I had very high expectations for this book and was left incredibly disappointed.

A large portion of the dialogue is told indirectly and it’s exhausting to read. It reads like a summary or a protocol. In the same vein, most of the thoughts and emotions and complex dynamics are told instead of shown. A couple chapters in I didn’t even remember half of the men’s names because it’s all so fleeting.

After that the book was just kinda whatever. I dont care much for spice and beyond sexual attraction there was very little development. Even the severe trauma the FMC goes through is treated like a “whatever” thing by her and isn’t even seen as that bad. Huh? And then the way the MMCs handled the aftermath? Yeah, that would require genuinely masterful groveling, but from what I’ve read in the second book, there will be 0 grovel in favour of smut. So, I’m dnfing the series, very dissatisfied and disappointed.

Lots more to say in theory, but this read drained me so… I’m good.

“You are infuriating. You are also fierce, and smart, and brave, and… competent.” “Competent, eh?” “Self-sufficient? Independent? Capable? Choose a synonym, Richards,” he scowled at me as he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his pants. “I’m trying to give you a compliment.” “So, we’re back to ‘infuriating’ then?”

💞 Rivals to Lovers, Coworkers ✨ Mysteries & Conspiracies ✨ Agents / Bodyguards to the President’s Family ✨ Mutually Protective ✨ Medium/Slow Burn

Plot Summary:

After finishing their training at an academy, Luke and Artemis are assigned to protect the president’s kids. Quickly, they realize this will be more than a simple babysitting job, as the attacks and kidnapping attempt are getting more frequent, and they have to get over their rivalry, as the other is the only one they might actually be able to trust…

✅ They are realistic rivals/enemies with plenty history and no over the top conflicts or bullying history, but good banter. Instead of being caused by some dumb misunderstanding or just “not liking” each other, their rivalry is genuinely based on competition. And once they have to work together, they can be professional, but still have competetive banter.

“Just Artemis fawning over Luke Ryder again,” she crowed. I rolled my eyes. “If by fawning, you mean he’s a deer, I have a gun, and it’s open season, then sure.”

✅The character development was pretty great. The characters started out kimda childish, still in the academy/school mindset, but they learned quick that there is no place for that in the real world, and they adjust accordingly and learn to work together, to banter, to trust…

The smile on Luke’s face slowly faded as reality set in once again. I was sorry to see it go. He had a nice smile. It was like a patch of bright blue amidst all the thunderheads: refreshing and unexpected. Nice, Artemis. Now you’re waxing poetic. I snorted at myself, making Luke’s expression shift into concern—probably for my sanity.

➖ The pacing was a bit all over the place. Really good at times, but around the middle part there is a lot of repetitive stuff, where we watch a house being sweeped for the third time, or random debriefs in which no new information is learned… It‘s not too bad, but it did make me skim a bit at times.

“We did have a moment earlier,” I admitted quietly. “That’s all I was asking,” he said conversationally; we might have been talking about the weather, for all his neutral tone implied. “Why?” “I thought it was interesting.” “What was interesting?” “That it’s mutual.”

❌ The trope in which the superiors and people of authority are incompetent and refuse to listen for no good reason. After they already had traitors in their midst they refuse to consider that it might’ve happened again.

Conclusion:

It‘s a fun read! Definitely more young adult and the romance is a bit more of a subplot, but still a good read. I liked the agent academy elements, though I did wish that throughout the book we would have seen more of the things they actually trained besides their fighting skills. Still, I liked the characters, the romance, the plot, how the romance developed… A good read!

💕Reverse Harem (MMMF) 💕Bloody Mary x Vampires x Unicorn Shifter ✨Centered around MM relations ✨Possessive FMC ✨Love Triangle ✨Fated Mates ✨Enemies to Lovers ✨Insta Lust 📍Motorcycle Club Setting ❗️Dubcon between MCs

✅ The plot itself is actually really cool and fresh, and I haven’t seen something quite like it before.

