by Penny Angeles-Tan | Apr 12, 2025 | Book Reviews
I usually shy away from stories with ridiculously long titles, such as
“My Husband Wants an Open Marriage” by Elysian Sparrow. The reason is that these stories often tend to be predictable, formulaic, and frequently written by young authors whose first language is not English, which can be evident in the text. At times, I get the impression that the manuscripts have been machine-translated, as the English can be quite poor.
“My Husband Wants an Open Marriage” by Elysian Sparrow surprised me with its well-written narrative. The story follows a familiar formula: Ryan and Julie O’Brien have been married for several years but are unable to conceive. A significant event causes a rift in their relationship. In their case, the issue arises from their struggles to have a child, prompting Ryan to propose the idea of an open relationship. However, what he truly means is that he wants the freedom to explore outside their marriage, while Julie cannot.
Ryan is openly having an affair with his secretary, Emily. He even goes so far as to bring her to their home, forcing Julie out of her bedroom and effectively ending her role as Mrs. O’Brien. Meanwhile, Julie endures the pain and humiliation of working in the company where her husband is the CEO, all while managing the Marketing Department. One night, she decides to go to a bar to drown her sorrows. There, she meets Luke, who offers to be her fake boyfriend whenever she needs one. This is where the story starts to become interesting.
I found this story on Goodnovel, but I saw it on other reading apps as well. As is my wont, when I find myself engaged after a few chapters, I turn to Amazon and check if the story is available on Kindle. And, YES, it is there! Woohoo! “My Husband Wants an Open Marriage” by Elysian Sparrow is divided into three books on Amazon Kindle and costs $12.97— that is LOADS cheaper than on the reading apps. Click here for Book 1, Book 2, and Book 3 of this story on Amazon Kindle.
38 chapters in and I still love it! So far, it isn’t as predictable as I thought it would be and I love it! I think you will enjoy this billionaire romance, too. And like me, you might fall for Luke as well.
by Penny Angeles-Tan | Aug 24, 2024 | Book Reviews
As I was going through my Facebook notifications, I encountered a post from an author named
VictoryAnne Vice, who was asking for people to try out her story called
The Alpha and the Rental Luna. She already has several books under her belt, and this is her latest ongoing story. Since the title intrigued me, I thought I’d give it a shot.
If you’ve been reading shifter romance as much as I do, then you are familiar with the werewolf concept of fated mates and chosen mates. For Alphas, that translates to their Luna, who is usually a fated mate in stories. But what if you only wanted a Luna part-time, no commitment outside of a contract? That’s where the Rental Lunas come in. The thought that Alpha females would actually choose to go into training to be a rental Luna is mind-boggling! These ladies aren’t looking to marry, even though it is a possibility. They are there to fulfill ALL of the Alpha’s needs while they are in the contract.
The Characters
The main characters are Sylvester “Sly” Sterling and Apple LeRoux.
The story opens from the POV of Apple LeRoux. She is introduced to us as a human from a small town who moves to Crescent City to pursue a college degree and to get away from her cheating boyfriend and abusive family. She is broke and homeless and desperately needs a job. She sees a notice for a job opening, not realizing that it is for a werewolf company.
In a case of misinformation and misdirection she ends up being interviewed by the Alpha who thought she was a Rental Luna. She wasn’t … but somehow, he ends up trying to convince her to accept the job of being his Rental Luna.
Sylvester “Sly” Sterling is the Alpha. Unlike in most stories, he did not inherit his title from his father. He earned it through hard work. It didn’t hurt that his former Luna was the former Alpha’s daughter, Alexis.
The Story
If Apple accepts the job, it will entail a lot of subterfuge as werewolf/human relations are frowned upon. A human Luna will definitely not be acceptable to the pack! The only ones who know are Sly, Apple, Beta Rudy, and Apple’s new friends with whom she shares an apartment.
Here’s the challenge … should Apple agree to this crazy scheme and become his Rental Luna?
On the up side it means financial security and being able to go to school and enroll in her chosen degree. In addition, being the helpful and caring person that she is, she doesn’t really mind helping the pack.
On the downside, she needs to hide her humanity and pretend to be a werewolf while at the same time fight her growing attraction to Sly..
My Take
As the story progresses, I keep waiting to get bored and move on. However, I am 48 chapters in, and it hasn’t happened yet. It helps that the author usually posts 1 to 2 chapters a day and tries her best not to leave us hanging.
I LOVE the daily updates! It keeps me interested and excited for the upcoming chapters. The story is fast-paced, which definitely kept me interested, and I occasionally went back a few pages just to reread something that caught my eye in the story.
