by Penny Angeles-Tan | Jun 14, 2023 | Book Reviews
Female main characters come in all shapes and forms but this is probably the first time I’ve encountered one who is pretty much a tomboy. In Fake and Don’t Tell by Rebel Bloom, Poppy grew up with 5 brothers and if that wasn’t enough to make her a certified tomboy she also has 3 male best friends she’s known since they were in diapers. Despite all that testosterone in her life, she was still girl enough to fall in love with Andrew.
For 10 years, Andrew has been mean and unkind to Poppy and only used her sexually when it was convenient for him. Poppy, on the other hand, worshipped the ground he walked on. They eventually broke things off when Andrew said that Poppy was not mature enough for them to marry.
A couple of years later they meet again at Poppy’s family reunion. Why? Because he was engaged to her younger cousin! As if that wasn’t bad enough, they add insult to injury and invite her to the wedding. She has no desire to attend but isn’t given much of a choice so she needs a fake boyfriend, stat!
Enter her best friends: Jude, Cyrus, and Sam. They have known each other for years. At her SOS they go to her house and wait for her to arrive. She tells them what happened and somehow the idea of one of them being her fake date comes up. But how does she choose? Poppy ends up kissing them one after the other to help her decide, but that opens a different can of worms.
From hanging out every week at a sports bar, going to each other’s houses to drink beer and shoot the breeze, and playing baseball with her friends and brothers … now their thoughts are occupied with kisses, hardons, and so much more! I’m on Team Why Choose so I was rooting for all three men from the get-go but I was curious how this would play out.
It was so much fun! To be honest, it wasn’t the intention of the author but I actually forgot about Andrew, lol! Poppy’s encounters with Jude, Cyrus, and Sam were just so different and eye-opening (and dare I say, fun!)
I also need to mention her lovely family from her parents to her brothers who are all very loving and supportive. I don’t want to say more. This was just so much fun to read so I think you should check it out yourself. 🙂 Fake and Don’t Tell by Rebel Bloom is on Amazon for $2.99 but if you have Kindle Unlimited, it’s free!
I kid you not, at the moment this is my favorite story written by Rebel Bloom.
by Penny Angeles-Tan | Jun 7, 2023 | Book Reviews
If I could only use one word to describe Grand Slammed by Stephanie Brother it would be sweet. This may come as a surprise to some of her readers who are more exposed to her steamy books, but yes, Stephanie can and has written romantic tingle-inducing books. It isn’t always about the heat, although there is definitely enough heat in this book to get the blood pumping.
We met Naomi in Roommates 8: Power Drilled as the massage therapist hired by Great-aunt Evelyn to provide massages for the wedding guests. Towards the end of the story, we know that she hired Naomi for 1 week to give massages to her nephew and friends in Florida. This is where the story picks up.
Dominic is Great-aunt Evelyn’s nephew. He and his friends Justin and Tyler are professional baseball players who have recently retired and are studying for the LSATs in preparation for entering law school in Georgia. This seems like a drastic career change for these young men (who are possibly in their late 20s or early 30s) until she learns why. It just made my heart melt. Philanthropy is just so hot!
Interestingly, in this story, Naomi does not give any “special” massages. If at all, she finds herself on the receiving end of a 6-hand special massage. I don’t know if this story is shorter or if I just read it really fast. The way it was written flowed so smoothly that I didn’t notice the transition of chapters except to note whose POV it was already. Also … not much drama to worry about. There wasn’t even any hullabaloo about Naomi having 3 boyfriends.
Absolutely HEA guaranteed! You can find Grand Slammed by Stephanie Brother on Amazon for $2.99 or FREE with Kindle Unlimited. Don’t forget to read the bonus chapter by clicking HERE.
by Penny Angeles-Tan | Jun 6, 2023 | Book Reviews
I discovered Bullied Mate of the Lycan Kings by Deenma on Dreame while looking for something new to read. I didn’t see the preview blurb on the app, just the first chapter, and it was an intriguing start.
Everyone in school hated Lily, a wolfless Omega, because of her father, who was executed for being a traitor. Despite that, she has always been a good student and mostly kept her head down and tried her best to ignore everyone’s bullying. One day she just reached her breaking point and tried to take her own life by slashing her wrists. She would have become successful, too, if not for Cade.
Cade became her only friend and later her boyfriend. When asked why he saved her he told her that they are mates. But things are not as they seem as it turns out, he was playing a long game and plotted with his friends to pull the ultimate prank on her which ended with a rejection.
