will be broken, and one of them will most definitely be mine.

I'm Joshua Healy, and this is exactly what I deserve.]]> 188 Jennifer Foor mel �� 1 3.87 Joshua (The Mitchell/Healy Family, #10)

author: Jennifer Foor
name: mel ��
average rating: 3.87
book published:
rating: 1
read at: 2025/02/10
date added: 2025/02/10
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Seth on the Moon (Zodiac Academy, #5.6)]]> 59412252 11 Caroline Peckham mel �� 3 3.81 2021

author: Caroline Peckham
name: mel ��
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/06
date added: 2025/02/06
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Big A.S.S. Party (Zodiac Academy, #5.5)]]> 54798561
Now, on this most special and wonderous of days, the very day of their birth �� I will prove myself to be the most loyal and dependable of their followers. Though of course, Venus is in my chart and Lady Petunia has caught sight of the bothersome barracuda once more.

Max Rigel is my most sinful of temptations, the shark in the dark who wishes to lure me to his sea cave and I don’t know if I’m Fae enough to resist him for long.

But one thing is for sure, I will make certain the Vegas get the big A.S.S. party they deserve for their birthday or I’ll die trying. Succulent squids be damned!

This is a 25k novella set in the world of Solaria during Book 5 of the Zodiac Academy series, Cursed Fates, featuring Geraldine and Max as they attend the party of the century and try to resist the lure of the moon as it pushes them together once more. It’s full of slippery salmons and more buttery bagels than you can shake a stick at and is best read after Cursed Fates.]]> 98 Caroline Peckham mel �� 3 3.82 2020 The Big A.S.S. Party (Zodiac Academy, #5.5)

The Big A.S.S. Party (Zodiac Academy, #5.5)

author: Caroline Peckham
name: mel ��
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/06
date added: 2025/02/06
shelves:
review:

]]> Sunshine & Ink 219551040
Angelic Sunni is about to get evicted from her apartment and signs up to be a club girl for a year to get back on her feet. The delicate, innocent Sunni catches the eye of brutal MC president, Raker d'Sanguine. Despite her fear of him, Sunni falls hard. She struggles to accept the MC lifestyle, and is terrified of the other bikers, but Raker swears she’s there for him only. Then one day he goes back on his promise, in a stunning betrayal that shatters Sunni to her core. In the aftermath, Raker goes to jail and Sunni flees. 18 months later, Raker is out and determined to atone for the mistakes he made. Sunni is his woman and she belongs to him. But when he finally hunts her down, she refuses to have anything to do with him. Can Raker convince her he’s a family man who she can open her heart to and trust again?

Author's note: This is a darker romance and not a romcom. This book contains on-page cheating, betrayal, high atonement and lower grovel, and is set in a brutal, harsh world where the MCs run the Southwest.]]> Katie Landry mel �� 0 2.85 Sunshine & Ink

author: Katie Landry
name: mel ��
average rating: 2.85
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2025/02/03
date added: 2025/02/03
shelves:
review:

]]> If Forever Comes (Regret, #2) 40693902
Christian Davison’s life is complete. With a ring on Elizabeth’s finger and his daughter at his side, he’s ready to run headlong into their future.

Elizabeth Ayers never believed she would again find this kind of joy—the joy of a family and the wholeness found in the touch of the man she’s always loved.

Their love is intense and their passion only grows as they set out to rediscover each other.

But life is never easy.

Rocked by the unforeseen, Christian and Elizabeth will find themselves fighting for the one thing they hold most important—family.

The Regret Series ~ Lost to You and Take This Regret can be read as Stand-Alone Novels. Recommended reading order: Lost to You, Take This Regret, If Forever Comes]]> 332 A.L. Jackson mel �� 2 3.98 2013 If Forever Comes (Regret, #2)

author: A.L. Jackson
name: mel ��
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2013
rating: 2
read at: 2025/02/03
date added: 2025/02/03
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]]> Take This Regret (Regret, #1) 40693899
Christian Davison has a plan for his life. He is determined to become an attorney and to one day take his place as partner in his father’s law firm. Nothing will stand in his way, not even Elizabeth Ayers and their unborn child.

After Christian cuts her from his life, Elizabeth spends the next five years struggling to provide for her daughter and willing to sacrifice anything to give her child a safe, comfortable life. For five years, Christian has regretted the day he walked away from his family and will do anything to win them back just as Elizabeth will do anything to protect her daughter from the certain heartache she believes Christian will bring upon them.

When Christian wrestles his way into their lives, Elizabeth is faced with asking herself if it is possible to forgive someone when they’ve committed the unforgivable and if it is possible to find a love after it has been buried in years of hate.

Or are there some wounds that go so deep they can never heal? They say everyone deserves a second chance.

Lost to You and Take This Regret can be read as Stand-Alone Novels. Recommended reading order: Lost to You, Take This Regret, If Forever Comes]]> 450 A.L. Jackson mel �� 3 3.68 2011 Take This Regret (Regret, #1)

author: A.L. Jackson
name: mel ��
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/03
date added: 2025/02/03
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]]> Lost to You (Regret, #0.5) 40693880

People come into our lives. Some stay, and many go. Some build us up, while most tear us down. They become our friends, our enemies, our lovers, our tormentors. Christian Davison came into mine, and I knew I’d never be the same.

To Elizabeth Ayers, New York City had always been a dream. She’s worked her entire young life to make it here.

Groomed to one day take over his father’s law firm, attending Columbia University was Christian Davison’s only option.

Neither wanted anything more until they sat across from each other at a café table after being paired as study partners. Christian wants her, but Elizabeth knows better than to give into their intense attraction. Yet there is little she can do to stay away.

Lost to You and Take This Regret can be read as Stand-Alone Novels. Recommended reading order: Lost to You, Take This Regret, If Forever Comes]]> 258 A.L. Jackson mel �� 3 3.87 2013 Lost to You (Regret, #0.5)

author: A.L. Jackson
name: mel ��
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/03
date added: 2025/02/03
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review:

]]> Onyx Storm (The Empyrean, #3) 209439446
Now Violet must journey beyond the failing Aretian wards to seek allies from unfamiliar lands to stand with Navarre. The trip will test every bit of her wit, luck, and strength, but she will do anything to save what she loves—her dragons, her family, her home, and him.

Even if it means keeping a secret so big, it could destroy everything. They need an army. They need power. They need magic. And they need the one thing only Violet can find—the truth. But a storm is coming...and not everyone can survive its wrath.]]> 527 Rebecca Yarros 1649374186 mel �� 3 4.18 2025 Onyx Storm (The Empyrean, #3)

author: Rebecca Yarros
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/01
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Not A Love Marriage (The Knight Technologies, #3)]]> 179787408 Daisy Delacour is a highly successful Hollywood producer, celebrated on every 'forty under forty' list. With exceptional friends, a loving family, and a kick-ass career, Daisy seemingly has it all—except she can't quit Forest Knight, the enigmatic judge who shattered her heart five years ago.

Forest, an esteemed judge known for his legal prowess, is a carefree beach bum at heart. Despite his success, he can't let go of Daisy, the love of his life, who left him because of his deep-rooted trust issues.

Daisy and Forest are explosive, like oil and fire, a couple that exemplifies what happens when, as the song goes, a volcano meets a tornado. Their lives take an unexpected turn when Forest knocks up Daisy during one of their tumultuous on-again, off-again encounters.

Using his upcoming hearing for a prestigious judgeship as an opportunity, Forest manipulates a pregnant Daisy into becoming his wife. She thinks the marriage is temporary, but Forest intends to make it permanent. This means he must earn Daisy's forgiveness for his lack of trust and convince her he can be a devoted father and a loving husband.

Embark on a delightful and surprising journey in this charming romantic comedy, the third installment of the Knight Series. Join two captivating characters who will melt your heart as they navigate the trials and joys of unexpected parenthood.

Publisher's Note: This is a standalone novel with a guaranteed happily-ever-after with no cheating. This is book #3 in the Knight Series but can be read independently]]> 385 Maya Alden mel �� 1 3.92 Not A Love Marriage (The Knight Technologies, #3)

Not A Love Marriage (The Knight Technologies, #3)

author: Maya Alden
name: mel ��
average rating: 3.92
book published:
rating: 1
read at: 2025/02/01
date added: 2025/02/01
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]]> The Wrong Wife 175405435
When the merger between her father's and Declan's company is at stake due to obscure company bylaws, Esme has no choice but to step in and marry the man who loves her sister.

Esme's sister, Viviane, is a beautiful, high-flying, wealthy lawyer. Declan is the CEO of a global tech company. They are a power couple. Esme is a social worker who doesn't understand the business world and doesn't care about stock portfolios. She wants to help people. And yet, Declan can't deny the chemistry between him and Esme. They have nothing in common, except he wants her like he's never wanted a woman.

As the days pass, Esme has to find a way to enjoy Declan both in and out of bed without falling in love with him. Because when he leaves, as he inevitably will, it will destroy her. Declan is falling in love with his wife despite himself, drawn to her by her goodness and big heart. But she won't let him close, confident he'll hurt her.

Will he be able to convince her he loves her? And will Esme finally learn to fight for what she wants?

