Saturday, April 13, 2024

Review: Loving Lana by A.B. Marie

Loving Lana by A.B. Marie
Publication date: June 15th, 2021
Pages: 427
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Synopsis:
My name is Lana White. When I was four years old, my mother dragged me to Wallen's Creek. A small, nowhere town in California... Where there is no creek. Hell, my high school only had three hundred kids max... Far away from LA where I grew up. I was told that my father didn't want me. That we were stuck, trapped. I start to build a life for myself, I was going to become a lawyer... And then my neglectful, strung out mother moves us across the country to get married to some psycho that found her online dating site... and now we're fucked.

Loving Lana is a 126k word stand-alone novel. This is a reverse harem, meaning the main character has more than three love interests and doesn't have to choose. Why choose, anyway?

This book is intended for readers over the age of 18. There may be triggers for sensitive readers, including, strong language, mature adult content and situations, trauma, and pregnancy.

Also included: taboo relationships - stepbrother, professor, childhood best friend, and stepbrother's best friends in the harem.


Available at:




Review:
Lana White went from riches to rages overnight when she was four years old. In the middle of the night her mother whisked her away to an unknown town far from home. She was told her father had abandoned them and Lana accepted that as it wasn't like the man was beating down their door looking for her. Her mother was an addict who treated her like garbage. She hated Lana and wished to make her life miserable at every turn. She was ready to turn 18 and head off to college so she could start her life for herself. But everything gets twisted and turned on its head when Lana's mother meets a man on a dating site and decides to move her and her daughter to where he lived. Lana was skeptical and creeped out by her soon-to-be new stepfather. So much so that she willingly accepted a place at the college penthouse where her new stepbrother lived with his best friends. Once she got there she realized one person living there was a friend from her past and the others were his beautiful roommates that she couldn't help but eye fuck at ever turn. But there is definitely something wrong with her arrangement. Her stepfather seems a little too intrigued by her. Her mother seems a little worse off than she was before. And someone is after Lana. Can she unravel the mystery of what is happening with her new family while sharks seem to be circling and her protectors become the men she thought wanted nothing to do with her?

I know that my review of this book is going to be harsh but I will try to offer some good points first. The mystery was interesting. There were a lot of cooks in the kitchen which made it a little hard to figure out who all were the baddies and who were just casualties of the plot, but I never had the plot pegged down until towards the end because it was so vague a lot of the time. 

Unfortunately that is all the good I can offer. As there were so many things wrong with his book. The formatting for one. The amount of run on sentences in this book should have its own drinking game. You'd be smashed by chapter two. I have never seen the word 'and' so many times. "She walked to the living room and looked out the window and saw a pretty flower and admired its beauty." Just an example not an actual quote.

The pacing of the book was all over the place. One minute it was moving like a jack rabbit and the next like a turtle. It would be scrambling to keep track of what all is going on and then dulled to tears by a bunch of nothing happening. I swear towards the end when they were hiding it was months and months of just... nothing. No moves forward. No steps back. Just stagnant nothingness. 

And finally, the romances. Usually in reverse harems there is a set of boys that the girl gets with and that is it. It was like the author got her with those boys and then said, 'well, I need new sex scenes and I don't want to repeat any with the same boy so, TWO new boys!' They were just thrown into the mix all willy-nilly. No really building to Lana's connection with them just, well they're part of the harem now. I loathed everything about their harem. It just was not organized by any means and in a normal setting someone would start to feel neglected. I just hated it.

The only reason I am not giving this book one star is because while the ending was predictable there were a few twists and turns I didn't see coming. But even so... I would not recommend this book to anyone until it has gone through a proper editor and revamped a bit.



Monday, April 8, 2024

Book Blitz with Excerpt + Teasers + Giveaway: The Backup Princess by Kate O'Keeffe @XpressoTours @kateokeeffe4 @XpressoTours


The Backup Princess by Kate O' Keeffe
Series: Royally Kissed #1
Publication date: April 4th, 2024

Synopsis:
When a Texas gal punches a prince instead of curtsying, you know this isn't your grandmother's fairy tale.

Taking the bull by the horns is child's play compared to ruling Malvaeux. Yet here I am, a Texas girl turned princess, swapping tacos for a tiara.

Then I meet Europe's most eligible bachelor, the irritatingly handsome Prince Alexander, and accidentally deck him instead of curtsying.

Oops.

I'd feel bad if he wasn't such a self-satisfied jerk.

Now, I'm racing against a royal clock that ticks with the urgency of a preening peacock, trying not to let down my newfound country or my own wild heart. Alexander? He's a walking contradiction, with a smirk that heats my blood and eyes that tell tales of a depth I didn't expect.

Decisions aren't exactly my rodeo, but this time, my choice could cost me my new crown--or lead to a love story that rewrites my happily ever after.

Will this Texas girl rise to the royal challenge, or is this one fairytale destined to end with the slipper never found?

The Princess Diaries meets The Hating Game in this dizzyingly romantic modern royal romcom for grown-ups, where an American girl's unexpected ascent to royalty collides with a fiery romance with a hot neighboring prince. The Backup Princess is a closed-door romance with all the sizzle but without the spice, and a guaranteed happily ever after. It's Book 1 in the brand new series, Royally Kissed.