In despair, she pulls out of school and decides on homeschooling. A couple of years later she enters Shadow Cove Academy, an elite school in hopes of graduating with flying colors so that she could enter an ivy league school after and improve her and her mom’s lives. It is there that she meets the three most powerful Lycan Alphas … Aiden, Ren, and Zac.
On her first day, she accidentally bumps into Aiden … that was all he needed to green-light the bullying from everyone on campus. She also meets Ren who becomes her guardian angel. Then there’s Zac who has a deep dark secret only a few people are aware of. She finds herself strongly attracted to Ren but unfortunately, he has a mate, Mauve. As the book progresses her only friends are Ren, Rhea, and Chelsea.
The title and the blurb imply that this is a reverse harem. It also shows 4 males. However, 68 chapters in and there are no signs that the story is going anywhere in that direction. Also, if I had read the blurb first (which I only saw a few minutes ago when I visited Dreame from the computer) I probably would not have opened this so soon as it is way too graphic for me for a blurb. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for steamy scenes per se, but I think the build-up to those scenes matters.
That aside, many parts of the story are quite compelling. I confess I found chapters 65 to 68 difficult to read because I don’t like seeing Ren suffering or in pain. I only wish that the story moved a little faster so that we could see how Aiden, Ren, Zac, and I assume Cade, find themselves mated to Lily which will lead to the contents of the blurb.
If you think this is something you might want to sink your teeth into you can check out Bullied Mate of the Lycan Kings by Deenma on the Dreame app.
by Penny Angeles-Tan | May 16, 2023 | Book Reviews
Huge Deal by Stephanie Brother has left me breathless! Talk about hot! It starts off innocently enough until Kain, Blake, and Dalton Nowak accidentally walk in on Gabrielle just as she was pleasuring herself, mistaking her cry of passion for a cry of distress.
All three brothers have been attracted to Gab for quite some time but hesitated to pursue anything because of their best friend, Travis, who happens to be her older brother. After walking in on Gab the thought of being with her grew in their minds and all three (together) decided that they would offer to “service” her in exchange for home-cooked meals. To their surprise, Gab agreed.
Gab is a young woman with a hearty sexual appetite. She, herself, has been greatly attracted to all three brothers and could not pick one over the other. This was a fact she wrote in her diary when she was younger that her annoying brother revealed to them … which was actually a factor in their decision. When the Nowak brothers made the deal with Kain as their spokesperson, it didn’t take long for Gab to accept. After all, it seemed like an answer to a prayer.
I love how Gab and the Nowak brothers expressed their desires from the beginning and it was apparent (to us) that there was more going on than sex, despite Gab pretending otherwise.
Every page turn had me alternately giddy or salivating and the thought of these 3 huge men makes me swoon … Kain with his athletic physique, Dalton with his jaw-dropping muscles that look like he could lift a truck, and Blake with his sexy ink and stimulating piercing … I just kept waiting for Travis to arrive to ruin their fun. I haven’t even mentioned the parents yet. Oh! I just had to cover my eyes waiting for the train wreck.
There is nothing tentative about Huge Deal. This is a book you will not want to read while you are out in public. Wet panties are inevitable, lol!
Huge Deal by Stephanie Brother is available on Amazon in Kindle and paperback versions. Read it for free with Kindle Unlimited!
by Penny Angeles-Tan | May 12, 2023 | Book Reviews
You can add Mated to the Bully Stepbrothers by Qeemahhh (aka Enitan Abdulazeez) to the list of books that don’t make a lot of sense. From the title alone I automatically assumed this is a shifter romance since “mates” were mentioned. However, aside from the mention of Arielle being an Omega, her wolf’s name being Talia (in the first two chapters), the “mates” thing, and the reference to quicker healing, there is no other indicator that any of the characters are werewolves at all. That could have been taken out completely and made them all human and it would not have affected the story. They don’t even have a mind link which is common lore for werewolf stories with characters that are related or part of the same pack.
Just for context, this is the (unedited) blurb of the book, for your reference:
She has spent most of her life at the expense of others, bullied at school, working shifts and also tons of suffering but Arielle did not mind. Arielle has believed that clocking 18 would be the game-changer for her because she’ll find her mate and live an exotic life. Before her parents left her and her sister to the cruel world, a witch has told them she’ll be mated to a powerful creature and she’ll live a good life. What Arielle didn’t expect was to be mated to the three sons of the alpha of the pack, and also step brothers.