Publisher's This is a standalone novel with a guaranteed happily-ever-after with no cheating. However, please note that the heroine does marry her sister's fiancé.]]> 273 Maya Alden mel �� 1 3.94 2023 The Wrong Wife

author: Maya Alden
name: mel ��
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2023
rating: 1
read at: 2025/02/01
date added: 2025/02/01
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]]> <![CDATA[The Wrong Bride (Marriage by Contract, #2)]]> 215079147 One Shotgun Wedding + One Wrong Bride = One Big Mess

Duncan Archer doesn't do relationships. He prefers buying a date over buying dinner for a date.

One night in Paris, he is set up to believe that the daughter of a French mob boss is his paid date. When she ends up pregnant, there's no way out but marriage. First, Elsa is carrying his child. Second (or maybe first?), her father has a gun to his head.

Now, the eternal bachelor is expecting a baby, dealing with a violently criminal father-in-law, and coping with parents thrilled about becoming grandparents.

And his new bride? She's sweet, strong, and surprisingly captivating. He can't get enough of her both in and out of bed. She says she's in love with him. He's behaving like he's in love with her and he doesn't even know what that four-lettered word means. She's scaring the life out of him.

Old habits die hard and in his attempt to protect his heart, Duncan doesn't trust Elsa and does the one thing she begged him not to.

Too late, Duncan realizes that the wrong bride is actually the right wife. If he can't win Elsa's trust back, he could lose the two most important people in his life, his wife and their child.

The Wrong Bride is a billionaire, surprise pregnancy, marriage of convenience romance. It's a complete standalone and features:

✔️ Shotgun wedding
✔️ Marriage of convenience
✔️ Surprise pregnancy
✔️ Forced proximity
✔️ Billionaire romance
✔️ Mafia adjacent
✔️ Age-gap (10 years)
✔️ Set in Paris
✔️ No cheating
✔️ Complete standalone]]> 305 Maya Alden mel �� 3 3.70 The Wrong Bride (Marriage by Contract, #2)

The Wrong Bride (Marriage by Contract, #2)

author: Maya Alden
name: mel ��
average rating: 3.70
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/27
date added: 2025/01/27
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]]> Iron Flame (The Empyrean, #2) 90202302 “The first year is when some of us lose our lives. The second year is when the rest of us lose our humanity.�� —Xaden Riorson

Everyone expected Violet Sorrengail to die during her first year at Basgiath War College—Violet included. But Threshing was only the first impossible test meant to weed out the weak-willed, the unworthy, and the unlucky.

Now the real training begins, and Violet’s already wondering how she’ll get through. It’s not just that it’s grueling and maliciously brutal, or even that it’s designed to stretch the riders�� capacity for pain beyond endurance. It’s the new vice commandant, who’s made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is–unless she betrays the man she loves.

Although Violet’s body might be weaker and frailer than everyone else’s, she still has her wits—and a will of iron. And leadership is forgetting the most important lesson Basgiath has taught her: Dragon riders make their own rules.

But a determination to survive won’t be enough this year.

Because Violet knows the real secret hidden for centuries at Basgiath War College—and nothing, not even dragon fire, may be enough to save them in the end.]]> 623 Rebecca Yarros 1649374178 mel �� 4 4.33 2023 Iron Flame (The Empyrean, #2)

author: Rebecca Yarros
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/26
date added: 2025/01/26
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]]> <![CDATA[The Wrong Fiancée: Dean's Story (Marriage by Contract, #3)]]> 218560705
Dean Archer has meticulously curated his life to include his family's global art and antiquities empire and a fiancée who is his intellectual equal.

When he arrives at a luxury resort in Kauai for a vacation with his new fiancée’s family, the last person he expects to find cleaning his room is Elika Hamlet—the woman who once set his world, and his bed, ablaze. And since the universe has a wicked sense of humor, she's also his fiancée’s cousin.

Their affair ended badly when Elika overheard Dean telling his friend she was fun for a fling, but as a hotel maid with no education, she wasn't an intellectual equal. Dean's fiancée, on the other hand, is everything he thought he wanted—smart, beautiful, perfectly connected, and flawless on paper.

But, as Dean spends more time with the fierce and captivating Elika, he realizes he’s been chasing after the wrong cousin.
Can Dean undo the damage he caused and prove he’s changed? Or will Elika walk away, leaving him to face the consequences of choosing the wrong fiancée?

The Wrong Fiancée is a billionaire second chance small town romance and Includes all your favorite tropes:
Second Chances
Opposites Attract
Other Woman Drama
Engaged to Another/Cousin
Small town/Island
Overheard
No Cheating
Complete Standalone]]> 258 Maya Alden mel �� 2 3.91 2025 The Wrong Fiancée: Dean's Story (Marriage by Contract, #3)

The Wrong Fiancée: Dean's Story (Marriage by Contract, #3)

author: Maya Alden
name: mel ��
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2025
rating: 2
read at: 2025/01/26
date added: 2025/01/26
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review:

]]> <![CDATA[Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1)]]> 61431922 Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders...

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]]> 665 Rebecca Yarros 1649374046 mel �� 4 d-r-e-a-m-e-r 4.56 2023 Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1)

author: Rebecca Yarros
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/18
date added: 2025/01/18
shelves: d-r-e-a-m-e-r
review:

]]> Alchemised 207670238
“What is it you think you’re protecting in that brain of yours? The war is over. Holdfast is dead. The Eternal Flame extinguished. There’s no one left for you to save.��

Once a promising alchemist, Helena Marino is now a prisoner—of war and of her own mind. Her Resistance friends and allies have been brutally murdered, her abilities suppressed, and the world she knew destroyed.

In the aftermath of a long war, Paladia’s new ruling class of corrupt guild families and depraved necromancers, whose vile, undead creatures helped bring about their victory, holds Helena captive.

According to Resistance records, she was a healer of little importance within their ranks. But Helena has inexplicable memory loss of the months leading up to her capture, making her enemies wonder: Is she truly as insignificant as she appears, or are her lost memories hiding some vital piece of the Resistance’s final gambit?

To uncover the memories buried deep within her mind, Helena is sent to the High Reeve, one of the most powerful and ruthless necromancers in this new world. Trapped on his crumbling estate, Helena’s fight—to protect her lost history and to preserve the last remaining shreds of her former self—is just beginning. For her prison and captor have secrets of their own . . . secrets Helena must unearth, whatever the cost.]]> 976 SenLinYu mel �� 0 to-read 4.73 2025 Alchemised

author: SenLinYu
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.73
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/17
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]]> <![CDATA[All the Wrong Things (Rights and Wrongs, #2)]]> 58829629
Friday, August 27, 1999

They’re murmuring again. Trying to keep their voices low so the prisoner can’t hear. But the prisoner is fifteen feet away, and they are failing.

I wish they would take me out of the room if they need to discuss. Bring me back to the small room I was in this morning. But, of course, they let me stand in this cage in the middle of them. On display.

I pick a spot four feet in front of me and maintain my gaze. I don’t want to look at them and I don’t want to fall asleep. I feel a yawn.

“Mr. Malfoy. Your next witness is here. Are you ready to proceed?��

I almost smile. Do I have a choice?]]> 662 LovesBitca8 mel �� 0 to-read 4.05 2019 All the Wrong Things (Rights and Wrongs, #2)

All the Wrong Things (Rights and Wrongs, #2)

author: LovesBitca8
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/11
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Babel, Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators�� Revolution]]> 59879803 A new dark academic fantasy by the New York Times bestselling author of The Poppy War

Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal.

Oxford, 1836.

The city of dreaming spires.

It is the centre of all knowledge and progress in the world.

And at its centre is Babel, the Royal Institute of Translation. The tower from which all the power of the Empire flows.

Orphaned in Canton and brought to England by a mysterious guardian, Babel seemed like paradise to Robin Swift.

Until it became a prison��

But can a student stand against an empire?

An incendiary new novel from award-winning author R.F. Kuang about the power of language, the violence of colonialism, and the sacrifices of resistance.]]> 546 R.F. Kuang 0008501815 mel �� 0 to-read 4.25 2022 Babel, Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution

Babel, Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution

author: R.F. Kuang
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/10
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]]> <![CDATA[Ruthless Fae (Zodiac Academy, #2)]]> 219510623 They tried to break us.
They almost did.
But we're not going anywhere.

The Celestial Heirs think the stars are on their side. But they don't know what's coming.

Fighting them one on one isn't an option so we have to be stealthy. Remaining under the radar won't be easy, but if we pull it off, they'll never suspect our involvement when their lives start falling apart.

Besides, they've already taken us to the brink of hell, what more can they really do?]]> Caroline Peckham mel �� 4 4.14 2019 Ruthless Fae (Zodiac Academy, #2)

author: Caroline Peckham
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/09
date added: 2025/01/09
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]]> <![CDATA[The Awakening (Zodiac Academy, #1)]]> 219527732 An alternative cover edition for this ASIN can be found here

You have been selected to attend Zodiac Academy, where your star sign defines your destiny.

If you're one of the Fae, elemental magic is in your blood. And apparently it's in ours. As twins born in the month of Gemini, we're a rare breed even in this academy of supernatural a-holes.

Changelings were outlawed hundreds of years ago but I guess our birth parents didn't get the memo. Which means we're totally unprepared for the ruthless world of Fae.

Air. Fire. Water. Earth.

No one has ever harnessed all four of them, until we arrived. And it hasn't made us any friends so far.