Will they, won’t they? VictoryAnne Vice is good at edging us and making us want more. And what’s with Apple’s very vocal inner voice? My guess is she has a wolf but doesn’t know it. Maybe she’s a late bloomer. I’m on tenterhooks!
This story is something I highly recommend as it is fun, with its witty dialogues and humorous situations, and lighthearted, with its optimistic and feel-good vibe. There’s not too much drama, which I appreciate, and I can hardly wait for Apple and Sly’s first full intimacy. Here’s hoping it happens soon.
Start reading The Alpha and his Rental Luna on Goodnovel.
by Penny Angeles-Tan | May 7, 2024 | Book Reviews
A few weeks ago, I was searching Goodnovel for a new story to read. It’s always Alpha this, Alpha that. Then, I encountered a couple of stories that piqued my interest.
The Luna Choosing Game by Jane Above Story
The Luna Choosing Game by Jane Above Story
The Luna Choosing Game by Jane Above Story is a story about Piper, a woman who was working as a waitress to raise her twin sister’s daughter. Unbeknownst to her, her friend entered her into a contest by the royal family for all unmated women of eligible age. Whoever wins will become the Luna for one of the three Princes, meaning there will be three winners … one for each Prince. She discovers that one of the Princes is her ex, Nicholas. At the time they were dating, she had no idea of his identity.
She gets chosen as a candidate, and as the story progresses, the candidates go through different challenges where one or more will be eliminated. She brings her niece, who everyone thinks is her daughter, with her. Things are more difficult for her as she has the added challenge of being wolfless and not being high-born. However, she does not really let that stop her. She knows she will get eliminated early, but while she competes, her niece gets the medical care she needs.
Most of the other candidates hate her, some of the servants hate her, some of the guards hate her, and the King and Queen hate her. It seems like only Princes Nicholas and Julian like her. What will her fate be in The Luna Choosing Game?
How she lost her wolf when Nicholas was sure she had one before is part of the mystery of this story. Why are more and more people losing their wolves? Where is Piper’s sister? Why did she leave her daughter with Piper?
Luna Battle: The Game by Billiejo Priestley
Luna Battle: The Game by Billiejo Priestley
Luna Battle: The Game by Billiejo Priestley is about Elara, a slave to Alpha Draven’s pack who secretly entered The Luna Battle in hopes of escaping the torture of her everyday life. She lost her wolf at four years old, has lived her life as a servant, and when she was old enough, she became a sex slave and was made to service Alpha Draven, his betas, and his guests. She was bitten and claimed by Alpha Draven when she was twelve years old and had no mate.
The Luna Battle is a competition to select the Luna Queen for King Darius and the Luna Princess for Prince Kellan. Each candidate will be asked to perform various challenges. At the end of each challenge, one or more of the candidates will be eliminated and sent home.
Magic selected her as a candidate, and when she arrived at the Palace, most of the other contestants hated her and called her “mutt,” but that didn’t stop Elara from being the bigger person and reminding them of how a Luna is supposed to behave. After all, she didn’t really expect to stay in the competition for long. But what happens when Prince Kellan starts to show her favor, and the King seems to do so, too?
The Luna stories go head-to-head.
I started reading The Luna Choosing Game first and then paused at Chapter 102 because I, quite honestly, got bored with the minutiae. More than a hundred chapters in, and it feels like only a little has happened. Some scenes could have been removed, and chapters could have been compressed. You know those telenovelas that seem to go on forever? That’s what it felt like when I was reading this book. It was interesting, but it was taking forever to get to the point.
In addition, as of this posting, The Luna Choosing Game has 460 chapters and counting! For crying out loud! Know when to stop! If you must, then serialize it, book one and book two, etc.
At the point I was getting fed up with it, I encountered Luna Battle: The Game, and the first thing I noticed was the parallels:
- wolfless
- no family
- forced into a life of servitude
Even the challenges were similar, but then, you know what they say, there really is little that is original as we all build off what other people have done in the past. There’s a big difference, though. Luna Battle is fast-paced and engaging and, more importantly … ONLY 151 CHAPTERS!
YES! The author was able to tell THE WHOLE STORY (COMPLETE!) in just 151 chapters. Value for money? Check!
Will I go back to finish The Luna Choosing Game? I am unsure. At this point, as I see the chapter count climbing higher and higher, it doesn’t seem very certain. Maybe I will wait until the book makes its way to Amazon, hopefully, KU, and then read it there. I’ve already spent way too much on it, as it is.
