by Penny Angeles-Tan | Feb 27, 2023 | Book Reviews
I did a quick review last August 2022 of Sweet Revenge by Kalenca and posted it on Facebook and Instagram. When I revisited the post I felt that it was insufficient so here is a more comprehensive post.
From the way the story is written, I would guess that the author is probably Chinese, based on the stereotypical cultural references … women not being good enough to become head of a company, all the bowing, all the slapping (seriously!), and being stigmatized for having sex before marriage even if it is rape.
What intrigued me about this story that got me to read it is that it is between a transgender man (Antonio, formerly Antonia) and a gay man (Damian) who fall in love with each other. But let me back up … they met in a former life accidentally when Damian inadvertently raped Antonia thinking she was the hooker his father hired. At the time, his father had dosed him with a drug akin to Viagra to force him to have sex with a woman. This was because Damian’s father would not accept that Damian is gay.
Antonia, at the time, was inebriated and tricked by her cousin into entering a hotel room to rest as she intended for someone to rape her. Antonia accidentally ended up in the wrong room, which is where Damian found her.
Disowned, ostracized, and later, Antonia discovers she is pregnant from the rape. Never having been comfortable in her own skin, she made the choice to transition after giving birth and took on the guise of Antonio and ends up working for Damian, the man who raped her, as his bodyguard!
The way the story is written (as in the language) is repetitive and, at times, redundant, and I am assuming it is either because English is not the author’s first language or the author is young. DEFINITELY, the author did not get a copy editor.
With a title like Sweet Revenge, it will make one wonder who the revenge is targeted towards. I’d recommend that you read this book and find out. Sweet Revenge by Kalenca is on Goodnovel and has only 157 chapters so it is, thankfully, a normal novel length. I think you will enjoy the story. I know I did.
by Penny Angeles-Tan | Feb 25, 2023 | Book Reviews
As reverse harem stories go I’d have to say that Nanny for the Bossholes by Rebel Bloom is top-notch. It combines several elements that make this an interesting story: a sassy female lead character, three rich brothers who are suspicious of her motives, a grief-stricken child, and a hippie dad.
Aggie is possibly the best digital strategist in Dallas, Texas but she lost her job because the CEO of the company she worked for (who was also her boyfriend at the time) fired her when she refused to get pregnant, not because she never wanted children, but more like she wanted to focus on her career for now. She applies for a position with the competition, a company owned by the Graves brothers (Zander, Knight, and Kyrin). Thinking she is a corporate spy they turn her down … but later end up hiring her as a nanny for their newly-orphaned niece.
Aggie is not a nanny and tells them this point-blank, but they offer her a year’s salary if she will agree to be Grace’s nanny for one month and a possibility of an interview and test for the position she wants. How could she resist that offer? Later, she discovers that these men are too darned irresistible and she gives in to temptation. Despite that, she still remains sassy and talks back to her bosses.
Are they in a relationship or is it just fun and games? Whatever their status, it can’t be denied that everyone was enjoying it … and was probably getting a little more emotionally involved than they planned. I found the story titillating and I definitely loved her sass. Throw in her dad, Mark, and the rest of her kookie family and you get a 3D view of who Aggie really is. How could Zander, Knight, and Kyrin resist that?
This was fun to read. I have yet to be disappointed by anything Rebel Bloom has written. If you would like to check out Nanny for the Bossholes by Rebel Bloom on Amazon it can be purchased for $2.99 but is free with Kindle Unlimited.
by Penny Angeles-Tan | Feb 24, 2023 | Book Reviews
I started to read True Luna by Tessa Lilly on iReader because I was curious how this rejection would play out. There are so many stories lately of female lead characters being rejected by their mate that I was interested to see what direction the author would go. Will she immediately find her second chance mate? Will she run away and become rogue? Is her mate a bad guy?
After she shifted on her 18th birthday she discovers that her fated mate is the Alpha of her pack, Logan. As soon as he realized this he decided that he would reject her “for the good of the pack” because the pack needs a strong Luna. This obviously implies that he thinks she is weak.
In Tessa Lilly’s world, rejecting a true mate does not really break the bond, it simply frees them to find a chosen mate. This means that until they mark their chosen mate, they will still feel the connection to their true mate. That is so messed up! I wanted Emma to choose and get marked by Jacob, stat!
This story is riveting. I reached that point where I’d used up all my vouchers and coins and I will now have to purchase to read on. Fyi, reading on iReader is EXPENSIVE. One chapter is worth 180 coins/vouchers. On Goodnovel, most chapters only cost 35 coins. I’d already tried purchasing on iReader and it was shocking how quickly all my coins and vouchers disappeared. shudder In desperation I tried to check if the book is on Amazon.
To my joy, True Luna by Tessa Lilly is on Amazon, yes!!! Both books 1 and 2 are there and cost $4.99 a piece with book 3 in the works. I didn’t even quibble. I immediately tapped both books to purchase. After all, it is cheaper than reading on the app. This story falls under the young adult/teen romance category so it is not as steamy as most of the books I read but I think it is totally worth it! You should give it a gander on Goodnovel or iReader and read the free chapters to help you decide if you will want to purchase these books as well.
Note:
On reading apps books 1 and 2 are just one book but because of Amazon restrictions on the number of pages, it was split into 2 books.
Update!
