Lauren🌙

Not what I expected but in the best way possible

Reviewed: 04-13-24

I came into this with a totally open mind when someone from my book club recommended this for the month. I honestly went into it thinking this was going to be a romance of some sort but thats further from the truth. There is a tiny romance piece but that’s it. I would say this has more of a horror element to it.

With that said, this book really is fun. It’s a pretty quick read and is great for people that love dating shows like “The Bachelor”. It also has a queer element to it which was a super adorable cherry on top.

The only thing holding me back from that 5th star is that I wish the ending wasn’t so rushed feeling. I wanted to know more… about her of course. I wanted to know more!! It just felt like it was missing some information that I could have really gotten into and that just didn’t happen which bummed me out.

Overall though, if you like fun, pretty tame horror stories this is a good one! I wasn’t expecting to like it as much as I did. I would recommend!

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Favorite book in the series without a doubt!

Reviewed: 07-03-23

Sara Cate has done it again!!! Each book added to the Salacious Series gets better and better. “Give me More” is by far my favorite in the series. Trust me, the name checks out. By the end of this I was literally saying “give me more of this story!!!” I wish it never ended so I decided to read it twice within a week.

Hunter and Isabel are married and Drake is Hunters life long best friend. The three of them go on a road trip to tour other sex clubs to get ideas for Salacious. However, things shake up pretty quickly when Hunter stumbles in on his wife and bestie in a compromising position during a demonstration at one of the clubs…. But he ain’t mad about it. In fact, he is the opposite of mad and suddenly the thought of watching Isabel and Drake have sex consumes him. And if there is anything to know about Hunter, it’s that he is a man that usually gets what he wants… eventually.

First off….the spice. Ah. The spice! The more books Sara puts out, the more she does an amazing job of showing you the details of every scene, right down to the very last drop. Some of the things that happened wouldn’t have even occurred to me to be sexy or interesting but wow did that change. The demanding direction given by Hunter? Yes, please! The one line that tipped me over the edge and sold me on the entire book was “Spread your legs for him baby. Let him see how beautiful you are.” How could you even say no to that?! 🥵

Second… the character development. The last thing I expected from a steamy read was good character growth. But oh my god when I say I was rooting for Hunter, I mean I was literally raising my voice yelling at the pages for him to follow his heart and be his true self. It really was a beautiful story line and honestly made me do some self reflection myself. That certainly came out of left field but in the best way possible. And let’s not forget Drake! I mean, he is the scoundrel after all. He is the one that would have fun with mostly any human at any given time. But things change when you realize you have fallen in love.

And the narrators? Um, yea. They were all amazing and perfect for each of these characters. I literally started the book and got lost in how perfect they were for this story.

I am so so happy these three got their own book. I was blown away and it far exceeded my expectations. Is it for everyone? Maybe not. But let’s take a moment of silence for those folks because they are wrong and sometimes it’s hard to admit that. This checks every single one of my already known boxes and I even ended up adding more that I didn’t know I wanted.

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Good ol taboo read - Yes, please!

Reviewed: 07-03-23

I have been holding off on submitting this review until I had time to process... which ended up taking me reading this book twice to really do. Not because I didn't like it the first round, but because I actually loved it the first round and wanted to make sure I didn't have rose colored glasses on.

First off, I love me a good and dirty taboo read. This is a completely made up story and I take it exactly as that and woo wee let me tell you, that's the mind set you need going in to this one. Go in with an open mindset and remember.... It's. not. real. Mia and Garrett are step siblings (not blood related!) but the chemistry and tension is intense. It's fun, its got spice, there is definitely a slow burn element to it and it could potentially take you days to stop thinking about. Not going to lie, there were a few moments I felt myself blushing in the cheeks while sitting in the same room as a friend while reading this. Phew. Would I recommend? Look, if you are looking for a quick, fun and sexy read, YES!!! Read this book.

I love that Mia embraces her sexuality, and although she's a little immature and inexperienced, she does a wonderful job of staying true to herself and what she wants, and goes to the beat of her own drum. Everyone has to learn things at some point and the fact that she embraced that made be root for her. She may have been keeping her feelings for Garrett under wraps for a really long time, but she doesn't just see him once and give up everything in life to run off in the sunset with him. This isn't a love at first sight now I'm moving in with a billionaire story. That is exactly what I want to see from an fmc and I honestly love how she is written.