As the rarest Elementals ever known, we're already a threat to the four celestial heirs; the popular, vindictive bullies who happen to be some of the hottest guys we've ever seen. It doesn't help that they're the most dangerous beasts in the Academy. And probably on earth too.

Our fates are intertwined, but they want us gone. They've only got until the lunar eclipse to force us out and they'll stop at nothing to succeed.

We never knew we had a birthright to live up to but now that we do, we intend to claim our throne.

We can't expect any help from the faculty when it comes to defending ourselves. So if the dragon shifters want some target practice, the werewolves want someone to hunt or the vampires fancy a snack then we have to be ready. But we've been looking after each other for a long time and fighting back is in our blood.

Today's horoscope: totally screwed.]]> 420 Caroline Peckham mel �� 3 3.97 2019 The Awakening (Zodiac Academy, #1)

author: Caroline Peckham
name: mel ��
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/08
date added: 2025/01/08
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]]> <![CDATA[Spark of the Everflame (Kindred's Curse, #1)]]> 123471760 When old secrets catch fire, everything will burn.

In a mortal world colonized by the gods and ruled over by the Descended, their cruel offspring, Diem Bellator yearns to escape the insular life of her poor village.

Her mother’s sudden disappearance—and the discovery of a dangerous secret about her past—offer Diem an unexpected opportunity to enter the dark world of Descended royalty and unlock the web of mysteries her mother left behind.

With the dying King’s handsome, mysterious heir watching her every move, and a ruthless mortal alliance recruiting her to join the growing civil war, Diem will have to navigate the unwritten rules of love, power, and politics in order to save her family—and all of mortalkind.

Spark of the Everflame is the first book in The Kindred's Curse Saga, a four-book fantasy romance series. This slow burn, enemies-to-lovers epic is perfect for lovers of magic, dragons, angst, and banter and will appeal to fans of books like A Court of Thorns and Roses, From Blood and Ash, Gild, and The Serpent & the Wings of Night.]]> 438 Penn Cole mel �� 0 to-read 4.20 2023 Spark of the Everflame (Kindred's Curse, #1)

Spark of the Everflame (Kindred's Curse, #1)

author: Penn Cole
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/06
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]]> <![CDATA[Origins of an Academy Bully (Zodiac Academy, #0.5)]]> 49646047 Dark magic is forbidden at Zodiac Academy.
That's why I hide it so well.

But now I'm supposed to mentor Darius Acrux: the son of the most ruthless Dragon Shifter in Solaria.

If he's caught using blood magic, he'll lose his claim to the throne.

The problem is? Our families are up to something, and we're determined to find out what. No matter what dark power we must turn to...

Welcome to Zodiac Academy, where your star sign defines your destiny.

As the Fae of the future, you will soon learn the merciless way to claim your power. Life among the Vampires, Shifters and Sirens is no easy ride, but if you can make it through your exams, you might just be able to harness your inner strength and earn your place among the elite.

This is a prequel novella set four years before Zodiac Academy: The Awakening, Book 1 in the Supernatural Bullies and Beasts series.]]> 94 Caroline Peckham mel �� 3 3.77 2019 Origins of an Academy Bully (Zodiac Academy, #0.5)

Origins of an Academy Bully (Zodiac Academy, #0.5)

author: Caroline Peckham
name: mel ��
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/06
date added: 2025/01/06
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]]> A Cruel Thirst 60290692 A fledgling vampire and a headstrong vampire huntress must work together--against their better judgment—to rid the world of monsters in this irresistible romantic fantasy.

Carolina Fuentes has always wanted to join her family in hunting down the bloodthirsty monsters that plague her pueblo. But these days, her father wants her out of town with a husband of his choosing. That’s not happening. Carolina plans to show everyone that she’d make a better vampire slayer than wife. But when she runs into a sediento that is not only handsome but kind, she questions everything.

Lalo Villalobos doesn’t act on impulses. As the eldest of two, his duties were to carry on the family business, marry, and have children. But then he is turned into a sediento and must flee the city, taking lives as he goes north, where he believes the first vampire was made. Surely, the pueblo there will have the answers to reverse this curse or end sedientos altogether. Another unexpected turn? Lalo runs right into a beautiful young woman who’d gladly stake him.

Fortunately, mostly for him, they share a common enemy. They can stop these evil beasts. Together. And if along the way, Lalo and Fernanda discover what it is to truly live and love, then they’ll have won anyway.]]> 432 Angela Montoya 0593643372 mel �� 4 3.86 2024 A Cruel Thirst

author: Angela Montoya
name: mel ��
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/06
date added: 2025/01/06
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]]> I Can't Eat Love 60209354

Lenora did not have a wonderful life. After her engagement to Prince Ronan is broken, she loses everything... her reputation, her home, and her family. Starving on the streets, she dies angry and bitter at how her life unfolded...
Only to wake up in her old bed, fifteen again, five years before she died.

Now she must struggle to change her fate, and the fate of those around her. This time she won't trust in something as flimsy or changeable as love. No, this time she'll have the power and the money to protect herself.

Lenora has already lost everything once. She's not going to lose again.

No matter what the cost.

##################

]]> Avaleon mel �� 5 4.85 I Can't Eat Love

author: Avaleon
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.85
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/06
date added: 2025/01/06
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]]> The Other Daughter 56757097
Jackson Gilmore has, by contrast, lived a life of privilege and comfort, the youngest child of a wealthy, prestigious family. He's always felt like something of an oddball in his family, though, the only one with enough guts to frequently stand up to and defy his controlling, dictatorial father. His desire to leave town and make a life of his own had to be put on hold, however, when his beloved niece fell seriously ill with a life threatening disease. And it is his overwhelming sense of obligation to do anything to help his niece that brings Jackson into Scarlett's life once he realizes the connection between the two girls.

Sparks instantly ignite when Scarlett and Jackson meet for the first time, and as they gradually come to know each other �� reluctantly so on her part �� he feels both admiration for what she's made of her life, compassion for all that she's suffered, and an emotional and physical attraction that is both powerful and entirely forbidden.

As long held secrets are revealed, and Scarlett comes face to face with unpleasant reminders of her past, will she be able to rely on Jackson to stand by her? Or will he be just one more in a long line of all those who have failed her?]]> 375 Janet Nissenson 1098358775 mel �� 3 4.30 2021 The Other Daughter

author: Janet Nissenson
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/02
date added: 2025/01/02
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]]> <![CDATA[Howl's Moving Castle (Howl's Moving Castle, #1)]]> 17157434
Deciding she has nothing more to lose, Sophie makes her way to the moving castle that hovers on the hills above her town, Market Chipping. But the castle belongs to the dreaded Wizard Howl, whose appetite, they say, is satisfied only by the souls of young girls��

There Sophie meets Michael, Howl’s apprentice, and Calcifer the fire demon, with whom she agrees a pact. Her entanglements with Calcifer, Howl and Michael and her quest to break her curse come alive with Diana Wynne Jones’s unique combination of magic, humour and imagination.]]> 320 Diana Wynne Jones mel �� 0 to-read 4.23 1986 Howl's Moving Castle (Howl's Moving Castle, #1)

Howl's Moving Castle (Howl's Moving Castle, #1)

author: Diana Wynne Jones
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.23
book published: 1986
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/02
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]]> Secrets and Masks 58823695
Hermione is the most lethal soldier in The Order, spending her days on rescue missions to free captured Muggleborn slaves and fight on the front line.
For years, she's been meeting in secret with a spy within Voldemort's ranks to exchange information.

But, when she's captured and made prisoner at Malfoy Manor, of all the dark and evil ways she'd envisioned Malfoy would torture her, she never quite imagined anything this horrific.]]> 1399 Emerald_Slytherin mel �� 0 to-read 4.43 2021 Secrets and Masks

author: Emerald_Slytherin
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Reaper (Dark Verse, #2) 53027547 What happens when the untameable wind and the endless sea collide in the dark of the night?

Tristan ‘The Predator�� Caine had been unprepared for Morana Vitalio. After spending his entire life with a vow he broke on a rainy night, he finds himself torn in a battle between his painful past and an uncertain future. The only thing he knows? Her life still belongs to him.

For Morana, the line between enemies and allies has blurred. Everything she once held dear to her has disintegrated and the unknown gapes at her, leaving her with both her freedom and life on the line in enemy territory. The only thing she knows? His life has always belonged to her.

With twenty years of history tying them to each other, Tristan and Morana begin their hunt for the truth together. And they realize that the mystery of the missing girls is just the tip of the iceberg.

Skeletons are uncovered. Dominoes begin to fall.

A storm is born.]]> 420 RuNyx 0463895789 mel �� 0 to-read 4.29 2020 The Reaper (Dark Verse, #2)

author: RuNyx
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Torrid (Judgement series, #2) 217041094
Liberty

Thing is, my Mama D never had a one-night stand with an older man who never told her his last name and left behind a souvenir that was gonna be life changing �� but I had.

My life had started as a fairytale, then morphed into a nightmare by the time I was ten years old. From the moment I’d been kicked out at eighteen, I had found a way to survive. Anything was better than the home I’d left behind. At some point, everyone gets a break, right? You would think so, but fate keeps tossing things at me, trying to see how much I can take.
Looks like it won because I’m stuck right back where I started. Living in my sister’s house, who hates me, with the clock ticking until I’m homeless again.