✅When the MMCs, especially Warrick, talks about Bellonna, you can actually feel the fear and hesitance that would come from accidentally inviting a legendary monster like that into your home. There is some real reverence… at least at first

❌ This threatening aura is immediately undermined by the fact that Bellonna never actually does anything threatening. Even when she is enraged it has zero emotional weight and falls flat, people are terrified of the tales about her, not her.

❌ It’s not really a reverse harem, because the centrepiece of the relationship is Valys, not Bellonna. Everyone is competing for his attention, fighting over him, and he even has to ask her if she is willing to share him with the others. She feels more like an afterthought and a hot piece of ass if anything…

❌ No worldbuilding or downtime. Just plot, smut, plot, smut, plot. Many aspects were just not explained at all, it felt very surface level.

❌No organic development of relationships either. One moment they’re essentially strangers and in the next they’re suddenly obsessed, in love, feel safe with each other and act like they have a longstanding history beyond lust and a single hookup…

❌The writing itself was just not very good. It felt very soulless and fell flat, no emotional weight and is all felt very stiff. Emotions had little to no impact and despite the extremely fast pacing, it bored me.

Random other thoughts: ➖ The bikerclub setting was completely irrelevant to the rest of the plot. It didn’t play a role ONCE ➖ Random inconsistencies, like Bellonna’s eye colour changing, or characters suddenly forgetting info they were told a chapter earlier ➖ The FMC has a sex slave… ➖ Every single character is horny af. Not just the MCs but every single supporting character as well. Like Lillith randomly groping herself mid conversation or asking when Bellonna is gonna eat her out like ma’am, what?

Conclusion The premise of the book was really interesting. While I’m not a huge fan of the harem focusing on a guy instead of a girl I would have been fine with it, because it made for an interesting conflict, in theory. The execution is where it all fell apart for me. Little worldbuilding, so fast paced that relationships don’t develop organically, and what should’ve been emotional scenes fell entirely flat. Maybe a couple more drafts and an editor, and this could have been a great book, because like I said, the premise is very intruiging.

Very fast read. I loved the pacing, it was insta-lovey but we actually got to know the characters’ personalities a bit.

The last chapter before the epilogue took me out of it a bit, would’ve been a 5 star read without it. There’s not much more to it really, it’s a quick and nice read.

It’s your typical 40 page fast burn novella, if you like Jessa Joy, you’ll like this.

I found myself getting bored quickly, but She’s early twenties I’d guess; way too young for an old man like me. My cock disagrees, lengthening and hardening until it’s stuffed against my zipper. woke me up enough.

The ending is very abrupt and you just have to kinda take the author’s word for it when she says HEA, because we do not really see it.

Dedicated to the girlies who want to be hoarded.

Dynamics: Masc Alpha Dragon x Fem Omega Human Tropes: Omegaverse, Fated Mates, Insta Love, Forced Proximity

Loved this so much. Vidar is a man who knows how to YEARN and LOVE. He is furious at himself for not immediately being strong enough to literally sweep her off her feet and instead relying on her, but he makes up for it down the line.

A dragon always craved more. We loved fiercely, coveted possessively, and guarded the most precious treasure with our lives.

Loved how respectful while also fully obsessed he was. He doesn't push the bonding onto her, making -sure she understands what immortality entails, and never pushes her.

"Fate is forever. You, Lianna, are my forever now."

Lianna is a great character, torn between her beliefs and being realistic about societal expectations. She is an omega and knows how that makes people view her. She is careful to trust and feisty, but once the man she truly wants comes along, she allows herself to relax with him.

For such a huge, burly alpha, he gave me cute aggression, just sitting there, all unassuming and naked, cross-legged as he snipped, snipped, snipped at his facial hair with a pair of silver scissors.

Loved the exploration of omegaverse sociology and culture as well, delicious. I'm totally gonna check out more from this author (realized many of her books were on my tbr list already and I loved this, so I'm ready)

"What's mine is yours," he whispered roughly, "and I take very good care of what is mine."

Is it a perfect book or subverting common tropes? No, not really! But it’s a really sweet coming of age story about two people from wildly different backgrounds coming together.

My biggest complaint is that with the amount of hurt happening there was not nearly enough comfort for my taste.