Four books in the series are now published with 1 more coming soon. Here they are with the revamped covers. The cover you see in the feature photo is the original book cover for this series. Click on the covers below to be brought directly to the Amazon page of the book. Unlike the others, the last book appears to be in paperback format (for now).
by Penny Angeles-Tan | Feb 19, 2023 | Book Reviews
I discovered Sharing Beatrice by Alexis Dee by accident when I was randomly adding books to my bookshelf on iReader. I was intrigued because the book opens with Beatrice being humiliated by her mate, Alpha Flynn. What?!? This wasn’t just chapter 1, this was page 1!
This got me curious to see 1) how this would play out and 2) who is he supposedly sharing her with. From the cover art, it is safe to assume there will be three additional men. Boy, was I wrong. It turns out four men would be entering her life. That brings her mate count to five!
Akin, Helel, Zane, and Maddox are the Alpha Kings and sons of Alpha Lord Vazquez. Each son has a very unique personality that make each one stand out. Beatrice is a shy, introverted girl with an insane fear of sleeping alone at night.
On the day that Beatrice gets rejected by Flynn, she finds out that she and her mom were moving to live with Lord Vazquez who has chosen her mom, Scarlet, as his mate. When the parents leave for a trip Beatrice is forced to approach the brothers one by one to ask them to sleep with her (literally, not metaphorically) so that she will not get nightmares.
Long story short, they discover they are all mated to her but rather than treat her well, they were disparaging and hurtful and treated her like nothing more than a sex doll. I was mad at her for being so spineless and looked forward to the pages when she would grow a backbone. Sharing Beatrice by Alexis Dee is an interesting story despite the many incorrect word usage to be found. As the book progressed, there were fewer, though. I do not know if it is completed yet or not but so far you can read it on iReader.
More story than sex, which makes it interesting and not smutty.
To be honest, the copy editor in me is really irritated by all the errors in this book: homonyms, completely wrong terms used, and worse, when the author can’t keep track of who is talking and what to call them. For example … she is referring to one of the guys and then she calls him “stepmother”. This is not an insurmountable problem. I hope that the author hires a copy editor to go over the story before deciding the publish.
The story has a lot of potential but the multitude of errors makes my teeth hurt.
This story is still ongoing on iReader. Download the app and read Sharing Beatrice by Alexis Dee on your tablet or phone.
by Penny Angeles-Tan | Feb 16, 2023 | Book Reviews
I started reading The Lost Lycan Luna by Jessica Hall on iReader at a friend’s recommendation. I didn’t even know about it because the story is not on Goodnovel, which is where I primarily read pay-per-chapter books.
This is a story of an abused rogue orphan girl, Ivy, who we later discover is the lost princess of a Lycan kingdom. On the day of her execution, her life was spared when the Lycan King, Kyson, intervened and decided to take her and her best friend Abbie with him back to his castle. Kyson realized she was his mate but since she hadn’t turned 18 yet, she was unable to sense the mate bond.
The story is compelling. It possibly falls under the “dark romance” genre because of all the scenes depicting violence but not between the main characters. It is a love story where Kyson and Ivy struggle with each other and try to overcome prejudice, miscommunication, and mistrust.
I was amazed at how strong Ivy is. Her ability to withstand pain for the people she loves is awe-inspiring. Her relationship with Abbie is incomparable, it is greater even than her affection for the king. As Ivy and Abbie always say … “more than my life”.
If this is a story you would like to read, too, you will find it on iReader. Be warned, though, that the story is actually 3 stories, which is why there are so many chapters. I’m looking forward to The Lost Lycan Luna by Jessica Hall on Amazon soon.
Was this plagiarized?
the photo was taken from https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna32657885
As I was reading, I noticed that there were some similarities to another story I’ve read/am reading by another author. Continuing to read, however, I realized that the similarities are superficial.
- main characters are the Lycan King and the lost Lycan princess
- the main female character was thought to be a rogue orphan
- the main character has a best friend who came with her to the Lycan King’s castle
- the main female character did not know that she was a Lycan
As the story progresses the differences between the two become very apparent as the way the story develops is different. Let’s face it, if we look hard enough we will find many similarities between stories A through Z. I’ve honestly lost count of how many stories I’ve read of a man who is married to a woman for three years divorces her so that he could be with her cousin/stepsister only for him to later find out that his wife was secretly a rich and powerful woman.
My point is, we shouldn’t be too quick to accuse another author of plagiarism without actually reading further into the story. While there could be strong similarities at the start it doesn’t mean that the story is exactly the same.
There is an exercise we do in one of the classes I used to teach where I would give the entire class the same information to write their own versions of the story. This is a similar situation to that. And, let’s be honest, nothing is truly original anymore. We all take inspiration from many things, and it would not be inconceivable for many authors to get inspired by a story written by someone else. It does not make them a plagiarizer.
As reverse harem stories go I’d have to say that Nanny for the Bossholes by Rebel Bloom is top-notch. It combines several elements that make this an interesting story: a sassy female lead character, three rich brothers who are suspicious of her motives, a grief-stricken child, and a hippie dad.
I started to read True Luna by Tessa Lilly on iReader because I was curious how this rejection would play out. There are so many stories lately of female lead characters being rejected by their mate that I was interested to see what direction the author would go. Will she immediately find her second chance mate? Will she run away and become rogue? Is her mate a bad guy?
by accident when I was randomly adding books to my bookshelf on iReader. I was intrigued because the book opens with Beatrice being humiliated by her mate, Alpha Flynn. What?!? This wasn’t just chapter 1, this was page 1!
on iReader at a friend’s recommendation. I didn’t even know about it because the story is not on Goodnovel, which is where I primarily read pay-per-chapter books.
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