Liam

It was time I settled down. Found a woman I could grow old with because, let’s face it, I was so close to fifty I could reach out and touch it. The daughter I hadn’t got to raise was now in my life. Grown, married, with two little boys. I wanted to be someone she could be proud of and respect. I recently started dating a doctor, she was gorgeous, smart, and independent. It all looked good when you checked off the list. My daughter couldn’t wait to meet her. I wished like hell I felt something for her. A spark, a pull, anything at this point would do.

Then, one night, when I’m leaving her bedroom, I see a familiar face looking back at me from the other end of the hallway. The sexy bartender I should have left alone six weeks ago and couldn’t get out of my head shouldn’t be here. But she is. Which means she’s the doctor’s spoiled, selfish brat of a younger sister. This was not going to end well.]]> 295 Abbi Glines mel �� 0 to-read 4.31 2024 Torrid (Judgement series, #2)

author: Abbi Glines
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Wrong Mr. Right (Queen's Cove, #2)]]> 122751961 He'll make her a hot girl, but can he make her his girl?

Shy, quiet Hannah is surrounded by handsome, sensitive, swoon-worthy men...who are fictional. As her thirtieth birthday looms, she takes stock of her life: her small-town bookstore isn't making ends meet and she's never been in love. Something needs to change.

She knows exactly who's going to help her.

Women fall head over heels for laid-back, confident Wyatt, but all he cares about is surfing. The only thing holding him back from going pro? His non-existent social media presence. When Hannah offers to run his social media in exchange for lessons, it's too good to pass up.

He'll coax the pretty bookworm out of her shell, but they'll do it his way.

Disastrous surf lessons, dive bar karaoke, a romance-only bookstore and a sparkly dress that makes her feel beautiful--spending time with Wyatt is nothing like Hannah expected. But he's all wrong for her... right?

A spicy, hilarious small-town friends-to-lovers romantic comedy with a guaranteed HEA.

This is the second book in the Queen's Cove series, but can be read as a standalone.]]> 376 Stephanie Archer mel �� 3 3.94 2022 The Wrong Mr. Right (Queen's Cove, #2)

author: Stephanie Archer
name: mel ��
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/30
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves:
review:

]]> The Sweetest Taboo 210128660 She's a hurricane in disguise. Dangerous. Forbidden.

I fell for a woman for the first time in my life. I never thought the winds of Montana could carry in a storm like Isha George. She's stunningly beautiful. Years younger than me. Definitely a gold digger. She's charming, elegant, and she's my younger brother's girlfriend.

When Isha sweeps into my life, I’m sure she’s a tempest hiding behind a smile as bright as sunshine. And, she has her eyes on the prize - a piece of the Ledger Ranch. My ranch.

So, I do what any good brother and ranch owner would. I steal her away and then proceed to break her heart.

Now six years later, I see her again. We've both grown up, but one thing hasn't changed. I still want her, more desperately than I ever did before. And if there’s the one thing I learned during our time apart, it’s that I'm in love with her even more than I was. I always have been. I always will be. But will she ever forgive me for what I did?

This book

✔️ Her fake boyfriend's brother
✔️ She falls first, he falls harder
✔️ Angst, drama, groveling
✔️ No cheating
✔️ Touches on childhood trauma

The Sweetest Taboo is a standalone billionaire forbidden love story that is A Modern Vintage Romance. Books in this series bring back the nostalgia of romances from the eighties with a modern twist. Meet alpha men who know how to wound but also to grovel and meet strong women who hold their own.]]> 281 Maya Alden mel �� 1 3.61 2024 The Sweetest Taboo

author: Maya Alden
name: mel ��
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2024
rating: 1
read at: 2024/12/28
date added: 2024/12/28
shelves:
review:

]]> Our Fault (Culpable, #3) 129323340 From internationally bestselling author Mercedes Ron comes the English translation of the final book in the hit Culpable series, a delicious and angsty enemies-to-lovers romance in which Noah falls for the boy who's leading a hidden double life under his family's nose.

Nick and Noah's rocky relationship is struggling through its worst moment, and it seems that nothing can go back to the way it was before. They will have to surmount a new and frightening set of challenges to finally understand if they are really made for each other or if being apart is their only chance to be happy.

Love is not always enough, and forgiveness sometimes doesn't fix what's been broken. But can you forget such a strong connection? How can memories tattooed on the heart be erased? Will they be able to leave the past behind and start over?]]> 442 Mercedes Ron 1728290805 mel �� 1 4.11 2018 Our Fault (Culpable, #3)

author: Mercedes Ron
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2018
rating: 1
read at: 2024/12/28
date added: 2024/12/28
shelves:
review:

]]> Maestro 44432616 For some, first love is a fleeting spark heralding the greater loves to come. For others, first love is the greatest love. The only love.

When a music audition at the world-renowned LaGuardia Arts high school brings together two thirteen-year-olds, unassuming Aurelia Ramirez Preston and confident Chadwick David, the serendipitous encounter becomes an unbreakable friendship.

A friendship develops into an unyielding love.
A love spanning decades and continents.

With New York City as their playground, best friends Chad and Aurelia navigate the turbulence of adolescence. They blossom, and so does their love. An awkward first date turns into a night of intoxicating kisses and together, they lose their innocence.

Years later, Chad is “Maestro,�� the tattooed virtuoso, the James Dean of classical music.

And Aurelia is an accomplished cellist. His muse. The enduring love behind his greatness.

But when the maestro falters, even for a moment, the most beautiful symphony can spiral into unrelenting chaos. And the greatest of loves can become the most tragic heartbreak.

Maestro is a symphony of words, four movements filled with longing, secrets, betrayal, and the grace of forgiveness.]]> 604 Auden Dar mel �� 4 4.27 Maestro

author: Auden Dar
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.27
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/26
date added: 2024/12/26
shelves:
review:

]]> Gabriel and Breah 199819060 Until I discovered he had an ol' lady and little boy that he'd kept from me the whole time we were together.
He's in the process of trying to win me back, but I'm about to teach him that you don't mess with a girl with a temper and a Jeep...]]> GroveltoHEA mel �� 0 3.61 Gabriel and Breah

author: GroveltoHEA
name: mel ��
average rating: 3.61
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/26
date added: 2024/12/26
shelves:
review:

]]> A Bully's Penance 213845653 Harrison O'Connor.

Hot. Sexy. Cocky. Arrogant. Nasty.

Bully.

At least, that's how I remembered him.

Once I was done with high school, I hightailed it out of Ashburton as fast as my legs could carry me.

Finally thriving and happy in San Francisco, my tormented flashbacks of Harrison O'Connor and his reign of terror on me were soon nothing more but muted memories.

Only one thing could willingly drag me back home - being Maid of Honor at my best friend's wedding.

But it quickly became apparent that while my memories of my hometown and Harrison were stuck on glue, everyone else around me had moved on. Including my best friend.

Soon, long-buried memories threaten to push their way to the surface.

Am I ready to confront my past? And why is Harrison suddenly playing nice?

A Bully's Penance is a standalone, second-chance, enemies-to-lovers romance. There are descriptive scenes of past bullying by the MMC to the FMC. However, this is NOT a dark romance. ]]> 198 S.T. Moors mel �� 2 3.69 A Bully's Penance

author: S.T. Moors
name: mel ��
average rating: 3.69
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/26
date added: 2024/12/26
shelves:
review:

]]> More Than a Feeling 218326140 He chose the wrong sister. And now, the right one doesn't want him anymore.

I never expected to fall for Fleur. She’s sunshine and joy, where my world was previously gray. What I don’t understand is how her family means so little to her. They warned me she was immature and selfish; and that we’ll never work out.

They were right. She's jealous of my friendship with her sister, my brother's widow.

But being there for Sabine is a promise I won’t break. When Sabine suggests that we take care of each other; I feel like I owe it to her and my brother. So, I let Fleur go. I believed it was the right thing to do. I just never expected to find out that my feelings for Fleur ran deep, that I was, in fact, in love with her.

More Than A Feeling is A Modern Vintage Romance . Get a dose of classic Mills & Boon and Harlequin romance novels with a contemporary dual POV and a sexy touch. Indulge in your favorite

✔️Second chance romance
✔️Other woman drama (Sister)
✔️Unrequited love
✔️Betrayal and grovel
✔️��ǲԲ�� romance
✔️��𲹰��, uncovered & misunderstood
✔️No cheating
✔️STEM heroine

This is a novella and is not available in paperback.]]> 189 Maya Alden mel �� 1 3.69 2024 More Than a Feeling

author: Maya Alden
name: mel ��
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2024
rating: 1
read at: 2024/12/25
date added: 2024/12/25
shelves:
review:

]]> Aflame (Fall Away #4) 24731736 From the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Bully, Until You, Rival, and Falling Away comes the sizzling conclusion to the Fall Away series.

The tables have turned. Now I have the power-and it's his turn to beg...

Everyone wants to be me.

Maybe it's the sway of my skirt or the way I flip my hair, but I don't care. Even though their attention is the last thing I crave, I just can't stop. I dominate the track, the speed rattles my bones, and the wind and the crowd screams my name.

I'm her. The girl driver. The queen of the race. And I'm surviving - something he thought I'd never do.

They all talk about him. Did you see Jared Trent on T.V? What did you think of his last race, Tate? When is he coming back to town, Tate?

But I refuse to care too much. Because when Jared does come home, I won't be here.

Tatum Brandt is gone. I'm someone new.]]> 261 Penelope Douglas 0349408882 mel �� 3 4.27 2015 Aflame (Fall Away #4)

author: Penelope Douglas
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/25
date added: 2024/12/25
shelves: angst, fave-couple, second-chance
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Alaric and Faina (The Vampires Series #1)]]> 217991822 When her blood soured, I refused to accept the end of us.
I would find a way.
I held out for as long as I could against the Hunger's need.
Now, she won't give me a choice after what happened.
Until we find out the surprise.
And she needs me.
Threats are all around but I'll do anything to keep her safe while I win her back.]]> GroveltoHEA mel �� 0 3.88 Alaric and Faina (The Vampires Series #1)

Alaric and Faina (The Vampires Series #1)

author: GroveltoHEA
name: mel ��
average rating: 3.88
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/23
date added: 2024/12/23
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Heroux and Odette (The Vampires Series #2)]]> 218692290
He called her name out every night after he fed and released with me.

He made it clear he was only with me to find out where his beloved was.

Despite this living with Heroux was better than living with my family.

Then things began to change and everything went to hell��. And I had to escape, never thinking anyone would care. He did.]]> 293 GroveltoHEA mel �� 0 4.01 Heroux and Odette (The Vampires Series #2)

Heroux and Odette (The Vampires Series #2)

author: GroveltoHEA
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.01
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/23
date added: 2024/12/23
shelves:
review:

]]> Dante (Chicago Ruthless #1) 125513680
I hate Dante Moretti. He is cold, calculating and vicious. It’s no secret that he wiped out his former fiancée and her entire family on the eve of their wedding. He’s the kind of evil that makes even devils cry. But that’s not why I hate him. I hate him because he has taken the only thing I have left in this miserable world �� my freedom. He has chained me to him because of a debt that I don’t owe. I just have the misfortune to share the bloodline of the man who does. And now I’m trapped in his gilded cage and the only thing I have left to do is run. And I try. I really do. But he is everywhere.

Suffocating. All consuming. Intoxicating.

He is a paradox. A man with a heart as cold as ice, whose passion rages like an inferno. Why does he see into my soul in a way that nobody else ever has? Why does the slightest brush of his skin make my pulse race? My mom always warned me never to play with matches. But if Dante Moretti is fire, then I want to burn.

Dante is the first book in the Chicago Ruthless series, featuring the Moretti siblings. Each book is a standalone with a HEA. This is a spicy Dark Mafia, enemies to lovers, forced proximity romance, which features scenes of a violent nature as well as those of an explicit sexual nature.]]> 348 Sadie Kincaid 1915663202 mel �� 2 3.27 Dante (Chicago Ruthless #1)

author: Sadie Kincaid
name: mel ��
average rating: 3.27
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/22
date added: 2024/12/22
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Best Kept Secret (Savannah's Best, #4)]]> 218069349 The truth about secrets? They always unravel.

I'm Beau Bodine, and someone's been keeping one hell of a secret from me.

Mira Sen shows up out of nowhere and drops a she's been raising my daughter—her niece—for the past two and a half years. A daughter I didn't even know existed. I should be furious, and I am, but Mira's sister—who recently passed away—had convinced her I didn't want to have anything to do with my kid.

Mira and my daughter move in with me, and before I know it, we become a family. I fall hard for my little girl. Her aunt has gotten under my skin, too. Our age gap, my history with her sister... none of that seems to matter. I'm in deep and for the first time in my reprobate life, starting to dream of white picket fences.

But when Mira's conservative and influential parents tell me why they've been fighting for custody of their granddaughter, everything falls apart. They show me proof that Mira physically hurt my baby. I don't hesitate. I tell Mira to get the hell out of my house and my life.

Then the truth comes out, and I know I've screwed up. Big time.

By the time I find Mira, she's broken in ways I couldn't foresee or even imagine. I know it's my fault. I've got to fix this. But she's shut down and become someone I barely recognize. Now I don't know if I'll ever be able to put her back together again.

Best Kept Secret is a billionaire secret baby forbidden romance and features all your favorite

🏵️Secret Baby
🏵️Sister's Boyfriend & Baby Daddy
🏵️Single Parent
🏵️Forced Proximity
🏵️Forbidden Love
🏵️Other Woman Drama
🏵️Age Gap (12 years)
🏵️Misunderstood & Uncovered
🏵️Betrayal & Grovel
🏵️Indian Heroine
🏵️No Cheating
🏵️Complete Standalone

Trigger Warning: Reference to past sexual abuse of a minor; on page suicidal ideation and attempt.]]> 314 Maya Alden mel �� 3 3.89 2024 Best Kept Secret (Savannah's Best, #4)

author: Maya Alden
name: mel ��
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/21
date added: 2024/12/21
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Best Laid Plans (Savannah's Best #3)]]> 216516336 I laid a plan to trap her for I'm the predator and she's my prey.

I'm Anson Larue, and this is my truth.

Nova King was once my everything, until she stole from me. Back then, I didn't get a chance to make her pay.

Seven years later, I'm shocked to see Nova in Savannah, working at my buddy's sister's company. She’s hoodwinked all her colleagues, and even her boss refuses to cut ties with her after I reveal her deceit. This time, I'm not letting her get away. I hatch a plan to show the world who she really is.

But Nova is wilier than I gave her credit for, thwarting my every attempt to expose her true nature. Still, my plan is foolproof, and soon, she's behind bars, caught by her own greed.

Things don’t go as planned. I spend time with Nova and find that I'm still in love with her. When my plan bears fruit and I'm faced with concrete evidence of Nova's guilt, I'm conflicted. As more evidence comes to light, I'm forced to confront a haunting I might have been wrong all along, and someone close to me framed Nova��twice.

Best Laid Plans is a billionaire enemies to lovers, revenge romance and

✔️ Second Chance
✔️ Workplace
✔️ Revenge
✔️ Other Woman Drama
✔️ Strong, Resilient Heroine
✔️ Misunderstood & Uncovered
✔️ Betrayal & Grovel
✔️ No Cheating
✔️ Complete Standalone
✔️ Trigger Reference to assault]]> 354 Maya Alden mel �� 2 3.79 Best Laid Plans (Savannah's Best #3)

author: Maya Alden
name: mel ��
average rating: 3.79
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/21
date added: 2024/12/21
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Best Served Cold (Savannah's Best #2)]]> 211680312 He's after revenge. She's collateral damage.

I'm Noah Carter, and this is my confession.

My story is one of vengeance that twisted into a love I never saw coming. My target? Baron Hunt, the man whose ruthlessness shattered my family.

The plan was seduce his daughter Stella to force her father's hand, making him pay for his past transgressions. She became an unwitting pawn in a game of retribution that was supposed to end with my victory.

Instead, I realized that the heart doesn't follow the rules of revenge.

A plan to topple an enemy transformed into a fight for my own survival.

Stella, betrayed and heartbroken by my deception, became the mirror reflecting the cost of my vendetta—reminding me that in the quest for justice, I had lost sight of who I was.

Best Served Cold

✔️ Billionaire romance
✔️ Brutal revenge
✔️ Fake engagement
✔️ Forced proximity
✔️ Other woman drama
✔️ Angst, drama, groveling
✔️ No cheating
✔️ Complete standalone

Best Served Cold is a billionaire fake engagement, revenge romance with a heroine who goes from sweet to sassy because of her experiences, and a hero who goes from wanting retribution to falling in love. It is a complete standalone and part of the Savannah's Best series.]]> 334 Maya Alden mel �� 2 3.74 Best Served Cold (Savannah's Best #2)

author: Maya Alden
name: mel ��
average rating: 3.74
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/21
date added: 2024/12/21
shelves:
review:

]]> Blindsided 61039326
Lots of banter, awkwardness, jealousy, and heat.

Midfielder Maclay “Mac�� Logan is a loud-mouthed, tattooed ginger content with focusing on football. But when an adorably-freckled seamstress comes barreling into his life, he finds Netflix-And-Bickering with her to be his new favorite pastime.

Freya Cook is used to being the invisible woman with a needle and thread, offering cheeky punchlines as she helps dress London’s finest. She’s plus-sized in body and spirit, and other than her friendship with Mac, talking to the opposite sex is one skill she never mastered.

However, after one innocent game of Never Have I Ever, Mac offers to play Love Coach for Freya.

What neither of them see coming are the feelings that develop when the clothes come off.

Now they’re both about to learn the biggest lesson of all: Don't fall in love with your best friend.

