Category Archives: books/book review

stalked by the kraken banner

Book Review: Stalked by the Kraken, by Lillian Lark

I picked up a copy of Lillian Lark‘s Stalked by the Kraken as an Amazon freebie. It’s book one of the Monstrous Matches series. However, I somehow read book two, Deceived by the Gargoyles, over a year ago.

stalked by the kraken cover

The Witch

Celibacy is a bad look for a matchmaker.

Especially a matchmaker who works at the kind of paranormal bathhouse that would have grandmothers clutching their pearls.
A worse look is a matchmaker experiencing a crisis of confidence.
I am that matchmaker.

We need raw magic, desperately.

And now a mysterious man walks into my office, offering me the exact solution I need.
The problem is that he wants to be matched… with me.
Matching doesn’t work for me; I found that out the hard way.

The Kraken

I saw her and the creature inside me wanted.

She doesn’t want a relationship. She says that the most we can have are the three nights she promised me, but the dark part of myself isn’t going to let the woman who snared its attention go.

I found her. I hunted her. She’s mine.

my review

I’m not always in the mood for a sweet read. But when I am, I trust that Lillian Lark will deliver.  The MC definitely falls first in this one, which I liked. I also enjoyed the fact that he was smart, capable, and kind but also sort of an idiot. She was wounded but showed a lot of growth throughout the book. The sex was pretty hot and very sex-positive—lots of consent throughout, which I appreciate. But there were one or two transitions (decisions made by Rose) that made no sense and pushed the bounds of credulity. But this was easily enough overlooked.  I did think the plot was pretty thin outside of the budding relationship, though, which was a little disappointing.

stalked by the kraken photo


Other Reviews:

“Stalked by the Kraken” by Lillian Lark (Book Review)

assistant to the villain banner

Book Review: Assistant to the Villain, by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

I borrowed an audio copy of Hannah Nicole Maehrer‘s Assistant to the Villain through Hoopla.
assistant to the villain audio cover

ASSISTANT WANTED: Notorious, high-ranking villain seeks loyal, levelheaded assistant for unspecified office duties, supporting staff for random mayhem, terror, and other Dark Things In General. Discretion a must. Excellent benefits.

With ailing family to support, Evie Sage’s employment status isn’t just important, it’s vital. So when a mishap with Rennedawn’s most infamous Villain results in a job offer—naturally, she says yes. No job is perfect, of course, but even less so when you develop a teeny crush on your terrifying, temperamental, and undeniably hot boss. Don’t find evil so attractive, Evie.

But just when she’s getting used to severed heads suspended from the ceiling and the odd squish of an errant eyeball beneath her heel, Evie suspects this dungeon has a huge rat…and not just the literal kind. Because something rotten is growing in the kingdom of Rennedawn, and someone wants to take the Villain—and his entire nefarious empire—out.

Now Evie must not only resist drooling over her boss but also figure out exactly who is sabotaging his work…and ensure he makes them pay.

After all, a good job is hard to find.

my review

I have got to stop letting TikTok convince me to read books. I’m having difficulty remembering a book that left me feeling as let down as this one did. First off, how did I miss that this is set in a fairytale setting? I’ll accept that the fact that I missed this is probably on me. But I was 100% put off when I finally realized what I had really signed on for in choosing to read this book. Just go ahead and preemptively roll your eyes. You’ll want to before you get very far into this story.

I could nitpick a million reasons this book didn’t work for me. But there are a few main ones I will concentrate on. First, I was bored silly. The book is working hard to be quirky and, yes, silly.But I’m fairly sure being bored silly was not the aim. There is far too little plot to keep a reader engaged. Second, the author tries far, far too hard to be funny, and most of the jokes don’t land. Third, how exactly are you going to title a book, Assistant to the Villian, and then write a villain that isn’t really a villain? I was incredibly disappointed and somehow also not at all surprised by this fact. Fourth, while the villain may not be villainous, he also isn’t particularly charismatic, and the heroine is a bland Mary Jane. Fifth, it ends on a cliffhanger…because, of course, it does. Sixth, the narrator (Em Eldridge) was wrong for the book. She did a fine technical job but didn’t carry it off in a tone that worked for the story.


Other Reviews:

Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

 

infala the aliens bond banner

Book Review – Infala: The Alien’s Bond, by Kira Quinn

I won a giveaway for signed copies of the first three books in Kira Quinn’s Mark of the Infala series. This week, I read the first one, Infala: The Alien’s Bond, and can happily mark Q off my yearly author alphabet challenge. Q is usually one of the last ones I manage, and every year, I say it won’t be. Well, it wasn’t a lie this year.

infala the aliens bond

As if alien abduction wasn’t bad enough, it seemed Darla’s captors didn’t want her for something as simple as breeding or even experimentation. The Raxxians were nasty pieces of work, and they had other plans in mind. Namely, they wanted to eat her, and not in the fun way. But the universe, it seemed, had other plans.

Spared a gruesome fate when the Raxxian ship crashed on a distant world, Darla found herself suddenly free. Free but on an alien planet with only the company of another former prisoner.
An alien.
A tall, muscular, impossibly alluring alien.
One who didn’t seem thrilled about taking the little human woman under his protection, at least not at first. Little did either of them know just how hot their time together on this new world would become, and in a way that had nothing to do with the planet’s blazing sun.

my review

I simply didn’t enjoy this. I disliked the heroine. She was bossy and selfish, without any personal or character growth to give it purpose. The hero was likable but about as charismatic and interesting as bologna on white bread. There really isn’t a plot beyond trekking through the woods and reacting to whatever random thing pops up. The villains are cliched rapists, though the author neither makes this relevant enough to avoid it being nothing more than low-hanging, lazy plotting nor commits to it enough to make it feel real. And the whole thing is very predictable.

I did appreciate that the bossy heroine was almost a little fem-domme-like, but I suspect that this was accidental on the author’s part. I also liked that the hero showed emotion, even crying at points. All in all, however, while I’m sure this will no doubt float some people’s boats, it didn’t mine.


Other Reviews: