I did not read a lot this month as I was mainly absorbed into playing video games during my free time. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom being the main one I ended up playing for the better part of the month. Not to mention, I just didn’t have motivation to read as I was writing a bunch. But I did manage to read a few things. So, like every month before I’m going to share what I managed to read.
So, what did I read this month?
These are all the new books I read, not any that I decided to re-read along the way. If I did a review, I’ll share the link to those. Otherwise, I will do a quick review of the book or series (with the series getting the mini-review at the end of all the books in the list). Mostly, those will just be a quick blurb about what the book/series was about.
- When She Purrs (A Risdaverse Tale) by Ruby Dixon – 3.25 stars ♥
- This book follows Kim and Nassakth, two former slaves that now live on Risda. It starts out with a cultural miscommunication between the two. He was trying to court her, but she thought he was threatening her. Bethiah arrives and helps get the two together. And eventually, the two have to work together to overcome their issues in the past. She with the trauma she experienced as a sex slave, and him as an ex-slave Gladiator who kept everything to himself in fear that it would be taken from him. We also get to see other characters from this universe including Sophie, Jamef, and the Corsair brothers.
- When She’s Wary (A Risdaverse Tale) by Ruby Dixon – 3.25 stars ♥
- This novella follows Tabitha and Jrrru. She’s terrified of literally everything after her years in slavery and Jrrru is staying with his brother after he fell in love with a human. After getting violently ill following a night where Chelsea used Noli, he ends up on Tabitha’s doorstep. Instead of being scared off by her traps and weapons, he falls for her then spends months getting to know her, helping her out and slowly making her warm up to him until the two become mates.
- The Pucking Wrong Number (The Pucking Wrong Series, Book 1) by C.R. Jane – 2.75 stars ♥
- This book was one I was intrigued by when I learned of it on TikTok. Hockey star texts the wrong number then falls in love with her as they continue to text with each other. Seemed like a sweet enough concept, but what that doesn’t tell you is how obsessed the MC (Lincoln) is. He falls in love with her immediately then starts stalking her until they finally meet in real life. But that’s not enough, he beats up anyone who touches her, gets her landlord to evict her so she has to move in with him, gets her both jobs to fire her so she’ll have more time for him, and later locks her in the apartment when she finds out what he’s done. Honestly, these two were the definition of codependent and toxic in all the wrong ways.
- The Serpent and the Wings of Night (Nightborn Duet, Book 1) by Carissa Broadbent – 4.25 stars ♥
- The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King (Nightborn Duet, Book 2) by Carissa Broadbent – 4.25 stars ♥
- See my review for thoughts on this duet
- Princes of Chaos (Royals of Forsyth University, Book 7) by Samantha Rue and Angel Lawson – 3 stars ♥
- This series is one where the authors are constantly trying to make the male main characters darker than the previous. This round focuses on the Princes, their main goal is within three months of being crowned they have to knock up their Princess. This new round is the King’s adoptive sons: Lex, Wicker, and Pace, and Verity who was raised to be the next Duchess though that didn’t end up happening. However, none of the main characters want to really be part of this tradition. Verity is there to become a Monarch and a spy in the palace for the Duchess and Lady, not that she really ends up doing that. And the guys want to escape their abusive, controlling father. Each of them is punished in different ways: Pace is locked in a dark dungeon, Lex is whipped, and Wicker is forced to be an escort. So, fulfilling the deed of knocking up Verity is the last thing they want and yet they have to put every effort into it. So, it’s not really a spoiler or surprise in my opinion that this ends up happening. Or that Verity ends up taking a Lavinia/Story approach in getting revenge on the guys. But I’m still curious to see how two more books on the Princes will play out. Since Verity is the King’s biological daughter, the four hate each other, and Verity is pregnant with the next heir. However, if you’re looking for characters that have developing feelings for each other. You won’t find it in this book. Everything is more out of a duty, and the sex scenes reflex that as they are cold and clinical for the most part, until Verity starts to learn how to match what each of the guys needs. Then it gets a little better and the group opens up to each other, but that comes crashing down after the guys learn that Verity is a spy. Side note, while diversity is great in books this is the second time the POC character has been given a very stereotypical trait as their signature. First, we had Sy with his ‘horse cock’ in the Duke section of the series, and now with Pace everything returns to the fact he’s a felon and spent time in prison. I feel like the authors could’ve handled this better.
My Rating System
Check out this post to see how my rating scale works, but the quick version is:
- 5 stars = Masterpiece. Nothing can literally be better than this. Not to mention, a major book slump happens afterward where I am unable to pick up another book for quite some time.
- 4 stars = One of the best books I’ve ever read, I couldn’t put it down and found little fault in it.
- 3 stars = A good book but there were some flaws, from editing to plot to you name it.
- 2 stars = Liked the book, but wouldn’t say it was something that was memorable.
- 1 star = Book wasn’t for me.
I almost never give a 5-star rating. Some books have come close, but something always held me back from giving it to those books. I also use .25 increments with the ratings, so there’s a range in each of those levels.
What did you read this month? Have you read any of these books, if so what did you think of them?
Love ya,
Mae Polzine
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