Tag Archives: f/f romance

how to get a girlfriend when you're a terrifying monster

Book Review: How to Get a Girlfriend When You’re a Terrifying Monster, by Marie Cardno

A few months back, I picked up a freebie copy of Marie Cardno‘s How to Get a Girlfriend When You’re a Terrifying Monster.

How to get a girlfriend when you're a terrigying monster cover

Life is tough when you’re an eldritch abomination.

Trillin isn’t technically a person. She’s a tiny breakaway piece of consciousness from the all-devouring Endless, doomed to eventually rejoin it. But when a human witch stumbles into her world, Trillin suddenly has a new reason to figure out individuality–one shape-shifting tentacle at a time.

Sian is sure important magical discoveries are just around the corner, if she can just get her portals to work reliably. Reaching the dimension of the Endless without being eaten on sight is a dream come true, and Sian is determined to explore every bit of it. For science, of course, not for the strangely adorable life-form who keeps popping up and trying to… flirt?

But Trillin’s world can be a dangerous place, and keeping Sian safe might risk drawing the attention of the Endless itself–which will swallow Trillin up along with all her dreams of humanity. Together, can this unlikely duo escape the Endless, figure out the optimum number of appendages, and maybe even find love?

my review

How to Get a Girlfriend When You’re a Terrifying Monster is a short little thing—barely 100 pages—and it’s silly, almost nonsensical, really. But it’s nonsensical in the best way. It’s fun and sweet, good for a lighthearted laugh at no one’s expense. I enjoyed it immensely.

But you do have to be able and willing to suspend a lot of disbelief. The how of just about everything is ignored, as is a lot of the why, and the plot is pretty constrained, considering the elements involved.

I think who will like this comes down to taste. It’s the sort of read where you legitimately expect Zaphod Beeblebrox to show up in the next scene. But if that’s your jam, I recommend checking this out.

how to get a girlfriend when you're a terrifying monster photo


Other Reviews:

Nikky the Writer Book Review: How to Get a Girlfriend When You’re a Terrifying Monster

@buffyreads 4/5⭐️ How To Get A Girlfriend (When you’re a terrifying monster) by Marie Cardno I have been on the hunt for more lesbian books so when I stumbled upon this one I was so excited to read it! #buffyreads #bookreview #monsterromance #monsterromancebooks #lgbtqbooks #wlwbooks #lesbianbooks #booktok #blackbooktok ♬ original sound – ra!! ????????

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Book Review: Club Blood, by Sarah James & Cassandra Celia

I accepted an ARC review copy of Club Blood (by Sarah James and Cassandra Celia)  through Pride Book Tours.

club blood cover

Sin City just got extra bloodthirsty… Welcome to Club Blood.

Vampires no longer hide in the shadows and humans have adjusted, learning to coexist with the Known. But in a city filled with sinful acts and lustful affairs, it’s not uncommon for mistakes to happen.

Cecelia agrees to visit Ambrosia, a notorious nightclub run by vampires, on the night of her birthday. But as Cece stumbles across the murder of one of the Known’s most feared council leaders, she is thrown into terrible danger.

For Mercy, being at the top and conquering her kingdom has always been above all else. It doesn’t bother her when she has to rip the heart out of her boss in order to get what she wants, though she does find it inconvenient that there’s a human witness.

Mercy and her coven hold Cece captive in order to secure Mercy’s quest to reign. Soon, Cece finds it hard to separate fear and attraction, being drawn to the enticing danger of Mercy’s life, and Mercy discovers that there might be just one person she’s willing to protect more than herself.

Just being together is enough to upend both of their lives, hurling them towards a war neither of them ever wanted to start.

Mercy must decide whether having Cece could be worth losing her kingdom, and Cece must endeavor to survive in a world of danger and darkness that was designed to kill her.

Their lust might be worth the bloodshed.

my review

I’ve got to admit. I didn’t resonate with this book. The writing is quite readable, and even though I had an ARC, the editing felt competent. So, any complaints I have are really just of the how well the book did or didn’t gel with me sort. And I’m afraid I leaned more toward didn’t.

