Renee's Reading Nook

I just finished King of Hearts by Ashley Munoz. It's the second book in the Rake Forge University Series (I reviewed the first one before this). This book follows Taylor and Juan. Taylor is Mallory's sister and Juan her best friend. I loved their chemistry and and the twist that happens. I give it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and 🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶! The 🔥 is so good. Taylor and Juan have such a horrible dynamic in the beginning it's not surprising the way the relationship develops though when Juan feels protective over Taylor. The twist goes from there, no spoilers this time.

I just finished Wild Card by Ashley Munoz and it was so cute! Overall I'd give it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ spice was off the charts 🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶 . The only reason I'm giving it 4 stars is that the beginning is a bit slow and, for me, hard to get into. Once I did though it was fantastic! The book focuses on Decker and Mallory's relationship. Decker has a lot going on emotionally and Mallory helps him overcome a lot of that, but not before Decker royally screws up. You really see the ups and downs of their relationship. 

I JUST finished Relapse by T.L Hodel Mind you this book just came out today, but obviously if you've read my previous posts, you know I have been dying for this book for so long! It was so worth the wait! Mason and Harper's story is even better than I anticipated. The steam in this one is 🔥!! It picks up after the events in Happenstance and explains a whole lot of questions. I was so happy we finally get to hear what happened between Harper and Mason and the development between the two of them throughout the book is monumental. It gives you all the feels. The possessiveness Mason has towards Harper throughout the entire book is so hot. I definitely have Mason down as a new book boyfriend!

I started and finished Tracy Lorraine's Dark Princess today, which I received as an ARC for my honest review. It was amazing! 10/5 ⭐️ the spice was 🌶🌶🌶🌶 and the cliffhanger 🤯🤯🤯 I legitimately do not know what I am going to do until August!  Dark Princess is the continuation of Calli and Batman's story, it's the second book in their story. It goes deeper into their relationship and really shows you their chemistry. Batman still thinks he is unworthy of Calli and she continues to try to show him he is. You really feel for both of them during this journey.  I really wish the last book were coming out tomorrow, heck I'd even take next week. I don't know how I will handle a whole month!

In anticipation of Relapse by T.L. Hodel coming out on the 29th (eeek it's coming up so fast!!) I've been re-reading The Order of Ravens and Wolves Series.  I just finished Aftereffect, which is Micha and Riley's story. I really love how well written these books are, they pull you into this world and immerse you in this secret society. You get to know the intricacies of the characters and it really makes you feel all the feels.  Riley and Micha are perfect for each other. Riley doesn't put up with Micha's bull and puts him in his place most of the time. The things Micha has done to Riley over the years aren't ok and shouldn't be swept under the rug, but the moment he realizes how much he loves Riley is perfection. I'm going to take a break before I move on to Scartissue and read First Comes Love by Nicole French as it's been on my TBR for quite a while now.

I just finished Tease by Melanie Harlow.  It was so cute and heartfelt. A couple of times I felt it was a bit rushed which remembering back to Taste, which is the second in this series, I felt the same way. I never finished Ignite, the first in the Cloverleigh Next Gen series, so I can't say if I would have felt the same. Ignite was just hard for me to get into and I really wanted to read Tease having already read Taste.  Tease was a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me with the spice at 🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶. For a nerd Hutton KNOWS what's going on. The story was cute and it left me with the warm fuzziness but nothing over the top. Just a really decent read. Up next I'm going to be re-reading the Ravens and Wolves Series by T.L. Hodel (Scartissue is up currently) in anticipation of Relapse being released in 1 week!!! Plus I'm going to be getting an ARC of Devient Princess by Tracy Lorraine in 2 days. So LOTS of exciting things!!!

