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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)

11 year blogiversay

It’s my 11-year Blog-iversary, apparently

@seesadieread #greenscreen I don’t do anything to particularly promote it. It’s more a book journal than anything else. But 11years is nothing to sneeze at. #blogaversary #bookblogger #seesadieread #booktok #booktoker #books #blogger @SadieF ♬ original sound – SadieF

It’s a good thing I put my blog-iversary on the calendar at some point in the past, or I would never remember it. But today, it’s apparently been 11 years since I started this blog (with no real idea what it would become).

It’s been a fun ride. Every now and again, I get dreams of grandeur and imagine doing some promotion and building a following. But ultimately, I always set them aside because that really isn’t who I am. I like being basically anonymous on the internet and would be uncomfortable knowing too many people are paying attention to me.

I post my reviews because I enjoy reviewing books and because the constant accumulation of said reviews makes the list-maker in me happy. I get a lot of satisfaction just scrolling through my review pages—and there are a lot of them. I’ve never counted them all up; however, as of today, there are 2,129 published pages on See Sadie Read. Not all of them are book reviews, but the vast majority are. That’s a lot of reading, a lot of thinking about books, and a lot of afternoons spent at the computer. It’s something to be proud of, and I am.

So, here’s to me and the next 11 years.

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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