I liked the idea of the book. A female vampire, fighting the patriarchal vampire culture to rise to the top of her bloody and cut throat career/society. And I appreciate that James and Celia were playing with gender tropes a little bit. But I also felt the plot and characters was super cliched. I’m afraid making it an F/F romance, but keeping all of the characteristics of a M/F romance isn’t transgressive. It’s lazy.

[Spoiler] Here we had the villainous jealous ex. The jealous ex that is contrasted against the innocent love interest by her aggressively sexual presentation (in her clothing, attitudes, and actions). How many times have readers seen this same thing? Too many. There’s both the sassy (and promiscuous) BFF who tempts the pure main character to leave her safe bounds. Her promiscuity gets her killed, BTW. We’ve seen this a million times too. Then she’s replaced with the sassy gay BFF. This one is male, but still a character we’ve all seen in just this character position many times before. Let’s just stop there. But I could go on. The big shark who smiles to Mercy’s face but really duplicitously seeks to re-subjugate the woman who dared leave her subservient place? Yep, not new or interesting.

Really the cliched characters were more than I could handle. But the real reason this didn’t resonate was that it was inconsistent. Mercy is said to be so merciless, but if that was true she never would have let the events of the book go as far as they did without solving (or even acknowledging) the problem. Her very actions undermined the primary characteristic we’re given for her. Further, the whole reason she breaks character club blood photo(separately than the preceding point) to keep and eventually fall for Cece is a mystery. I mean it’s a mystery in the book. So, again, her supposed ruthlessness is undermined by her actions. Then there is Cece. She has a convenient personality shift that allowed for the happy ending. But it didn’t feel believable. It was too abrupt.

All in all, I had complaints. Several of them. But they are things that bother me. They don’t bother a lot of other people. I suggest reading the book and deciding for yourself.


Other Reviews:

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Book Review: Her Wolf in the Wild, by Rien Gray

I received a copy of Rien Gray‘s Her Wolf In the Wild from Netgalley, quite a while ago. I’m embarrassed to say it got lost in the digital library for a time. So, my review is super late. Which is why I’m becoming more and more reluctant to accept digital books for review. There is something to be said for a physical book that can sit on my side table and remind me of it’s existence.
her wolf in the wild cover

The Hounds of God MC live outside the law and protect their own. They only have three rules:

(1) look out for each other

(2) obey the club president

(3) never show a human your werewolf form.

Christiana Arjean needs to get out. She tried to fix her relationship, but making a break for it is her only shot. She almost doesn’t make it, until a butch biker with a shock of white hair tosses Christiana on the back of her bike. Micah is as mysterious as she is attractive, and Christiana wants to know what’s under that tough exterior.

Micah Nubilo knows a little bit about keeping secrets. Rescuing Christiana is a bad idea, and letting her hang around is even worse. But there’s something calling to Micah: an impossible bond no werewolf should ever feel for a human, even one as beautiful as Christiana.

Their growing intimacy is threatened when they realize their pasts are connected in ways they never could have imagined. Christiana and Micah must fight against threats both outside the pack and inside themselves for a chance at putting it all behind them and finding a way forward—together.

my review

I thought this was a super sweet romance. Though if I’m honest, the platonic love between Micah and her pack-mates was my favorite part of the book. The book is chocked full of representation. The writing is easy to follow. The editing is fairly clean. And the whole thing actually concludes, no cliffie.

However, I did feel a little bit like the villain was villainous just because. There wasn’t much steam in the book; no sex until the last chapter, in fact. There was also very little down time for the reader to get to know the main characters outside of the drama, which I found a little exhausting.

[SPOILER] Lastly, I was confused by the fact that Christina was supposed to be hiding from her crazy ex, but just went to work like normal—the most predictable place to find her. It made no sense that she would decide to do this, and having done it, it made no sense that he didn’t find her there. I was also irritated that she made no effort to inform anyone that she hadn’t, in fact, been kidnapped. I understand she was nervous about in-person police working with the ex. But she made no effort to—or even seemed to consider—informing anyone of anything and it felt like a convenient oversight for no reason but plot progression.

All in all, however, I enjoyed more of this than I didn’t and would happily read another Gray book.

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Other Reviews

Review: Her Wolf in the Wild by Rien Gray

Review: Her Wolf in the Wild – Rien Gray