Available at:



Excerpt
My mind wanders to the top of the hill, where Alex took me on the motorcycle. We opened up to one another, and I feel so much closer to him now.

So much so I almost acted on my feelings for him and kissed him. Almost.

Let's just say it was a good thing Vlad interrupted us, or I don't know what would have happened.

Okay, that's a lie. I know exactly what would have happened. Alex would have kissed me and I would have kissed him right back, all those pent-up feelings I've been carrying around for him since the day we met would have come bursting out in an explosion of want.

I sigh.

So not a good idea for a whole host of reasons, least of all the fact that he has this reputation that suggests he goes around kissing women in picturesque spots all the time.

The problem is I've grown to know something about myself when it comes to Prince Alexander of Ledonia. And it's a doozy.

I don't want to be simply the next girl in his long line.

I want to be the girl.

I know. It's crazy. I've gone from despising the man to realizing I got him wrong to now fantasizing about wanting to be with him. Not just kiss him.

Be.

With.

Him.

I want to be the one he ends up with, the one who means the most to him. The one he's with for the rest of his life. And I want him to be the one who means the most to me.

I blow out a breath.

This is not the way I saw this playing out, but here I am. I'm falling for him, this strong, loyal, loving man who is nothing like I expected.

I'm in deep. Way too deep.














USA TODAY Bestselling Author KATE O'KEEFFE writes exactly what she loves to read: laugh-out-loud romantic comedies with swoon-worthy heroes and gorgeous feel-good happily ever afters. She lives and loves in beautiful Hawke's Bay, New Zealand with her family and two scruffy dogs. When she's not penning her latest story, Kate can be found hiking up hills (slowly), traveling to different countries, and eating chocolate. A lot of it.

Visit her website to sign up to her newsletter and you'll receive a FREE romcom.


Book Blitz with Excerpt + Giveaway: Crown of Wings and Thorns by Mary Ting @MaryTing @XpressoTours

Crown of Wings and Thorns by Mary Ting
Publication date: April 4th, 2024

Synopsis:
A fight for a throne that will rewrite history

The demon King Asmodeus has taken over the mortal world. The Order of Angel warriors have a mission to take him down, but many have died or joined the enemy. When Evangeline's team is ensnared in a web of deception, she has no choice but to form an alliance with King Victus, a vampire ruler with a reputation for killing angels. Can the two set aside the past and take down Asmodeus? Or will they turn on each other first?

Michael is a half-breed angel who wants no part of the nonhuman world. However, his immense power makes him a target. King Asmodeus wants him to join his army, and so does Order of Angels, but Michael dreams of settling down, not going to war. He may not have a choice. When his family's lives are at stake, he'll have to pick a side or lose everything.


Available at:



Excerpt
I'd heard tales that vampires had an uncanny ability to beguile their prey. Their attractive faces and bewitching scent, partnered with their commanding voices entranced victims, making them do whatever was asked of them.

He must be using the same supernatural powers to captivate me. Despite his effort, I prevailed and pushed the horrendous thought to the far recesses of my mind.

"Never in peace." He growled, his hot breath fanned the shell of my ear. "You are my enemy."

"Fine. You want to die here, right now?" I gritted the words through my teeth as I slowly released my feathers, my chest rising and falling just as fast as his.

He made the mistake of pulling back just enough for his eyes to lock with mine. I pushed off with the strength of my feathers, taking him with me. His back thumped the opposite wall and I trapped him with my body and wings.

Victus's eyes grew wide, stunned. With an ear-piercing snarl, his feet tangled with mine to launch us into a wild spin, and then he pushed me against the wall with such force that all of the air was knocked from my lungs with an oomph.

"I loathe your kind," he hissed, baring his teeth.

"And I despise everything about you." I clenched my jaw.

"My hatred for you is greater." The tendrils under his eyes throbbed.

We were thrown into a battle of push and shove, taking turns on who would be on top of our chaotic tumbling until we eventually stopped at the opposite end of the room, panting.

With my back to the wall, he took a fistful of my hair and yanked my head to the side, exposing my neck. His hot breath and his sharp fangs grazed down my skin.

I shuddered and every vein in my body seared. I wasn't sure if it was from fear or from the heated tussle and our bodies colliding.

"If you believe I'm your enemy, then bite me." I took a chance by saying the latter. Since he found me revolting, he would likely release me.

He gripped my hair tighter and snarled.


Born in Seoul, Korea, author MARY TING is an international bestselling, multi-gold award winning author. Her books span a wide range of genres, and her storytelling talents have earned a devoted legion of fans, as well as garnered critical praise. She is a diverse voice who writes diverse characters, often dealing with a catastrophic world.

Becoming an author by chance. It was a way to grieve the death of her beloved grandmother and inspired by a dream she had in high school. After realizing she wanted to become a full-time author, Mary retired from teaching. She also had the privilege of touring with the Magic Johnson Foundation to promote literacy and her children's chapter book: No Bullies Allowed.