I received an ARC copy of Cruel Bully by Bianca Cole which took me away from Ignite so I will get back to that one now that I'm done with Cruel Bully. Elias and Natalya are fire! The chemistry is off the charts and Nat is much more wicked than she seems. Elias develops into a much deeper character than I thought he would.  I didn't realize it really isn't a standalone book, it is but you should read the previous book to fully understand certain aspects of Cruel Bully. I am very interested to see what comes of Camilla and Professor Nitkin's story. The only thing I wished it would have done is explained things further. Certain elements became redundant and repeatative.  I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review

I was mentioned in Daniela Romero's newsletter for my review of Cruel Promise!!! I'm sure this isn't a huge deal to some people but it makes me feel really good being recognized!

The Mother Road is beyond all 5 🌟!  This book was amazing! I laughed so hard at one point I had spit coming out of my mouth, I'm only slightly embarrassed to admit that. Marley is a riot mixed with Paul it's comedic gold.  The quick run down is that the family: Marley, Paul, and Bernie, take a road trip along Route 66 as originally planned by Marley and Paul's mother who passed when they were young. They end up also adding Porter, Paul's best friend and Marley's long ago love interest and a second son to Bernie and "mama McMann". As they go along state through state, KOA to KOA the hysterics begin. "Eck, gross, Paul. No one wants to hear about your little warthog needing love,” Marley says, disgust in her voice. “Warthog?” I ask with a raised brow. She shrugs her shoulders. “I don’t know. In my mind, Paul’s dick has tusks and belches into vaginas like Pumba from The Lion King. I can’t imagine it being a pretty thing.” -Marley ...

I just finished Co-Wrecker by Meghan Quinn and as usual her books are so funny.          (Trying out new picture set ups) I really liked it, it have the perfect amount of steam and humor to keep you interested and entertained. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and 🌶🌶🌶🌶 So Sadie is this closed off troubled woman who has had a lot of trauma in her life. She keeps close to her friend's circle and doesn't let outsiders in. That is until she is tasked with training Andrew at an ice cream parlor. Andrew is an over the top uber nerd.  He is attending college in the Fall so he is just working for the summer, but hopes for a longer relationshipwith Sadie. Given Sadie's trust issues this is difficult for her. The humor during all of this is top notch (I legitimately snort laughed at parts).   Some gems: When Andrew and Sadie have sex for the first time: Hold the fuck back. Grandma, think of Grandma. Lipstick on the teeth, curlers in her hair unt...

So I finished Betray Me and Bury Me by Selena. Once again I have no idea how I feel. The second book (Betray Me) pulled me in, I needed all of the answers that were left unresolved ASAP. So obviously I move on to Bury Me for those answers and I feel like it fell a bit flat. I felt like it focused maybe too much on random parts of Devlin being randomly over the top jealous and possessive. The cheese factor was hard-core too! At one point Crystal is worried about Devlin's hand so she grabs some ice, he does the you don't have to thing, she's all yes I do I can't believe you did that for. "Worth it" is the response. I'm all for the swoony stuff but that just made me laugh at the corniness of it. Now one of my favorite lines that actually makes me absolutely swoon, is when Devlin tells Crystal: “Then I’ll still spend every day of my life trying to earn your trust and respect, and if it fails, and you never love me again, at ...

I just finished Bully Me by Selena and I am...blank.  I legitimately don't know how to feel. Did I like it? Yes? Maybe? I honestly have no clue right now. Maybe it will hit me later and I'll have more concrete thoughts about how I feel? We meet the Dolce clan at the beginning when their father tells them they are moving from New York to Arkansas. Still need to see why that happened. Once there they meet the Darling family that pretty much runs the town. The Dolce family (Crystal is the main female character and this is all from her POV) is under the impression they can take over and rule the school. What ensues is madness. Like this is a hard-core bully trope! Triggers are abundant! Crystal gets dragged through it by Devlin Darling, the main male character. He basically destroys her. I liked and hated a lot of aspects about this book. The beginning was pretty good. The feud between the two family's is something else and sometimes taken to...