Garrett is the tortured soul in the relationship that I think we can all relate to in some way or another. He goes through those moments of intense happiness and sadness. Some folks may not relate to the major swings, but we have all been through terrible moments. There hasn't been a lot in his love life over the last decade that has given him the spark that he needs to put in any effort until he stumbles across Mia online. Once things change between them he does keep a pretty terrible secret, but otherwise things for him and the Salacious Players Club are kind of on the up swing. I always root for the underdog and just wanted him to be in a good place by the end of it all.

And both the narrators knocked this one out of the park. They both played the characters really well and I loved listening!

So why the 4 stars instead of 5? Just a couple of things that I couldn't look past. First, I got a bit annoyed that they had to clarify or state their step sibling status so often. It seemed like for the first half of the book it was mentioned in almost every chapter and I got tired of it... quickly. Yes, I understand it's to drive the point home, but I was already invested and accepted the relationship. I didn't stop reading so obviously it didn't bother me and if it did, well, I should have put the book down sooner. I don't need to continue reading that they are step siblings many more times than a few.

Lastly, I felt that the tale of Garretts mental health history was a little late in the story. I understand why it was put in the book, but it did feel a bit more like an after thought and should have been moved up earlier in the story. It was an important part of the story, but it did feel like it was a "Oh I have this important piece of information I need to add, I'll shove it here to make sure it's covered."

After reading the first book in the series I didn't know what to expect but it turned out way better than I imagined. Sara Cate has quickly turned into a one click buy for me whether it be on Audible or Kindle. When I am in the mood for some steamy, taboo spice I know where to go. I am looking forward to the other two books in the series to add to my arsenal.

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Maggie finally gets the spotlight she deserves!

Reviewed: 07-03-23

Phew. Ok. Just need to catch my breath. 🥵Mercy. Mercy. Mercy. The 4th book in the Salacious series (hopefully not the last), was breath taking. This entire series has been a breath of fresh air for me this year. I immediately fell in love when I read “Praise” and that love has only grown throughout each story. Sara Cate knows how to balance spicy and emotional in the most perfect way and she has quickly turned into one of my favorite authors. Not to mention she does a great job of presenting ideas in a way that actually make you start to think “Wow, I didn’t realize how intrigued I am until this very moment!” I guess I can thank Sara for opening my eyes to things I would have never even thought about before. Thanks, Sara! 😅

Maggie and Beaus story had so many touching moments, I literally couldn’t put it down. They both had so much going on internally and they tackled it together beautifully. They were a great team and were willing to learn more about the lifestyle together and be vulnerable with each other as newbies. Thankfully with both of them going in blind Maggie is able to get some awesome guidance from Eden (yes, our resident guru is back!) and come up with some creative ideas to help her fill her new shoes with confidence and give Beau what he he needs.

Maggie has always been the reserved owner in the Salacious group, but she’s a woman that isn’t afraid to get things done. She’s a gal after my own heart. But, behind a strong woman there can always be doubt and insecurities. Maggie is extremely brave and is finally able to overcome the insecurities she has been carrying around like a heavy backpack her whole life. Anyone can learn a lesson from that.

Beau on the other hand is a total brat. If anyone walked away from “Praise” thinking anything else I’d be very surprised. He has a lot to learn and quickly realizes that he has nothing to lose so he might as well give something new a try….and what he finds is exactly what he needs. His transformation from the first book to the last was so great and if you are a sucker for the underdog like me, you’ll appreciate it. Not to mention his behavior to seek out the attention from Maggie…. Yep, that was great. Looking at you painting incident.

I also really enjoyed the narrators for this one. I wish the female narrator had a better male voice, but it wasn't the end of the world for me. Could have been better, but wasn't the worst I have heard. Everything else was great with the narration.

The only, and I really do mean only, thing I wanted more of was tension building up to some of the major moments in the story. I love a good internal debacle but most of the conflict seemed to resolve pretty quickly during the book. Seeing more of the reservation from Maggie and Beau before they start their trek towards finding their true selves would have been nice to see. With that said, this was not a deal breaker for me at all and I absolutely love this book and highly recommend it! Happy reading!

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My first stalker romance and I really enjoyed it

Reviewed: 06-27-23 Listener received this title free

I have never really gone out of my way to read a stalker romance, but when I found out Daisy Jane was expanding into the audiobook world I knew I had to give it a shot. At this point I have read most of Daisy’s collection and this is very true to her style; Taboo, quick moving, and intense…. And I absolutely love that about her books!

Donavan, Van for short, will do literally anything to make sure Violet is safe and taken care of, and it just so happens she needs someone like that because she doesn’t have many people on her side. After keeping tabs on her for quite some time he launches into a spur of the moment introduction and ends up grabbing her to take home. It seems pretty insane on the outside but Van really is one of the sweetest mmcs I have read recently. He might be like a bull in a cabinet with his execution, but he always, always means well and wants the best for the people he loves… especially Violet.

