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Melissa Johnson

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So good…until the awkward ending.

Overall
3 out of 5 stars
Performance
4 out of 5 stars
Story
3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 06-08-25

Ok so going into this book I actually didn’t think I’d like it that much because I’m not super into paranormal romance. But it actually hooked me in to the point that for many many chapters, I didn’t want to put it down. The plot, world-building and character development were overall very good. The trials were exciting, it had just enough jump scares to keep me on my toes but not so much that I wanted to put it down. That being said, it was really good for most of the book, only to be horribly let down by the ending. The author builds up this world and tension and mystery for 50 chapters…only to wrap it up in a rushed, clunky and overly convenient ending that’s over in two chapters and an epilogue? She could have done so much more to close the book and wrap up loose ends but this just didn’t hit the mark. There are still a lot of unanswered questions (maybe a set-up for the next book?) and the ending just felt like a let-down after investing so much emotional energy in the rest of the book.

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Narrator accent?

Overall
4 out of 5 stars
Performance
3 out of 5 stars
Story
3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 04-07-25

I feel like I’m losing my mind because I don’t see any other reviews that mention this…but randomly at chapter 48 the male narrator switches from the semi-normal alien accent that he uses in all the other books to a super annoying Italian accent…or Greek? I don’t know but he started pronouncing words very weird with an over-the top European sounding accent. I even went back to previous chapters to make sure my ears weren’t just deceiving me but no, it definitely changes randomly at chapter 48 or 49 and it was so distracting for me. Otherwise the book was good. Follows the same general formula as the other books in the series. Overall good but maybe skip the audio version of this one.

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How are there so many good reviews for this book?

Overall
2 out of 5 stars
Performance
2 out of 5 stars
Story
2 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 08-08-24

I’m generally a big fan of dark romance and can handle some pretty depraved shit in my books so I wasn’t some naive flower going into this book. There are not many trigger warnings that can scare me away, but I draw the line at r@pe. I found it really disappointing that the writers chose to take it in that direction because otherwise the writing and plot were actually good. There was a decent amount of character development right from the start. There is good sexual tension between the characters and if it was actually written as CNC or dubCON, then I probably would have kept reading. But….there is no way to sugarcoat this, he straight up drugs and r@pes her. There is no redeeming him after that and the most annoying part is that it was entirely unnecessary! The writers were already building the sexual tension between the characters and could have waited for her to fall for him and then write in the sex as dubCON or CNC but they chose to make him a r@pist and I don’t really understand how the reader is supposed to not hate him at that point?
I’ll be the first to admit that I like my MMCs tall dark and a little (or sometimes a lot) fucked up. And there are plenty of ways for authors to stay in that grey area of CNC or dubCON and make it sexy and work for the plot (Haunting Adeline is a great example) but trying to romanticize straight up r@pe is more f*cked up than even I can handle. I’m honestly surprised how many women are giving this book great reviews.

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DNF, not worth the credit!

Overall
2 out of 5 stars
Performance
3 out of 5 stars
Story
2 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 04-16-24

I downloaded this without reading the reviews first only because I love Joe Arden’s voice. But this book was so bad even his narration couldn’t salvage it. I’m all for a sexy boss/employee power dynamic but it’s very poorly thought out in this book. Instead of being sexy, Damon’s blatant advances toward his stepsister on her first day as his intern without ever having met her before just make him feel like a creepy, narcissistic sexual predator. It only continues to get worse from there. Bethany’s internal monologue is all about how badass she is and how she’s going to tell him to kick rocks but then she’s a meek little pushover in all of their interactions. It was just so unrealistic and I kept waiting for some kind of plot to develop only to realize that there basically isn’t one. Not worth wasting a credit on this one.

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I like the series but this one fell flat…

Overall
3 out of 5 stars
Performance
3 out of 5 stars
Story
3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 04-11-24

**spoiler alert**

I really liked the first book in the series but wasn’t a huge fan of this one. Maybe it’s the storyline that I couldn’t get into since I don’t usually go for the pregnancy trope but that’s only part of the reason I didn’t like it. It dragged quite a bit with not much happening during the bulk of the story. Most of the book just felt like a set up for the rest of the series. There wasn’t any real climax or tension like there was in the first book. The whole role of the child in the story just didn’t feel like it made sense to me. Maybe it’s because I have a toddler but trying to relate to a character that has a pregnancy, birth, infant, and then all of a sudden the infant is an adult that ventures out in their own all in the span of a couple months felt wrong and rushed.