Would Arielle get the beautiful life she has always wanted or would it be a series of new torture? Would she be able to bring the three creatures together?
What would happen when the brothers learn that Arielle is not a normal omega and possesses a strong power? Will the power take either Arielle or the three brothers? Find out in this thrilling story.
The story begins with Arielle living in a hovel with rats eating her food as she doesn’t even have a fridge and her sister working for the Luna. The story even goes on to say that her sister lives at the packhouse and has no things at her place as she lives alone. Then as soon as the story introduces Derek, Enzo, and Aiden as her mates, she suddenly lives in a low-cost apartment complete with appliances and furnishings. She still wears “rags” but now she doesn’t live in a hovel.
Second point, the title says that the men are “stepbrothers” however they indicate that they have the same dad but different moms … that makes them half-brothers since they are all still related by blood. We don’t know if they belong to the same pack Arielle does. We don’t know if they are ranked wolves. What we do know is that they are wealthy.
Third, the book cover says “her” instead of “the” but Arielle is an orphan so they could not be her step anything.
Fourth, I have read up to chapter 40 now (yes, 40!) and she is bullied in every chapter by everyone except her sister. I think everyone is aware that bullying is bad, right? So how is it acceptable as a romance story arc for the main character to be bullied for (so far) the whole story, including by her supposed mates? We’re not even talking about just verbal abuse. Arielle is abused verbally, physically, psychologically, AND cyberbullied. Yes, her so-called “mates” are part of that whole twisted party. They don’t even want people to know that they are mates. She is their dirty little secret … nothing more than a sex slave.
Fifth, they just mark her (as in just bit her neck with no warning) on the day they discover they are mates at her apartment. She never marks them back.
Sixth, it takes the brothers more than 30 chapters to realize what douchebags they are, and then with the flip of a switch, they are suddenly nice to her, protective, and declaring to everyone that she is their mate. JUST. LIKE. THAT. No epiphany, no transitionary paragraphs, they are just suddenly nice. IT DOESN’T MAKE SENSE!
Don’t even get me started on the grammar and word usage! For example, every time the says “phantom” she actually means fathom. In an effort to self-edit, some words have asterisks in place of letters. That’s fine and all if it made sense. For example, if she says “c–k” when referring to the male genitalia, that makes sense. But when she says “c–ked” referring to “tilting the head” then the asterisks are just ridiculous! There are so much more but those are the ones that stood out the most as I was reading. Note: I’ve replaced the * with – for this post because the page is not translating the way I want it to.
To be honest, I don’t even know why Arielle is still alive. I also don’t understand how the entire school bullies her and no person of authority has a clue. With everything that has happened to Arielle, I would have had her murdered or committing suicide (by jumping off a cliff or drowning in the river, for example) much earlier in the book where (assuming this is still a shifter story) the Moon Goddess intercedes, gives her a second chance at life somewhere else or as somewhere else. I would LOVE for this to be a rebirth story, rather than spending so much time on the bullying.
If the author really wants her to end up with the three, there has to be something that triggers the change in them, and we should see it. At the moment, I am just waiting for the other shoe to drop. They tricked her like that before, humiliating her in front of everyone, what is to stop them from doing it again? I think the author needs to figure out what she really wants to happen and where this story is supposed to go because right now it just seems like she enjoys making Arielle suffer. Is there such a thing as fictional character bullying?
If you are curious and want to check out Mated to the Bully Stepbrothers by Qeemahhh (aka Enitan Abdulazeez) for yourself to form your own opinion you can find it on Dreame. It is an ongoing story so who knows where the story will go.
We met Naomi in 
Everyone in school hated Lily, a wolfless Omega, because of her father, who was executed for being a traitor. Despite that, she has always been a good student and mostly kept her head down and tried her best to ignore everyone’s bullying. One day she just reached her breaking point and tried to take her own life by slashing her wrists. She would have become successful, too, if not for Cade.
All three brothers have been attracted to Gab for quite some time but hesitated to pursue anything because of their best friend, Travis, who happens to be her older brother. After walking in on Gab the thought of being with her grew in their minds and all three (together) decided that they would offer to “service” her in exchange for home-cooked meals. To their surprise, Gab agreed.
Just for context, this is the (unedited) blurb of the book, for your reference:
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