Seen A Bunch Of This Recently Where People Complain About The Amount Of Romance In The Empyrean Series

The Villains Beast by Kate Hawthorne

Had a great time with this one. The spice was spicing, the angst was angsting. This is a bit of a dark read, definitely check the trigger/content warnings before you read, but I really enjoyed it and I didn’t want it to end. I wanted more time with alle the characters. I loved how their relationships developed and the different dynamics they all have with each other.

Have you read this one yet?

What is your fave mm dark romance?

The Graham Effect by Elle Kennedy

I devoured this in like two days. It was a great read and I love that it was more about the couple growing as people together and that the problems were mostly external. Like no stupid third act breakup just for the sake of it like I feel like too many romance books do.

I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was fun to get the little cameos from the OG generation too.

Also, Ryder was top tear! I’m obsessed with him. He’s just my type of book guy.

I had like one thong that annoyed me, which was the fight between Gigi and Ryder where she pushed him to talk about why he was upset and he didn’t want to and then she proceeded to not tell him why she was upset. Like he’d snapped at her which he apologised for, but she was still angry with him for not opening up and just expecting him to know that was the reason she was mad.

She should’ve just communicated that to him. Like dude, come on. She knows he’s not a talker. That he’s not used to sharing shit. Don’t expect him to be a mind reader.

The talk he had with his teammates girlfriend should have been had with Gigi.

But other than that I didn’t have any major annoyances or anything.

I just get frustrated when there’s poor communication😅

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5/5)

Me finishing the acotar series (the books that have come out anyway) and going to check out what theories people have and maybe have some fun discussions only to be horrified by some of the things people are saying on there. People literally getting death threats for having a different opinion like shipping someone with someone else than they do😬

(I know there are sane people in this fandom too, but I’m a little scared)

This one was so good! I’ve seen in around on booktok and here on insta and I just hadn’t gotten around to it yet, but boy am I glad I did! I tore through it like two days, I couldn’t put it down, I just wanted to know what would happen next.

I’m obsessed with Xaden, talk about a shadow daddy🥵

I loved how Violet grew throughout. I love that she has a chronic illness, made me relate to her more cause I have one too (not the same one, but one where accommodations sometimes need to be made for me to do the things I want or have to do) so that was great.

I liked the relationships both platonic and romantic ones. And the mysteries were intriguing.

Tairn was hilarious, love him and Andarna is precious and must be protected at all costs🥺❤️

That ending had me shook! Didn’t see it coming. There were a lot of things I did see coming throughout the book, but that ending, no. It was surprising for me.

5/5 for me. I had a great time reading it.

And to quote fantasy fangirls pod: 🎶God fucking damn it Dain🎶

Fourth Wing and Iron Flame was definitely the highlight of the month for me, with parts of us a close second.

But I had a great time with all the books I read for sure.

Ratings:

- Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros 5/5

- Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros 5/5

- Twisted Love by Ana Huang 4/5

- A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas 4/5

- A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas 5/5

- A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J Maas 5/5

- A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J Maas 4/5

- Parts of Us by Cara Dee 5/5

- A Court of Silver Flames 5/5

- Cattle Stop by Kit Oliver 5/5

- Don’t You Dare by C E Ricci 4/5

- Power Play by Cara Dee 5/5

Can we talk about Feyre walking around, for weeks, thinking she was alone and there were fairies all over the place and no one told her?😂

Having a hard time getting into new book after fourth wing and acotar.

I’m currently reading the bridge kingdom and so far it’s good (I’m about halfway through), but I keep getting distracted. Not feeling like I have to know what happens next.

Tried started four different book before landing on this one. Hopefully this feeling will go away soon. It happens after books I’ve been particularly invested in.

I thought Rhun was the love interest. I was very confused

So I just started reading Crescent City after seeing it being recommended here and there. I knew basically nothing about it though other than getting the sound bite Ruhn Danaan crown prince of the Valbaran Fae on tik tok a lot. Tik tok made it seem like he would be the love interest and I got so confused when he was just introduced as Bryce’s half brother😂

I was like either this is a fake brother situation or this is a whole different book than I thought😅

Every writer is different. Every writer creates as they wish. If everyone wrote the same way or made the same artistic choices, then we would have nothing but copy paste stories that don't shine with the vibrant colors of their authors.

What I'm trying to say is that trying to police a writer into adhering to some standard you have set in your head is like trying to stop the flow of coursing water.

It goes where it wants to go and water will erode any stone or metal, even if it takes a long time.

Writing is as much an art as painting and music and all the other art forms in which we so openly accept innovation.

Let writers create the way they feel is best. If their style does not appeal to you, move on. Find someone whose style does and pay them the compliment of your kind words instead of lashing out to those who don't fit your mold.

Book Rec - The Renegades Series by Cara Dee

The renegade series by Cara Dee

I just read through the whole series in like three days. I couldn’t put them down. Cara has a way of making me care deeply about her characters. They’re become so real to me.

If you love a good steamy M/M romance with a good dose of action on the side, this series is for you.

All the feels. All the excitement. All the love.

I’m obsesses with her BDSM series which was how I was introduced to her writing and I’m now branching out to her other books. I want to read them all. Everything I’ve read from her so far has been great.

Have you read this series yet?

Have you read other books from Cara Dee? If you have which is your favorite?