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Book Review: Demon’s Mate, by Harper Dakota

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I purchased a signed copy of Harper Dakota‘s Demon’s Mate from the author (through TikTok).  

Viv had her job, her best friend, and a great apartment. So what if dating had been awful lately? When her best friend finds his forever person, it turns out that those paranormal romance books she liked to read had some truth to them. Unfortunately, she also learns that having a mate doesn’t mean happily ever after.

Mac wasn’t looking for a mate, especially a human one. He’s avoided humans as much as possible for hundreds of years after his first mate tried to kill him. To say he has trust issues would be an understatement. He’s happy his friend found his mate and they seemed to be doing well, but no one could make him accept the one suddenly thrust into his orbit. Who knew fate would give him another mate after all these years?

Will they be able to overcome Mac’s fears, or will an enemy lurking in the shadows take the choice from them?

my review

I had a fantasy while reading this book. It went like this: the author hires a really good developmental editor who sits her down and makes her read every chapter out loud. Then,  explain how the events of that chapter contribute to the plot. They discuss, and the editor brings the author around to realizing that a full third of the chapters (like the one where the reader follows a character to work while he investigates a crime not relevant to the plot in any way) do not, in fact, progress the plot in any fashion and should therefore be cut. Yes, that means the book would be a hundred or so pages shorter. But it would be a significantly better book for it. Similarly, the editor forces the author to tell them the plot and helps the author tighten it up so it doesn’t feel so much like a list of random events that pop up indiscriminately instead of a plot.

The simple fact of the matter is that I was bored out of my mind by this book. I liked the characters well enough. I appreciated the platonic cross-gender friendship, found family, and engaging sex scenes (even if they 100% do not fit the tone of the rest of the book). But, honestly, the story drags a lot. This isn’t helped by pedestrian writing and endless repetition. I lost count of how many times something happened or a character was told something and then turned around and told someone else the same thing. I do not need to read everything twice. I do not want to read everything twice! This got significantly worse past the halfway mark.

Lastly, a large personal complaint (and a spoiler): As a heavy reader of the romance genre, I suffer heavily from rape fatigue. I’m just so sick of reading it. So, I am really critical of rape (and attempted rape) in books. I don’t mean trigger warnings or what is or isn’t appropriate in a romance/dark romance. But every time an author throws it in as a cheap plot device (and it’s too often just a cheap plot device), I pause and put true thought into it if it was necessary to the story or not. I similarly side-eye the use of a scorned (or similar) woman as a villain. (There’s no shortage of internalized misogyny in a lot of this particular trope’s depictions.) Here we have a villainous woman using gang rape as revenge for the loss of her lover. It isn’t necessary to the plot at all. In fact, it feels tacked on and out of place, considering the character has been physically abused for days prior to this event. The escalation feels unnatural. The torture was demons mate photobad enough without needing to go the extra mile. I promise authors, readers know a villain is a villain even if you don’t sign-post it with rape.

There are those who will love this book, I am sure. I did not. I could see good bones in it, but I do not feel the author managed to pull it off, and I also do not think the author and I have the same ideas of what makes a good story.

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@angelg035rawr Review of Demon’s Mate by Harper Dakota. Overal a 3/5⭐️ for me. However character development is ✨✨. I do recommend this novel just go into it with the mindset of a lighter read. Support smaller authors as always. 🫶🏻 #paranormalromance #booktok #smut #bookreview #supportsmallauthors #reader ♬ original sound – Angel Lee

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Book Review: Captured by the Dark Commander, by Ellie Pond

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I picked up a freebie copy of Ellie Pond‘s Captured by the Dark Commander. It was pretty hyped on Tiktok. So, I gave it a chance.
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As a merman commander, my responsibilities are protect my people and follow the council’s orders. Despite my rank, I’ve never been good at following orders. When we discover Annabelle Portsmouth has the gene we’re looking for, I know we need her. It’s a rare trait that gives her the potential to become a mermaid. But after one look at her, I’d want her even without it. And I’m willing to take down my own men who touch her without permission.

I do what I have to do – I take her from her apartment and bring her under the sea to the domed Veiled City. A world of magic and secrets, where the females have the freedom to choose as many mates as they wish.

I understood my actions would have consequences. My government, like me, doesn’t give second chances. I did it for my nation, and for Annabelle, to let her become her true self.

But now she’s mine.

And I’ll do anything to keep this human. Anything. And I’m keeping this human.

my review

I’m afraid I just didn’t like this very much. It was basically ok, quality-wise. There were some inconsistency issues that annoyed me, and maybe some instances of wrong character names being used. (I’m not 100% sure about this one, but there were a couple of moments in scenes where I was like, did Pond mean for one of the male characters to be doing that when the other would make a lot more sense?) And several instances (especially in sex scenes) when I just didn’t know what was actually happening. But mostly, the issue is that I did not like it.

I understand that it is a dark romance. I understand that the “dark commander” is supposed to be dark. But dark romance is also…you know…a romance. But I neverever feel the spark between Nico and Annabelle. There is one sex scene that is so incredibly unpleasant I honestly thought it was rape. (I mean, the other male stepped in to remind the main male hero that he is supposed to be pleasuring his mate, and he is not.) And none of the other sex scenes felt authentic in any fashion. So, I never liked Nico. In the beginning, I gave him grace, room for character growth, etc. But he had not grown by the end. He remained unchained and captured by the dark commander photounpleasant, and everyone just let him.

I did like Holter and Caster, but they are not the focus here. This book was very much about Nico at the exclusion of the other two men, and it felt wonky and off-kilter because of it. And I liked Annabelle well enough. Her character is inconsistent, but mostly I liked her, and the world seems interesting.

All in all, however, I do not feel the need to continue the series.

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Book Review: Inextricably Tied, by Aveda Vice

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I picked up a copy of Aveda Vices‘ Inextricably Tied on Amazon. I think it might have been on a Stuff-Your-kindle day.
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Harbinger is reckless.

It only makes sense that she keeps the world at arm’s length. No one to answer to. No one to lose. No one to touch her banshee skin and become connected forever.

It’s a system that works — even if it means keeping her partner, Flint, from getting any closer to her.

Flint is restrained.

As Harbinger’s bodyguard, he has to be — until pulling her behind his gargoyle armor accidentally links them. Now Harbinger’s privy to the romantic feelings he’s denied himself for years…

And Flint’s no longer the only one connected to her.

Agony is unlike anything they’ve ever seen.

A night terror extracted from a serial killer, Agony doesn’t care who he hurts — and Flint and Harbinger look like perfect targets.

Forced together by circumstance, the three search for the remains of the murderer’s victims…and try to keep from killing each other in the process.

But as the mystery comes into focus, the lines between the three of them begin to blur. What started as begrudging partnership becomes as intertwined as their bodies in the dark.

The bond between Flint and Harbinger is fraying — but Agony isn’t the only one to blame. Not when Flint and Harbinger have painful histories they’ve spent their whole lives running from.

Every step toward uncovering the truth proves that the only way to untangle these complicated webs is to unravel them…and each other.

my review

I was pleasantly surprised by this one. It’s predominantly smutty, though there is a fairly serious murder mystery ostensibly being solved. Both Harbinger and Flint have past trauma they are working through, and Agony is a new entity, just learning what it means to exist in reality. So, there’s some unexpected heft for a smutty book. Mostly, however, I liked the dynamic between the three of them a lot.

I wasn’t thrilled that the beginning of Harginger and Flint’s relationship happened in a prequel, and the reader feels the lack of it in this book. I mean, this is certainly readable on its own. But I regretted not having read the prequel, personally. I’ll be on the lookout for more of Vice’s books, regardless.

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