Also, I’m all for body positivity in the books I read but there were a lot of times the writing did not convey that even though I think it was clearly the authors intention to be respectful of all body types. For instance, describing the characters breasts as “droopy” or referring to her “stomach rolls” or saying her “thighs stuck together before parting”….there are better ways to describe a curvy body than that.

As far as the narration, the male narrator was good but could have definitely used more inflection during the spicy scenes. It’s weird when they are saying something dirty in the exact same tone they would read everything else. I’m not really sure how to describe that but he didn’t really bring any life to any of the scenes, it was all very monotone.

The female narrator was driving me crazy by the end of the book! She was honestly pretty decent for most of it. Sometimes she was a little too whiny which was annoying but the worst part was that she kept pronouncing the child’s name two different ways every other sentence and it totally took me right out of the story every time. The child’s name is Fyodor. And sometimes she would pronounce it “fee-o-dor” and sometimes she would pronounce it “fi-o-dor” and it was so damn annoying!

Overall, I liked the first book so I’ll keep reading the series. I’m hoping this one was a one-off and the next one will be better 🤷‍♀️

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Love Nikolai and Bran!

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 12-14-23

I’ve been waiting for this book since the author hinted at Nikolai and Bran being a thing a few books ago and I loved it! If I was being super picky I could say that a few story points may have felt a little rushed but it was basically only when the story came back around to events that were already covered in other books so I didn’t actually mind that because it would have been tedious to rehash events that we already read about earlier on in the series. I think this was easily my favorite book of the series so far. After all the bullying from the other male MCs in the rest of the series, Nikolai’s golden retriever attitude toward Bran was a refreshing change of pace. And the male narrators are two of my favorites! They bring so much life to the characters without overacting. Definitely worth a listen!

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My favorite book of the year!

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 10-23-23

This book was *chef’s kiss* so good! The story was entertaining, the dialogue was witty and hilarious, there were multiple times that I actually laughed out loud while listening to it. The narration was perfect. This is one of the only books I’ve read/listened to this year that I don’t have a single complaint about. If you can handle darker themes and some gore with your romance then you definitely will want to read this one!

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Excellent book!

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 08-23-23

Loved this book! I initially downloaded it just because I heard the spice was ghost pepper level hot and oh boy, it was! But I was really pleasantly surprised with the book as a whole. I’ve read/listened to A LOT of spicy books and sooo many of them rely on the sex to carry the book and make up for a poorly thought out and executed plot. This book gave me everything I want in a spicy romance book. The plot was interesting and kept me wanting to read more, the character development was great and allowed the reader to really get invested in the growth of the characters and the relationship. The sex was HOT, HOT, HOT without being cringey. And the duet narration was *chef’s kiss*! Overall 10/10, highly recommend.

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Entertaining but not my favorite by J.T.G.

Overall
4 out of 5 stars
Performance
4 out of 5 stars
Story
3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 08-13-23

I enjoyed this audiobook but it wasn’t my favorite by J.T.G. I might have enjoyed reading it more than listening to it because while the narrators were very good and definitely helped bring the story to life, the female narrator sounded just like Samantha from Sex and the City. I know that’s a weird comparison but I swear she sounded just like her and I couldn’t get that out of my head the entire time. Don’t get me wrong, she is a very talented narrator but the voice didn’t fit the character for me and it totally took me out of the story. Some story bits were a bit cringy and predictable but overall it was entertaining and worth the read.

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Narrators are great but story is so-so

Overall
3 out of 5 stars
Performance
3 out of 5 stars
Story
2 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 06-05-23

Loved the narration but I couldn’t get on board with all the self-deprecating comments by the FMC. I felt like the author spent way more time than necessary describing the FMC’s body type and the repeated self-deprecating comments by the FMC about her own body got to be exhausting. I also hate reading books where it takes a man’s love for a woman to realize her own worth. I want to read about women who are strong and confident and love themselves without someone else’s approval. The love interest should reinforce a woman’s self-worth, not be the sole reason for it.

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