Blindsided is a full length (97,000 words) contemporary rom-com standalone with a sports theme.]]> 320 Amy Daws 1944565515 mel �� 3 3.5 stars

this has the exact same tropes as Before Jamaica Lane (one of my all-time faves), where an "experienced" H teaches his "inexperienced" best friend, aka the h, anything that revolves around that dating, then that turns into sex lessons, then they fall in love, etc.

although this was really cute and enjoyable, i found the h's insecurity and self-deprecation a little too much?? like, i know that's the whole point but damn. she's too mean to herself. but honestly, i prefer characters who have insecurities because i prefer imperfect heroines over Mary Sue's any day.

aaand the h can be quite annoying sometimes and her humor can be kinda cringey and not in a good way like The Office. i really don't like how she says "The Sex" all the time. that was just a turnoff and that's why i couldn't fully enjoy this one.

even though this is similar to BJL, the H here is NOT a man ho and he was actually celibate since he's met her and maybe even before that and i was like,

description

author: Amy Daws
name: mel ��
average rating: 3.30
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/21
date added: 2024/12/21
shelves: athletes, friends-to-lovers, grovelling, shy-dorky-heroines, friends-with-benefits
review:
3.5 stars

this has the exact same tropes as Before Jamaica Lane (one of my all-time faves), where an "experienced" H teaches his "inexperienced" best friend, aka the h, anything that revolves around that dating, then that turns into sex lessons, then they fall in love, etc.

although this was really cute and enjoyable, i found the h's insecurity and self-deprecation a little too much?? like, i know that's the whole point but damn. she's too mean to herself. but honestly, i prefer characters who have insecurities because i prefer imperfect heroines over Mary Sue's any day.

aaand the h can be quite annoying sometimes and her humor can be kinda cringey and not in a good way like The Office. i really don't like how she says "The Sex" all the time. that was just a turnoff and that's why i couldn't fully enjoy this one.

even though this is similar to BJL, the H here is NOT a man ho and he was actually celibate since he's met her and maybe even before that and i was like,

description

mind-fucking-blown.

there is also GROVELLING at the end and can i just say, the drama in the third act was so good, i found myself not putting the book down and i definitely love how the h didn't forgive the H so easily.

anyways, this was a really fun and easy read and if you don't mind some pet peeves that i know a lot of readers have (ex: virgin, inexperienced, and insecure h), then i definitely recommend this.
]]> <![CDATA[Untouchable (Untouchables, #1)]]> 40660802 The bully isn't supposed to win.

Senior year was off to a rough start: lube in my locker, panties on my front porch, unimaginative name-calling. See, I got a player suspended from the football team for harassing me, and in my small Texas town, you don’t mess with the football players—even if they mess with you first.

I didn’t care if it was an unpopular thing to do; I stood up for myself�� and in doing so, opened Pandora’s Box.

I never dreamed I would attract the attention of locally worshipped star quarterback, Carter Mahoney. Never imagined his coveted attention would turn out to be such a nightmare. Beneath his carefully constructed façade lurks a monster, a predator looking for the perfect prey to play with. Now, since I’m the girl no one likes or believes, I guess I’m the perfect target for his dark games and twisted desires.

After surviving my first encounter with his casual depravity, all I really want is for Carter to leave me alone.

But all he seems to want is me.

Warning: This book is provocative. It is categorized as DARK ROMANCE for a reason. It will not be for everyone. If you are a reader with certain triggers or sensitivities common to the dark romance genre, please heed the author’s note at the beginning of this book.]]> 494 Sam Mariano mel �� 4 I hated it. Like, wtf?? It was very triggering (sexual assault and bullying FROM the H) and when I finally read the rest of the book, it was unnecessary tbh, but this is dark romance tho so gotta cross some lines (still not an excuse). So, I recommend skipping the first three cuz everything else was fan-fucking-tastic.

The saving grace here is theheroine, Zoey. She's strong, brave, logical and not at all a doormat and a pushover, which is good considering what happened in the first three chapters.
Another saving grace is the banter. This has one of the best banters/bickering I've ever read and the fact that everything was shown and not told is a plus because my recent reads has the telling instead of showing kind of writing and thats super annoying.

The only things I didn't like here were the first chapters (obviously) and the "grovelling" after their breakup since he didn't grovel imo, he just played more mind games which I completely understand actually since that was the H's character.
And the OW/ex drama wasn't that bad tbh. H made out with his ex after going on a first date with h and they have already been semi-intimate (third-base) by then but H stopped it with OW when he came to his senses.

So ya, definitely skip the first three chapters cuz everything else was just great.]]> 3.94 2018 Untouchable (Untouchables, #1)

author: Sam Mariano
name: mel ��
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/10
date added: 2024/12/10
shelves: 2019-favorites, angst, assholes, dark-romance, enemies-to-lovers, favorite-heroines, hate-to-love, highschool-college, new-adult, ow-om, bully-romance, rereads, athletes, ex-drama, dub-con
review:
first three chapters = very, totally, super, reallyyy NOT at all SAFE.
I hated it. Like, wtf?? It was very triggering (sexual assault and bullying FROM the H) and when I finally read the rest of the book, it was unnecessary tbh, but this is dark romance tho so gotta cross some lines (still not an excuse). So, I recommend skipping the first three cuz everything else was fan-fucking-tastic.

The saving grace here is theheroine, Zoey. She's strong, brave, logical and not at all a doormat and a pushover, which is good considering what happened in the first three chapters.
Another saving grace is the banter. This has one of the best banters/bickering I've ever read and the fact that everything was shown and not told is a plus because my recent reads has the telling instead of showing kind of writing and thats super annoying.

The only things I didn't like here were the first chapters (obviously) and the "grovelling" after their breakup since he didn't grovel imo, he just played more mind games which I completely understand actually since that was the H's character.
And the OW/ex drama wasn't that bad tbh. H made out with his ex after going on a first date with h and they have already been semi-intimate (third-base) by then but H stopped it with OW when he came to his senses.

So ya, definitely skip the first three chapters cuz everything else was just great.
]]> No Ordinary Love 218069625 I broke her heart, but I will win her back.
Because mine is...No Ordinary Love.

Lucas Covington had Charleston's old money, a successful family business, and Amara—the strong, brilliant professor who turned his world upside down.

One careless conversation destroys it all.

When Amara overhears Lucas admitting he's still torn about his recently single ex and not sure if he loves her, she walks out, leaving behind the life they were building and the man too blind to see what he had.

As Lucas tumbles back into a toxic relationship with his high school sweetheart, he realizes just how badly he screwed up. Amara was the woman he needed, the one who made him feel alive. The one he loves.

Unable to heal her broken heart, Amara decides to leave Charleston. When Lucas finds out, he pulls every string he can, forcing her to stay in the city under the guise of a high-profile consultancy gig.

Now, with Amara back in his orbit but not in his arms, Lucas has to fight harder than ever to win her back. But with his ex-girlfriend digging her claws in and his own mother backing her, it's a battle he might not survive.

It's going to take a hell of a lot of groveling and facing his darkest truths to prove to Amara that his love is no ordinary thing.

No Ordinary Love is A Modern Vintage Romance. Get a dose of classic Mills & Boon and Harlequin romance novels with a contemporary dual POV and a sexy touch. Indulge in your favorite

✔️Second Chance
✔️Other Woman Drama
✔️Strong Heroine vs. Alpha Male
✔️Forced Proximity
✔️Betrayal & Grovel
✔️��ǲԲ�� Romance
✔️��𲹰��
✔️��ٳ��/�ճ󲹲԰��Բ�
✔️No Cheating
✔️Complete Standalone]]> 250 Maya Alden mel �� 2 3.78 2024 No Ordinary Love

author: Maya Alden
name: mel ��
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/09
date added: 2024/12/09
shelves:
review:

]]> The Predator (Dark Verse, #1) 52871061 What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object in the field of death?

In the dark underbelly of the mob, Tristan Caine has been an anomaly. As the only non-blooded member in the high circle of the Tenebrae Outfit, he is an enigma to all - his skills unparalleled, his morality questionable, and his motives unknown. He is lethal and he knows it.

As does Morana Vitalio, the genius extraordinaire daughter of the rival family. What Caine does with weapons, Morana does with computers. When a twenty-year old mystery resurfaces, Morana infiltrates Caine's house, intent on killing him, unaware of a tie that binds them together. Hate, heat, and history clash together with unexpected sparks.

But something bigger, something worse is happening in their world. And despite their animosity, only they can fight it down.]]> 318 RuNyx mel �� 3 3.98 2020 The Predator (Dark Verse, #1)

author: RuNyx
name: mel ��
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/03
date added: 2024/12/03
shelves:
review:

]]> Hideaway (Devil's Night, #2) 36340574 DEVIL'S NIGHT is returning! Hiding places, chases, and all the games are back...

BANKS

Buried in the shadows of the city, there's a hotel called The Pope. Ailing, empty, and dark, it sits abandoned and surrounded by a forgotten mystery.

But you think it's true, don't you, Kai Mori? The story about the hidden twelfth floor. The mystery of the dark guest who never checked in and never checks out. You think I can help you find that secret hideaway and get to him, don't you?

You and your friends can try to scare me. You can try to push me. Because even though I struggle to hide everything I feel when you look at me--and have ever since I was a girl--I think maybe what you seek is so much closer than you'll ever realize.

I will never betray him.

So sit tight.

On Devil's Night, the hunt will be coming to you.

KAI

You have no idea what I seek, Little One. You don't know what I had to become to survive three years in prison for a crime I would gladly commit again.

No one can know what I've turned into.

I want that hotel, I want to find him, and I want this over.

I want my life back.

But the more I'm around you, the more I realize this new me is exactly who I was meant to be.

So come on, kid. Don't chicken out. My house is on the hill. So many ways in, and good luck finding your way out.

I've seen your hideaway. Time to see mine.

*Hideaway is a romantic suspense suitable for ages 18+. While the romance is a stand-alone, the plot is a continuation of events that began in CORRUPT (Devil's Night, #1). It is strongly recommended that you have read Corrupt prior to reading this.]]> 437 Penelope Douglas mel �� 3 3 stars

first of all, im just grateful that there's an asian male lead because they are being slept on in the romance genre!!! like... why tho? asian men are literally so hot??