Violet is in multiple messed up situations. She’s so sweet and caring to those around her, but she rarely gets that treatment back. It’s honestly super sad, and I felt for Violet the entire time. It was amazing to see her find her voice in life and work towards getting everything she ever dreamed of. I just kept rooting for her every time a little more confidence and sass slipped out of her mouth.

The story comes together really nicely but I definitely recommend reading the TW on the authors website. This has very dark parts to it that may not sit well with everyone. But, if dark stalker romances with a super alpha male are your thing I recommend. My only critique is that I’m not a super fan of instalove. It ended up playing really well into this story, but it’s still not my favorite. Otherwise it was a good read.

Both the narrators were good and I really enjoyed them. The author actually did the mfc narration and it turned out excellent. I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about it but her voice ended up fitting the character so well I didn’t even think twice about it.

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Ok story. Terrible audio.

Reviewed: 11-19-22

The story was ok. It wasn’t the most unique romance I have read but had some really lovely parts.

My biggest gripe is that the female character audio was terrible. Absolutely terrible. There were birds chirping and you could tell it was recorded in someone’s home office/studio instead of a booth. It wasn’t necessarily her, just the quality of everything around her. Hopefully one day those parts can be re-recorded to match the male character quality.

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Loved the banter!

Reviewed: 10-07-22

I know some folks were not super into the banter in this book, but I loved it! It was fun and flirty, and I really couldn’t imagine this book without it. Once I started listening I couldn’t stop!

The narration for this book was also amazing. I have never listened to anything with Rose before and she is now on my list of folks to look out for.

The only thing I’d change about this book was the pacing. It was a sloooooowww burn for sure, but then the ending seemed a little rushed. I wish there was a bit more balance. Other than that I really enjoyed it!

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Not a bad deal for one credit

Reviewed: 06-18-22

I was looking for the most bang for my buck with one credit and I definitely got that. I ended up really enjoying 3 out of 5 of the stories which I feel made it worth it.

Yours to bare, Show me the way and Captain were the three I really enjoyed. They are all very different and have their own troupes but we’re enjoyable. Out of those though, Captain, was hands down my favorite out of the entire collection. It’s the last book and was an amazing pallet cleanser from everything else. It’s what I would say is a romantic comedy and wow it was super funny, well narrated, and a great note to end on. It had me laughing out loud and I would actually go back and listen to that one again at some point. Highly recommend.

The other two stories in the collection just fell flat for me. Story lines were meh and felt a bit rushed and like they were both missing spark between the characters, and the narrators were just ok.

Is this collection worth a credit? Yea, I’d say so. It’s a good solid 48 hours of listening and a big bulk of that was good. If you want something to pass the time while you are traveling or cleaning it’s worth a listen. If you are looking for great content all the way through you may skip.

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So wrong but oh so right

Reviewed: 01-14-22

Wow. I almost have no words for this book. There were moments where I was thinking everything happening was so wrong, but it ended up being so right. I didn’t know what I was in for but I don’t mind a little taboo action every now and then. Glad I took the chance.

I really enjoyed the banter and established relationship between the two characters. The best part was the build up and sexual tension though. It’s been awhile since I have come across a slower burn that left me excited for more. I have never listened to this author, but I’m already on to another one her popular titles.

With that said there were some parts of the story that took longer than necessary and every now and then the MFC annoyed me, but then I remembered she was super young so I didn’t think further on it.

These characters wouldn’t have been nearly as exciting if the narrators didn’t do such an amazing job. Both of the narrators brought their character to life and just added that extra special touch. Would recommend and will most likely listen again.

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So wrong but oh so right

Reviewed: 01-14-22

Wow. I almost have no words for this book. There were moments where I was thinking everything happening was so wrong, but it ended up being so right. I didn’t know what I was in for but I don’t mind a little taboo action every now and then. Glad I took the chance.

I really enjoyed the banter and established relationship between the two characters. The best part was the build up and sexual tension though. It’s been awhile since I have come across a slower burn that left me excited for more. I have never listened to this author, but I’m already on to another one her popular titles.

With that said there were some parts of the story that took longer than necessary and every now and then the MFC annoyed me, but then I remembered she was super young so I didn’t think further on it.

These characters wouldn’t have been nearly as exciting if the narrators didn’t do such an amazing job. Both of the narrators brought their character to life and just added that extra special touch. Would recommend and will most likely listen again.

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