I just finished Cruel Promise by Daniela Romero. And were it not for a Amazon snafu I would have been done last night. Did I mention yesterday was release day? It was that good. There was an issue with Amazon so at first I could only read the first 13 chapters, which were amazing in and of themselves. Once that was remedied I had all 23, so if your copy still only has 13 remove from your downloads and re-download. Cruel Promise is the continuation of Cruel Devil where Kasey and Dom are introduced as a "couple". In Cruel Devil Kasey has lost her mother and turns to Dom for comfort via sex.  Cruel Promise continues that booty call status. There is so much more in Cruel Promise than just their relationship and how it evolves though. We see Kasey still dealing with the death of her mother, friendships and new relationships, and aspects of Aaron we hadn't fully seen before. I love the fact that Deacon and Aaron play a larger role in the book and we get ...

I have started 3 books in the past week. No idea why nothing is keeping my interest. So I'm on to a re-read of The Order of Ravens and Wolves in anticipation of Mason's book which as of right now comes out at the end of this month (7/29).  My beautiful paperbacks that haven't been touched and I am desperate to have signed! Accident-prone drives me nuts as it's not the same spine as the others. Ok back to not holding my interest, I shouldn't even say that they don't hold my interest because they are fantastic books but there are just so many I want to read. If I was one of those people that could read more than one book at a time I so would. I've tried it numerous times and just end up not really enjoying either book. Any tips on that would be greatly appreciated! My next review will be on Aftereffect by T.L. Hodel (see above photo). It's a re-read but I've never reviewed it so onward with that we go.  Let me know your favorite...

So I received an ARC copy of Ruins of Temptation (I received a free copy of this book via Bleeding Heart Press and am voluntarily leaving a review.) OMG! It was amazing. This is a continuation of the Corium University Series. It follows Lucas and Delilah. The chemistry between these two is so charged, it's 🔥. It really reminded me of the beginning of Aspens journey but Delilah is so so so much different. It's like night and day! Lucas is this complete alpha male, taking what he wants. He also tries to deny and "fix" those parts of himself. He wants so badly to be good and have a good relationship with Aspen, but it's a struggle for him. He is such a dynamic character and he was really brought to life. Now Delilah...hmm. There were times I wanted to throw my kindle with her.  And other times I absolutely loved her. She is so stubborn it's pretty much to her detriment. She thinks she has these walls up but breaks with Lucas, even momenta...

I have been reading so much that I have lacked time to write. That changes today. I have more free time now that I am not working so I have no excuses. I'm going to try to catch up on other books I've read since my last post but we'll start with my most recent read: Dark Knight by Tracy Lorraine Ahhh once again I should have waited for the rest of the series to be complete ( Dark Princess comes out July 28th and Dark Legacy in August). Will I wait till August to finish the last 2? 💯 no. Can't do it. I need so many questions answered! So without spoiling anything (for now), Dark Knight is the continuation of Dark Halloween. It gives you context on how the relationship between Calli and Batman started. The beginning of Dark Knight is the same as what was in the Bully God anthology, if you've read that it's like a refresh.  Dark Knight basically sets the scene to continue the war with the Italians (have to have read the previous Knights Rid...

Her Soul to Take So steamy and spicy, I absolutely love it! Even with her complete (like nonexistent) lack of self-preservation, I don't dislike Rea as a character. Leon? Well, he can straight up have my soul! He was so well written I felt like I could feel and see him in the flesh, did I mention feel? I'm honestly surprised I got so into this, I have not been in a PNR mood for a seriously long time! But boy did this hit the spot! The major downside to the book: Ok...67% in...Rea, girl we need to talk. At this point, that lack of self-preservation is no longer mildly cute.  No one and I mean no one should be taking an open container drink from ANYONE!! Say it with me, "I'll get my own thank you". That just screams drug me and violate me. Like she got really lucky there! And yes this is my review PSA, if you take nothing else from this at least remember to NEVER take an open container from someone you don't really know! I really am looki...