�� here's a list of asian men that have blessed my eyes:

- // i mean look at those tattoos tho yummm
- // this dude is in greys anatomy and oh boyy when i saw him i was about to call 911 cuz my heart stopped and i wanted him to revive it

]]> 4.26 2017 Hideaway (Devil's Night, #2)

author: Penelope Douglas
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/03
date added: 2024/12/03
shelves: dark-romance, enemies-to-lovers, meh, new-adult, second-chance, shy-dorky-heroines, pour-moi
review:
3 stars

first of all, im just grateful that there's an asian male lead because they are being slept on in the romance genre!!! like... why tho? asian men are literally so hot??

�� here's a list of asian men that have blessed my eyes:

- // i mean look at those tattoos tho yummm
- // this dude is in greys anatomy and oh boyy when i saw him i was about to call 911 cuz my heart stopped and i wanted him to revive it

]]> <![CDATA[Never Trust the Living (Battle Crows MC #7)]]> 59230433
One second, he’s hiding evidence with the girl, and the next, he has to marry her so a police detective doesn’t get suspicious.

Did he mention that he had a long-term girlfriend at the time?

To say that things didn’t go as planned would be an understatement.

To say that falling in love with his wife definitely wasn’t part of the plan either.

Nor was her leaving him when he finally realized she was his world.]]> 249 Lani Lynn Vale mel �� 3 4.37 2022 Never Trust the Living (Battle Crows MC #7)

author: Lani Lynn Vale
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/03
date added: 2024/12/03
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Alcohol You Later (Booze & Bad Decisions, #2)]]> 57797856 They say to never meet your heroes�� but what’s the rule on falling in love with them?

Raven Winters has been infatuated with Nicholas Potter since the day she tacked his poster to her bedroom wall. So, when she discovered the famous drummer was her college roommate’s cousin, it seemed the stars had aligned.

Their attraction was instant, and their chemistry explosive. Unfortunately, Nick wasn’t ready to abandon his rock star lifestyle.

Over the years, she’s become his best friend—with benefits—and favorite source of telephonic relief when the groupies backstage weren’t quite what he was looking for. Those late-night drunken calls kept her holding onto hope.

But all that patience is about to pay off—why else would he invite her to join him on tour, if not to finally confess his feelings?

Too bad, the universe has other plans. It looks like drummer boy’s reckless lifestyle has finally caught up to him��and Raven’s the one stuck toting the diaper bag.]]> Heather M. Orgeron mel �� 2 3.33 Alcohol You Later (Booze & Bad Decisions, #2)

Alcohol You Later (Booze & Bad Decisions, #2)

author: Heather M. Orgeron
name: mel ��
average rating: 3.33
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/03
date added: 2024/12/03
shelves:
review:

]]> His Vengeful Tradwife 221381135 I stared at my wife.
Why was she acting so casual?
I had just told her I wanted a divorce and her response was "fine."
So I spoke again, clearly and distinctly, so there could be no mistaking my meaning.
"Tallulah, like I said, it's over between us. I'm sorry, but I don't love you anymore. I want a divorce."
She raised an eyebrow at me.
"Yes, I heard you the first time, Maverick. Anything else?"

This is a husband redemption cheating romance. There will be on-page cheating between the MMC and the OW (and the FMC and multiple OM). There will be a HEA between the cheating MMC and the FMC. . .eventually.

This story is most suited for lovers of betrayal/cheating, revenge cheating, and desperate groveling.

His Vengeful Tradwife was on Kindle Vella and has been expanded with about 3K words]]> 138 Katie Landry mel �� 2 3.75 2024

author: Katie Landry
name: mel ��
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/03
date added: 2024/12/03
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[This Life and All the Rest (Next Life, #2)]]> 62014384 It’s just beginning.

Lennon Washington has been the star of every dream, every nightmare, since the day I lost her.

Since the moment I let my demons win, and she slipped through my fingers.

Her memory has haunted me.
Changed me.
Broken me and remade me.
And I’d all but given up on us.

Now tragedy has brought her back into my life.
My secrets are at her disposal,
Hers are unraveling quickly,
And every emotion we’ve tried to deny is returning with a vengeance.

But we’re not kids anymore.
We have changed drastically.
And with each new ache, I start to wonder,

Is there a place for us in this life,
Or will we have to try again in the next one?]]> 346 Brit Benson mel �� 4 4.30 This Life and All the Rest (Next Life, #2)

This Life and All the Rest (Next Life, #2)

author: Brit Benson
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.30
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/03
date added: 2024/12/03
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Love of My Next Life (Next Life, #1)]]> 60856174 I calmed his demons.
He created mine.

Macon Davis.
My best friend’s brother.
My tormentor.
My least favorite person.
Pothead. Delinquent.
A careless, directionless loser.

That’s what I used to believe,
but I didn’t really know him.
And when I finally saw him,
it was the best and worst thing to ever happen to me.

We burned hot and fast.
Passion. Anger. Love. Pain.
We were reckless. Naive.
We were doomed from the start.

When I finally saw Macon Davis for who he was,
we both went down in the flames.

***
The Love of My Next Life is part one of a duet.
It is just as much a love story as it is a tale of ruin.
While the duet will end in an HEA, book one does not.]]> 334 Brit Benson mel �� 3 4.15 2022 The Love of My Next Life (Next Life, #1)

The Love of My Next Life (Next Life, #1)

author: Brit Benson
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/03
date added: 2024/12/03
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Mighty Storm (The Storm, #1)]]> 15724654
Jake Wethers, sexy, tattooed and deliciously bad lead singer, and brains behind The Mighty Storm, one of the biggest bands in the world, left Tru with a broken heart when he moved from England to America with his family when they were both fourteen.

Sent to interview Jake for her music column by the magazine she works for, they are both unprepared for the sparks that fly the instant they reconnect. Only, there’s a complication to their instant feelings for one another—Will, Tru’s boyfriend of two years.

Then Jake makes Tru a job offer she can't refuse—travelling the world with him and his band. But taking the job means leaving Will behind, and being on the road with the band means spending an inordinate amount of time with Jake.

Is Tru strong enough to resist the delectable bad boy who once held her heart so completely, or will she willingly risk it all for one night with the world's most notorious womanizer?]]> 442 Samantha Towle mel �� 3 4.15 2012 The Mighty Storm (The Storm, #1)

author: Samantha Towle
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/03
date added: 2024/12/03
shelves:
review:

]]> Fairydale 58411935
August 1955,

When Miss Darcy O’Sullivan, an orphaned English teacher from Boston, receives a letter that her biological father passed away, she is surprised to find herself included in his will.
There is only one condition.
She must travel to Fairydale to attend his funeral.
With the promise of a sizable inheritance, Darcy decides to journey to the small coastal town that holds the secrets of her birth. But the moment she steps foot into Fairydale, things start to go amiss.
Odd residents. Odd rumors. Odd…deaths.
Everything about Fairydale is odd.
Including brooding Caleb Hale—part of the infamous Hale family.
During the day, she falls deeper and deeper under his spell as he forces her to step out of her comfort zone and embrace her inner sensuality.
But at night it’s another man who haunts her dreams—Amon d'Artan, a nobleman who lived two centuries ago.
Amon is sweet and suave where Caleb is intense and dangerous, and Darcy feels more torn than ever. Soon, she finds herself embroiled in a web of lies, deceit, and inexplicable events that make her question her sanity.

When an ancient evil threatens the town and everything Darcy holds dear, she must make the ultimate choice.

But will she survive it?

Fairydale is a dark gothic historical romance with horror, paranormal & fantasy elements. This is NOT a traditional love triangle. It features a villainous love interest that would end the world for his beloved and an all-encompassing love story spanning millennia. This is not suitable for anyone under the age of 18. Please check the triggers before reading.]]> 772 Veronica Lancet mel �� 0 to-read 3.89 2022 Fairydale

author: Veronica Lancet
name: mel ��
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Five Brothers 201102380 One woman learns the secrets of the five Jaeger brothers.

On the other side of town, in the dark glades, under the rain��

Macon is the oldest. Thirty-one. Ex-Marine. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him smile.

Army is twenty-eight. A single dad with the most beautiful green eyes. He has no idea who he is, if not a Jaeger brother.

Iron will be in prison soon. You’d never think it to meet him. He’s a nice guy, actually. But he can’t stop reacting to everything.

Dallas is the one I hate. Twenty-one, cruel, and selfish. He takes and then throws away whatever’s left.

And Trace is mine. Or he was for about two seconds. No one can tame him for long.

Not that I ever wanted to. It was fun, but now I need to go home. Back to my side of the tracks. Away from the swamps and these men. To my parents�� big house. On my clean street. Where I’m never dirty or messy or hot. And I will. I’ll leave first thing tomorrow morning. I just want to crash on the couch tonight.

Their house is dark and quiet, everyone else is asleep. Except for one. He sees me crying and comes at me from behind. I let him wrap his arms around my body and hold me tightly. His breath is on my neck, his fingers are in my hair, and he doesn’t stop there.

