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.
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.
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!
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. 🙂
Crush On My Best Friend’s Alpha Dad by Luxie landed in my inbox as a recommendation, and I decided to try it. The author has just started writing it, showing great potential so far. I get the age gap romance; it happens a lot, especially when we talk about a man who was widowered early and looks like Patrick Dempsey in Grey’s Anatomy, aka McDreamy.
Her characters, CJ and Lenora, make decisions that I find questionable but, at the same time, make delicious drama that moves the story forward.
CJ finds himself attracted to Lenora, so why in the world would he kiss her sister, Esme?
Esme knew about how Lenora felt about CJ, so why would she kiss CJ in the first place? Is this a reflection of how much she doesn’t care for CJ or how much she wants him for herself?
After catching them in the kiss and being hurt by their betrayal, why would Lenora decide to agree to become a girlfriend to someone she wasn’t even a little attracted to or, at least, could relate to?
So far, in the story (I am 41/45 chapters in) CJ’s being an Alpha wolf has no bearing. At the moment, it is all about Lenora’s unresolved feelings. I’m really curious to see where this story will go.
There are some grammatical issues that are forgivable (for now) that I hope the author will go back to fix, but overall, this has been engaging. If there is anything major I would ask the author to change, it would probably be the title. Not only is it a mouthful and unnecessarily confusing, it is also “spoilerish” because without even opening the book we know the dad’s a werewolf.
But see, here is where it gets confusing. CJ is the dad of Lenora’s best friend, Mariselle. At the same time, CJ is also friends with Lenora’s dad. So, would it be better to say “Crush on my Dad’s Best Friend” or stay with “Crush on my Best Friend’s Dad”?
I still think “Alpha” could be removed from the title. Without it, learning he is an Alpha becomes a gem we discover in the story. This, by the way, raises the question … where is his pack and why aren’t he and Mariselle in it?
Now that I’ve whet your curiosity, you can find Crush On My Best Friend’s Alpha Dad by Luxie on the Goodnovel app and read it for yourself.
When I started to read My Dreams, His Reality by Shanika Rana after my sister started talking to me about it. It’s a young adult/teen romance, and, from the way my sister was talking about it, it seemed like a fairly innocent high school romance between the most popular guy in school who has possibly slept with every other female in school, and the quiet, reserved girl who hates him for being a man-whore.
While chatting, I picked up my phone, looked it up on Goodnovel, and added it to my library to check it out myself.
I can tell you this much right now, while it needs some editing, it is well-written enough that I can be forgiving. I confess that a big pull for me is the fact that Zara, the female lead, is snarky and independent. On the other hand, Harper is highly sexed and is dealt a mighty blow on his 18th birthday.
There is more than meets the eye with My Dreams, His Reality by Shanika Rana, and so far, I am enjoying the process. This is supposed to be a trilogy and is 254 chapters. I am on chapter 44 and still having fun reading as of this posting. This book has become part of my Goodnovel reading cycle.
I can only hope the good narrative is sustained until the end. Also, author, not too long, please.
Important update:
One of my readers gave me some good news that I just have to share with all of you. My Dreams, His Reality by Shanika Rana is on Amazon! And the best news yet … IT IS ON KINDLE UNLIMITED!!!
Talk about bang for your buck!
The three books in the trilogy are:
My Dreams, His Reality
Dreams Fade Away
Reality Sets In
If you have a Kindle Unlimited account, reading these books is free! If you choose to buy the books, they cost $4, $5, and $6 respectively.
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 
Her characters, CJ and Lenora, make decisions that I find questionable but, at the same time, make delicious drama that moves the story forward.
While chatting, I picked up my phone, 
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