Head to head … Luna Battle Wins!
by Penny Angeles-Tan | Jan 23, 2024 | Book Reviews
I read Alpha’s Regret My Luna Has A Son by Jessica Hall in 2022 on Goodnovel, and I don’t even remember when exactly anymore, and I LOVED it … a lot! Compared to her other stories, this one is fairly “innocent”. Translation: it isn’t as steamy. That aside, I thoroughly enjoyed it as the story is quite compelling.
I’ve recently started listening to books on audible and discovered that this book is there. Gasp! I just HAD to get it. I am so glad that I did … worth every penny. The voice actors were really good and did a pretty good job of bringing the story to life. My only regret is that book two (aka the second part of the story) has no recording yet.
If you’ve read this story on a reading app, then you know it is actually one long story, so cutting off where it did can be frustrating. That being said, the story is worth making that double purchase on Amazon. After all, it still comes out cheaper than reading apps.
Both books are available on Amazon.
Alpha’s Regret My Luna Has a Son in a Nutshell
Everly is the daughter of the Alpha or her pack and his successor. She was only seventeen when she met and inadvertently ended up in bed with Valen, who was the Alpha of a rival pack. They were drunk at a time, which should really not be an excuse in this day and age, but there you have it. When Everly wakes up in the morning, she realizes what happened, and she attempts a French exit but is met at the door by the Beta. After quick pleasantries, she still manages to leave alone, and the Beta was not able to get her name either.
Weeks pass and Everly realizes that she is pregnant and there can only be one person who could be the father so she tries to reach out to Valen to let him now but was rebuffed and he denied being with her. When her father discovers she is pregnant he disowns her and labels her a rogue whore when she would not agree to an abortion.
She leaves the pack and lives the life of a rogue from that point forward and eventually gives birth to a son.
Everly realizes early on that Valen is her fated mate but he did not know until several years later which lead to her suffering from his infidelity for years. This is the point in the story where the courtship of Valen and Everly begins. With everything that she has gone through I was glad that she does not succumb to easily to his charms. If she did, I would be very disappointed. She didn’t deny the mate bond, but she was better at resisting it.
My Thoughts
To say that I think this story is a masterpiece is putting it mildly. I have lost count of how many times I have read this story. Jessica Hall has me on an emotional roller coaster and I don’t want to get off it. In my head I see this story as something akin to a TV series … not a movie as that would be too short. So many things happen to Everly and Valen in this story that it would be an injustice to chop off as much as they do for movie adaptations.
If it isn’t obvious yet, I highly recommend that you add Alpha’s Regret My Luna Has A Son by Jessica Hall to your bookshelf, stat! Don’t just put it in the TBR (to be read) pile. Put it straight to the MUST-READ pile and enjoy!
by Penny Angeles-Tan | Sep 26, 2023 | Book Reviews
About a month ago, we were able to interview author Ashley Breanne and feature her on our sister site, Hearthandhomebuddies.com. In our chats, one of the things she mentioned was that she wrote this story called The Rebound, a YA/Teen story and that it was on Goodnovel.
According to Ashley, The Rebound: The Wrong Cinderella’s Story was the first book she published on Goodnovel. This got me curious. The first book of hers that I read was The Alpha’s Girl and I liked that a lot! So, I checked it out on Goodnovel and discovered it is only 66 chapters. I can do that. I can spare the coin for that.
From page one I was transfixed. What a fun story! It is one of those that I wish was made into a movie. It is definitely going to be a teen flick and, yes, it is most definitely a Cinderella story with a twist.
But what I liked most about this story are two things. First, Caleb may be the golden boy of the school since he is the quarterback, but he isn’t a manwhore. As a matter of fact, Violet is only the second woman he has even been intimate or in a relationship with. Awwwwww!
Second, Violet is not a damsel in distress, nor is she popular. She also isn’t bullied or bookish, etc. If she were to fall under any stereotype it would probably be a loner with only one friend. But then again, she didn’t have any problem making friends with Caleb or his best friend so it is obvious that she isn’t a social recluse.
The banter … the banter is what got me. “Listening” to them was just precious! The teenage girl inside me was giggling a lot at their interactions.
I give this book all digits up, not just my thumbs. It is an easy read and very light-hearted. I’m sure you will enjoy it as much as I have. 🙂
I’ve recently started listening to books on audible and discovered that this book is there. Gasp! I just HAD to get it. I am so glad that I did … worth every penny. The voice actors were really good and did a pretty good job of bringing the story to life. My only regret is that book two (aka the second part of the story) has no recording yet.
According to Ashley, The Rebound: The Wrong Cinderella’s Story was the first book she published on Goodnovel. This got me curious. The first book of hers that I read was 
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