 5 stars
Honestly?? I’m obsessed. I'm not usually a dragon-shifter person, but wow did this Regency-adjacent, filthy-yet-sweet variant really hit the spot. Concept: ★★★ Plot/Pacing: ★★★★★ Romance: ★★★★★ Calling all fans of dragons, Regency romances, alpha/omega, and soft yet filthy stories... The Alpha of Bleake Isle is your kind of good time. As the one Alpha of the Bleake Isle dragonkin, it's Lord Ronson Cadogan's duty to choose an eligible omega once per decade from society as his official rut partner. The fact that Ronson hasn't chosen one in decades is... not going well. The stuffy society Beta men of the island aren't going to let him get away with this odd behavior without a challenge for much longer, and Ronson knows it. So this time, he's made it clear that he intends to pick an omega for the very first time. Mairwen Posy knows precisely who the Alpha of Bleake Isle will choose, and it certainly isn't her. In fact, it's so predictable it's almost boring. Mairwen, called "Mouse" by society, is a wallflower and observer, cursed to the sidelines due to her lack of perfume and less-than-ideal body shape. So it shocks everyone when Ronson chooses...Mairwen. (The two of them have their reasons for this choice.) Now officially "together" with no warning and no preparation, Ronson and Mairwen discover that things on Bleake Isle aren't quite as they should be... and it's up to them to fix it. But can they fix the rot at the core of Bleake Isle while facing an intense attraction to each other?? Dun dun dun. Cue that sweet, sweet romance set with a heavy dose of spice. It was no surprise to me that I enjoyed this story—I am obsessed with Kathryn Moon. I'm always going to read what she writes. Always. But I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting to fall utterly in love with this story. The dragon thing tied to the historical vibes...Those are not buzzwords for me as a reader. But then I tried it, and DAMN. I'm into it now. (Or at least, I'm into the version of it that Kathryn's given us here.) This was sweeter than I expected it to be. This was more plot-filled than I expected it to be. And it was just... perfect. I loved Ronson and Mairwen. I loved the unique spin on the alpha/omega tropes and setup. Every expectation I had was clearly blown away, and I find myself eagerly sitting on my hands now, waiting for news for more in this series/world! Thank you to the author for my early copy.
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 5 stars
Me: I will never read a book with the cheating trope!! Never!! Sara Cate: Bet. Me: *immediately smashes that TBR button and consumes the story* When I tell you I devoured this story, I need you to know that I mean that literally. The Home Wrecker consumed me—this polyamorous story of Caleb, Briar, and Dean was one that I never thought I'd be interested in reading but, once Sara Cate introduced me to these characters, I knew it was all over for me. I don't like books with the following tropes: cheating, established marriages, or large plots involving children/having children as a main element of the story. I also speed away from all books centered on religion. The Home Wrecker had all of my no-no list tropes. It's about an established marriage in crisis surrounding two extremely religious characters who are trying to conceive their second child and fracturing apart because of their failures. Even typing out that sentence, my body is going ICK, PLEASE, NO. Those things are (were) not for me. But I was intrigued by The Home Wrecker's premise: Briar and Caleb, our married couple, find themselves orbiting around a new man in their lives—Dean. Dean is an escort with a very open sexuality (he's bi) and a sensuality to his lifestyle that both Briar and Caleb cannot understand. Dean's happy with who he is, he's not religious, and he's not afraid of his own desires and wants. Both Caleb and Briar are afraid of so many things. When Dean's presence starts to unravel the tightly wound nest of problems at the core of Briar and Caleb's relationship, all three of them start to realize that maybe... there's something else worth fighting for in this tense cold war. The core of the story is Briar and Caleb's relationship and how Dean finds his own home and belonging within their arms--I don't want this blurb to sound like Dean is a tool for the "main pairing" to thrive. Sara Cate has written a truly polyamorous love story here and Dean's own personal arc and journey are just as important as both Briar's and Caleb's. The marriage pairing might be the sexy and taboo hook here for the marketing, but I want to highlight Dean's own individualism in this story. His happy ending is very much at play here too. If you can handle the idea of these tropes, and you're willing to explore non-heteronormative traditional endings and acceptance, then I'd love to point you toward this book. It's a fulfilling and loving story of acceptance and personal growth wrapped up in a very Sara Cate-style sexy package. Come for the spicy taboo. Stay for the feels. I promise you won't regret it. (And trust Sara on the cheating trope! I did.) Thank you so much to the author for my advanced reader copy and the wonderful goodie package!!  4.5 stars
Well then. I haven’t felt that level of creeping, utter dread in quite some time—and certainly not while bathed in the surface level story of a sunshine cottage core sapphic love story. This story isn’t about the shock of a reveal. It’s about the never-ending ceaseless anxiety of the trap closing softly around you. Too gentle to identify as a danger. Too inexorable to escape. I'm not even going to describe this story, because I think it works best when you can experience the inescapable dread in real time. Stunning novella. Polarizing if you think the “reveal” is meant to be the draw of the tale. Recommended highly to my other short/weird/queer horror fans.  5 stars
This was quite the experience. I’m not sure how to talk about it? ...But I'll give it a whirl. I feel like Pam Godwin is in her own category and should be reviewed and talked about as such. Concept: truly dark, truly a Pam experience, truly gripping Sense of danger: ★★★★★ Characters: ★★★★★ I have no idea how to talk about this book—I feel that way about most Pam Godwin stories, let's be honest—because it's one of those stories that's meant for a very select readership and those readers often find these stories organically on their own. So please understand me when I say that this book is NOT for everyone. And it's not even for most dark romance readers? It really, REALLY depends on your personal boundaries and preferences. Let's pitch it like this... Did you love Credence by Penelope Douglas , but you wanted a lot more angst with a real polyamorous angle, a lot more trauma, a lot more triggers, and truly terrifying scenarios? Do you love horror and thriller books with twisted sexual angles in them? Do you have the will to experience realistically paced triggers on page? If you answered yes to all three of those things, then keep reading this review. (If you answered no, that makes sense and I love that for you, but then do please check out some other books instead of this one.) Hills of Shivers and Shadows is a story about survival, first and foremost. And a love story as a distant second subplot (that clearly will grow in the later two books in this trilogy). Don't come for the romance—it's not really about that. It's a study of psychology, of locked-room decision making, of only hard choices and no ability to abstain. What would you do if you were trapped and couldn't get out? Are you the type of character who, when caught in a bear trap, would chew off your own foot to survive if you needed to? Could you do it? This is the kind of questioning that Pam puts our characters through. And it's the kind of gripping, engaging narrative style that forces the reader to consider those same questions of evil versus survival and the depths of human resilience when placed in the darkest of nights. It's a 5-star read for me. But let me explain why, because I don't want to say it's a favorite because of the trauma or the triggers—the pain and traumas in this novel are NOT fetishized for the reader. This is a 5-star for its grip, its realism, and the sheer kudos that must be given to Pam for how absolutely singular this story was for me. Trigger warnings abound in this novel. Click here to visit the author's website to view the list. Thank you to the author for my early copy. |
Amy Imogene ReadsJust someone looking for her own door into Wonderland. Categories
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All reviews posted are my own and do not reflect the opinions of any other individual or entity. When applicable, reviewed titles sent to me by the publisher are noted at the bottom of each review.
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