I don’t think it was Trace.]]> 560 Penelope Douglas 0593816579 mel �� 0 to-read 3.81 2024 Five Brothers

author: Penelope Douglas
name: mel ��
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Quicksilver (Fae & Alchemy, #1)]]> 212127083
In the land of the unforgiving desert, there isn't much a girl wouldn't do for a glass of water.

Twenty-four-year-old Saeris Fane is good at keeping secrets. No one knows about the strange powers she possesses, or the fact that she has been picking pockets and stealing from the Undying Queen's reservoirs for as long as she can remember.

But a secret is like a knot. Sooner or later, it is bound to come undone.

When Saeris comes face-to-face with Death himself, she inadvertently re-opens a gateway between realms and is transported to a land of ice and snow. The Fae have always been the stuff of myth, of legend, of nightmares... but it turns out they're real, and Saeris has landed herself in the middle of a centuries-long conflict that might just get her killed.

The first of her kind to tread the frozen mountains of Yvelia in over a thousand years, Saeris mistakenly binds herself to Kingfisher, a handsome Fae warrior, who has secrets and nefarious agendas of his own. He will use her Alchemist's magic to protect his people, no matter what it costs him . . . or her.

Death has a name. It is Kingfisher of the Ajun Gate. His past is murky. His attitude stinks. And he's the only way Saeris is going to make it home.]]> 588 Callie Hart mel �� 0 to-read 4.35 2024 Quicksilver (Fae & Alchemy, #1)

author: Callie Hart
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Unworthy (Unperfect, #2) 63247355 But he was different.
Heath was the one who stuck up for Yaz when she was a child. As her brother’s best friend and ten years older, he had been her hero—always defending her to her family, always seeing the best in her—he made her feel worthy of approval.
But as her childhood adoration morphed into full-blown teenage love for her idol, and Heath grew from the good-looking boy she knew to the devastatingly handsome emergency department doctor he is today, his attitude seemed to change. For some reason, her quirks went from charming to annoying—her alternative world view from refreshing to ridiculous. In fact, there are a lot of things about her Heath seems to now find
“You look ridiculous, Midge.��
“All this alternative therapy crap is a ridiculous waste of time.��
“Your obsession with windsurfing is getting ridiculous.��
“That ridiculous bike of yours is a bloody health hazard. When are you going to grow up and get a car?��
Having gone from worthy to unworthy in Heath’s eyes, Yaz convinces herself that his cruelty has killed her childhood crush. After one humiliation too many, she finally cuts ties altogether. By the time Heath starts to see all that he could lose, it might be too late. Maybe it’s not Yaz who’s the unworthy one after all?

Full-length, brother's best friend, secret crush, unrequited love, enemies-to-lovers contemporary romance.
Warning —there is swearing throughout this book.]]> 277 Susie Tate 1739813812 mel �� 3 4.04 2022 Unworthy (Unperfect, #2)

author: Susie Tate
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/03
date added: 2024/11/03
shelves:
review:

]]> Unperfect (Unperfect, #1) 58868872
Max has made a name for himself as "that grumpy northern architect off Grand Designs", after he told Kevin McCloud that designing affordable, environmentally friendly homes “wasn’t rocket science�� and that most of the other projects featured on the programme were for “reight poncy bastads who want to spend a grand on a shite tap.�� It turned out that the whole gorgeous-but-rough-around-the-edges-Yorkshire-man vibe was just what the country was looking for �� the episode had gone viral and Max was the new, extremely reluctant, pin-up of the building industry.

But to Mia, huge, grumpy men weren’t sexy, they were simply terrifying. She knows from experience that even men of average size can be dangerous. If she wasn’t so desperate, she’d run. She’s used to running. Running away is Mia’s special talent, together with invisibility �� survival techniques she’s perfected over the years. So, she’ll put up with Max and his moods, ignore him calling her a teen emo freak (he’s not to know that her black hair used to be honey blonde or her heavy eyeliner isn’t by choice) and just bloody well jog on. Just try to survive. Try to hide.

It’s easy to hide when nobody really sees you. But what happens when Max finally opens his eyes?

Unperfect a full-length contemporary, enemies to lovers, office romance.

Please be aware - occasional swearing and trigger warning for domestic violence.]]> 364 Susie Tate 1999843797 mel �� 3 4.06 2021 Unperfect (Unperfect, #1)

author: Susie Tate
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/03
date added: 2024/11/03
shelves:
review:

]]> Gold Digger (Daydreamer, #2) 215092266 still doesn’t know what to do about the massive crush he has on his cleaner. Lottie’s clumsy and really crap at her job, but her laugh is infectious, her smile lights up the room, she’s insanely good at chess, and he can’t stop thinking about her.

Aware of the power imbalance, he sets out to make her his, and he thinks he’s getting somewhere until she seriously betrays his trust. So now he tells himself he hates her, and he makes sure everyone knows it. But once Ollie realizes that his privilege and self-absorption have made him entitled and completely blind, he’s determined to win Lottie back. A fake engagement might be a bit extreme, but his family had been getting its way for five hundred years, and the Duke of Buckingham was no different from his ancestors.

Lottie’s life is a struggle. She’s had to fight for everything since going into foster care at the age of twelve. The Duke of Buckingham, wouldn’t understand struggle if it smacked him in the face. He’s got money and family coming out of his ears; she has twenty quid in her current account and no family other than her traumatized, selectively mute eight-year-old little sister, whom Lottie is determined to keep safe.

She doesn’t have time for handsome Dukes with silver tongues. So she tells herself she’s not heartbroken when he turns on her like she knew he would, putting everything she worked so hard for in jeopardy. She needs to concentrate on survival. But Lottie underestimates just how charming Ollie can be. Or what a formidable opponent his centuries-old, innate arrogance makes him.

This is a billionaire, enemies to lovers, fake engagement, grumpy boss, contemporary romance.

Trigger warnings for assault, mentions of domestic violence and past childhood neglect. ]]> 338 Susie Tate 1068682027 mel �� 4 4.14 2024 Gold Digger (Daydreamer, #2)

author: Susie Tate
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/29
date added: 2024/10/29
shelves:
review:

]]> Daydreamer (Daydreamer, #1) 214249697
But Lucy’s lonelier in London than she’s even been in her tiny village back home. The boy she grew up with has been replaced by a powerful, ruthless, extremely attractive man who doesn’t tolerate incompetence and who no longer seems to find Lucy’s quirks cute. Instead, he lectures her almost daily on her general crapness, and seems blind to the bullying she endures from his colleagues.

For Felix, agreeing to employ Lucy was a mistake. This shy bookworm with her head in the clouds, who wears tattered jumpers, carries multiple pens in her hair and has an obvious crush on him must be by far the worst assistant in London. But he’s always had a soft spot for the quirky little girl who lived in her own world and told the best stories. Well, now that little girl is all grown up�� and he can’t stop thinking about her.

After Felix gives in to his bone-deep longing for his best friend’s little sister, he starts to feel more than he has in years. But Lucy has secrets, and Felix has trust issues. When his inability to trust her leads to a terrible betrayal and places Lucy in danger, Felix is faced with losing her forever. Because the new, hardened, traumatised Lucy is nothing like the daydreaming pushover she once was��

This is a full length, brother's best friend, grumpy billionaire boss romance.

Trigger warning for workplace harassment and assault.

Warning �� there is swearing throughout this book.

Praise for
"As a reader who loves a betrayal and subsequent grovel this story was 'chef's kiss'."
"10 out of 10! Everything you could ever want or need in a romance book."
"This author grabs you by the heart, gives it a good shake and slowly but beautifully puts it back together again with some heart-breaking and heart-lifting scenes."
"Vibe of a secret crush/she falls first/ he falls harder tale and Is laced with mistaken angst and wonderful scenes of grovel."
"Excellent, 5 stars all the way."
"This book was so great that I read it all the way through in one day."
"This was a heartfelt, angsty and emotional story told in the wonderful, dulcet tones of Susie's brace of creativity and stellar story-telling finesse."
"Yet another winner by Susie Tate."
"Fantastic book."]]> 314 Susie Tate 1068682019 mel �� 4 3.97 2024 Daydreamer (Daydreamer, #1)

author: Susie Tate
name: mel ��
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/29
date added: 2024/10/29
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Unwanted Bride (The Lasker Brothers #7)]]> 200563525 He got a fake fiancée to avoid an arranged marriage...except she turns out to be his arranged wife after all.

Ambitious, driven and independent, billionaire Huxley Lasker refuses to marry the vapid bride his family has chosen to further their legal dynasty. Instead, he asks Grace Lain, a hot one-night stand from a few weeks earlier, to be his fake fiancée.

But Grace turns out to be the arranged wife—and their one-night stand has left her pregnant.

The Unwanted Bride is a standalone romance with all the feels and a happy ending! If you love:

✔️Arranged marriage
✔️Fake engagement
✔️One-night stand
✔️“My wife��
✔️“Who did this to you?��
✔️Touch her and die
✔️Surprise pregnancy
✔️Found family
✔️She falls first
✔️He falls harder
✔️��ǲԲ��
✔️Revenge / Karma
✔️Family secrets

then grab The Unwanted Bride today!]]> 374 Nadia Lee mel �� 2 4.08 2024 The Unwanted Bride (The Lasker Brothers #7)

The Unwanted Bride (The Lasker Brothers #7)

author: Nadia Lee
name: mel ��
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/10/24
date added: 2024/10/24
shelves:
review:

]]>