Tag Archives: erotic fantasy

Book Review: Queenie & the Krakens, by Aleera Anaya Ceres

I received a copy of Aleera Anaya Ceres‘ Queenie & the Krakens in my November Supernatural Book Crate this month. While I don’t dislike this cover, I really do wish they would just leave the original covers on the monthly book selection. I almost always like them better. I don’t know if it’s a cost thing or a ‘special edition’ thing, but I think I say this every time I post a Supernatural Book Crate book, and I probably will continue to.

Naomi Queen swore to herself she’d never get involved with criminals. She didn’t want any part of the world that raised her because she knew the trouble the malicious underground could bring. But all that changes when she witnesses a murder between a gang of mermen shifters.

Swept into the maelstrom of the paranormal criminal underbelly wasn’t exactly high on her to-do list. Neither was being hunted by the murderous gang that called themselves the Rogue Waves.

With her life in danger, Naomi has no other choice but to accept protection from the deadly MC’s rivals. But hiding at the Kraken Motorcycle Club’s compound was the last thing she wanted. These mermen are dangerous, violent, and sexy. Everything she’s tried to avoid. They’ll chew her up and spit her out like the vicious sharks that they are… or they’ll try to.

Naomi has a few tricks of her own up her sleeve, and if the Krakens thought she’d be a meek little witness, they have another thing coming. She can be as ruthless as the monster whose name they carry, and by the time she wreaks havoc upon their lives—and their hearts—they won’t even know what hit them.

This has absolute chaos gremlin energy to it, and I’m here for it. Now, I didn’t like every aspect of it. It hit on some of my personal icks. But for the most part, I thought this was a lot of crazy, absurd fun.

Let’s just talk language for a minute. I curse like a sailor. So, the fact that these mermen motorcycle gang members do, too, didn’t bother me at all. However, I just can’t with the way women are always referred to so derogatorily. (This is in a lot of MC books, not just this one. But it really seemed to stand out here.) Bitch, for example, is used as an insult, a neutral description or identifier (i.e. not a man), and endearment in this book. And Old Lady is something to aspire to (separating you from the club whores). And I just can’t with it. I’m not saying anything general. It’s just one of my personal icks when women are talked about this way by the love interest(s), and it kept me from liking the book more than I did.

I loved the idea of the mermen motorcycle gang. But, honestly, the shifter aspect of the book was minimal, which was disappointing. Also, the book needs an editor. The prefix “pre–” means before (as in prefix). Just learning this one piece of grammar would correct about half a dozen misuses of the word precedes alone, for example. The book isn’t bad about typo-type editing mistakes. But there are a lot of misused words.

Having said all of that, while the reader doesn’t get to know the men well (it’s erotica, after all), they are a lot of fun. Box and Slug, especially. And I love that there weren’t immovable gender dynamics. Swords cross. Dominant men flex unexpectedly. Queenie tops, etc. And I appreciate that she had a backbone of steel and saves herself over and over again.

All in all. I didn’t love-love this. But I enjoyed the ride enough to want to check out more of Ceres’ books.

Other Reviews:

@authoralynichole Queenie and the Krakens by Aleera Anaya Ceres #whychooseromance #whychose #kindleromance #bookrecommendations #review ♬ original sound – Aly Nichole

Book Review: A Soul to Keep, by Opal Reyne

I purchased an e-copy of A Soul to Keep, by Opal Reyne.

All Reia ever wanted was freedom.

Known as a harbinger of bad omens and blamed for Demons eating her family, Reia is shunned by her entire village. When the next offering is due and the monstrous Duskwalker is seen heading their way, her village offers her an impossible choice – be thrown into the prison cells or allow herself to be sacrificed to a faceless monster.

However, he is not what he seems. His skull face and glow eyes are ethereal, and she finds herself unwittingly enchanted by him.

All Orpheus ever wanted was a companion.

Each decade, in exchange for a protection ward from the Demons that terrorise the world, Orpheus takes a human offering to the Veil – the place he lives and the home of Demons. The brief companionship does little to ease his loneliness, and their lives were always, unfortunately, cut short.

He’d thought it was a hopeless endeavour, until he met her. She’s not afraid of him, and his insatiable desire deepens within every moment of her presence.

But will Orpheus be able to convince Reia to stay before she’s lost to him forever?

I enjoyed this, though it won’t top any favorites lists for me. I thought the world interesting, as well as the way Duskwalkers (and maybe demons) could craft themselves. I appreciated that Reia had a backbone and was the initiator of most of the sexual progress in the relationship.

I also thought Orpheus was adorable. He was super sweet, if a bit of a doormat. (Though I don’t think the reader is supposed to interpret it that way.) There is definitely some Himbo energy there. But it takes a lot of suspension of disbelief to overlook both that Orpheus eats people and takes people as sacrifices and still see him as the hero.

My main problem, personally, was the sex. I’m all about the monster sex, don’t get me wrong. And the sex was hot, not gonna lie. But it felt very much like it was written to match the trends of what is popular in spicy romance today, and, frankly, a lot of what Orpheus said/did/thought during sex didn’t actually fit him, the character as written. Sex-scene-Orpheus and rest-of-the-book-Orpheus felt like different characters. So, there was a disconnect for me.

I also thought the book could do with one more mechanical editing pass. There were several instances of missing or misused words. No, I don’t mean because it’s Australian English. But I’d occasionally be pulled out of the narrative to figure out what word was missing from a sentence to make it make sense (it was usually an article or pronoun) or if the author actually meant the sentence to include same or some because it said, “same some” and only one or the other would make sense (that sort of thing).

All in all, though, I enjoyed more about the book than I didn’t and will likely read book two at some point.

Other Reviews:

A Soul to Keep by Opal Reyne

Book Review: Hell Gate, by Veronica Eden

I received a copy of Hell Gate, by Veronica Eden in last month’s Supernatural Book Crate.

Open the gate…if you dare.

The first thing I’m warned about when I arrive at the girls’ home is to stay away from the abandoned graveyard. Local urban legend claims it’s host to a gate to Hell.

Then I was dared…

The legend is as real as the monsters I’ve summoned by activating the gate. Demons guard it, waiting for skeptical idiots like me to do the ritual. Three sinfully hot, dangerously powerful demons.

Valerian.
Matthias.
Alder.

Ruthless.
Deadly.
Terrifying.

The gate’s three wicked protectors won’t let me get away without paying their price.
I’m at their mercy, fighting to survive them and the supernatural world they drag me into.
But none of us are prepared for what is awakening within me.

A long buried secret and hidden ancient magic will change everything.
The match is lit and together we’re all going up in flames.

I gotta be honest. This was a big ol’ meh for me. It was competently written, and I imagine it’ll find its audience. But I was bored with it. I just felt like Lily spent too much of the book whinging about her rough childhood, and then the rest of the book was just the men telling her how amazing she was, over and over again. So, yes, I get it, she’s a special special snowflake and not like the other girls. Can we move on now?

Further, I was a bit weirded out by her barely legal-ness. She’s 17 (there’s an 18th birthday in there somewhere, but it’s unclear where). The sex starts as just sex but very quickly progresses to things like double penetration to accommodate three mates. Maybe it’s a symptom of getting old and having teen daughters, but I was just a tad squinked out by a new-to-sex woman so quickly progressing to kink-queen. Plus, the men where forever telling EACH OTHER what to do with her—move her this way, make her beg, etc.—but never speaking to her at such moments. I felt like she was just a doll for them to act upon with one another.

Lastly, the plot is weak. Sure, I get that porn-with-plot exists. But I didn’t sense that this 400+ book was aiming for plot-less erotica status. It had a plot. It was just a paper-thin one.

All in all, it’s probably a taste thing. I liked the characters well enough and the world was interesting, but I was meh about this book. It’s probably fine, just not for me.

Other Reviews:

Review – Hell Gate by Veronica Eden

Hell Gate by Veronica Eden