B&G(on hiatus)

Hello, lovelies! 🌼 Happy Tuesday ~ the first week of August is over and by now we are all wondering how fast we are moving towards the end of the year! It’s crazy! On a positive note, I’m starting this weekly bookish recap to showcase the books I read weekly. I used to do mini-reviews every 15th and 30/31st but sometimes those were very long due to the amount of books I read and took me forever to make sure I include everything, so, I’m trying out something new to see if this works with my schedule. As always, I’m trying to find the easiest way to keep my life simple 🤣 and still share about what I love: reading 📖

Books I finished (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

Never Underestimate an Omega by Eden Winters: This was my first read of the month and it was quite a disappointment! As I’ve mentioned before, I try to read at least one A/B/O book a month (or more if I can), and most of the time they deliver. However, this one was low in the romance department IMO. What I enjoyed the most in this book was how the pack worked. We have a pack well there are A/B/O but also Delta and Gamma which is something I’ve never seen before in other omegaverse books. I also enjoyed reading about the main Omega in this book Logan – smart, organized, and with high leadership skills. What I liked the most about Logan was how he managed the pack, took care of the everyday duties, and knew he could do much more. I enjoyed the pack dynamic where we have leaders within communities and where A/A pairings were the norm when it came to leading a pack something is frown upon in the regular omegaverse where the norm is A/O pairings. What I didn’t like is how the book didn’t have a dilemma. Gray is the Alpha leader and while his ‘dilemma is about finding another Alpha to lead with him, he knows it won’t happen because he loves Logan yet he doesn’t do anything to accomplish a relationship. When Logan gets kidnapped I thought the plot would pick up but we end up with Logan reforming the pack who kidnapped him and making him desirable for other packs for his leadership and organization skills. I lost interest during that time and would’ve DNFed but I wanted to see if this would pick up eventually, which didn’t happen.

Claiming His Potential (Northbay Pack Book #3) by Jena Wade and Lorelei M. Hart: I discovered this series this year and it has been a rollercoaster! I have truly enjoyed all the books until now, including this one. This is also an A/B/O series which thank God did not disappoint! Unlike the previous books in this series where we have a lot of action during the last part of the book, this book was very tame – no pun intended 😀 This book follows Seymour and his son who have both been abused mentally and physically by their previous pack. Seymour lost his parents, saw his brother being killed, and was severely abused for years. He is still afraid of the outside world and keeps a close eye on his son who barely talks and is still adapting to their new environment. Seymour is very docile and submissive, he doesn’t raise his voice and is still afraid of those who hurt him even though it has been two years since he escaped, yet he is loved by his friends and is very smart. Then we have Hutch who is a builder, pack Beta, and protector. I loved Hutch’s quiet love for Seymour and his patience, the way he doesn’t push and is always waiting for Seymour to realize he’s there and will always protect him was lovely. It was a sweet romance, though I wished there was more action, I did love seeing a bit of the lion shifters appearing here and I hope we have more of them in future books. ps. I’m so ready for book 4, I think that will be the absolute best in the entire series!

The Kidnapping of Roan Sinclair by Ashlyn Drewek: Oh boy! Welcome to a twisted/dark love story – which disappointed me a bit, I’m not going to lie. This book left me with many unanswered questions, when the plot is left unresolved in some areas the book is not completed IMO. This book has themes that are not for the weak heart: alcohol/drug use, horrible sexual assault, graphic violence, self-harm, homosexual slurs, murder, and more. In this story, we have a dark romance between Roan – our kidnapped victim- and Sasha – our kidnapper. I enjoyed Roan’s character, I especially loved the description of his love for music and how it reflected his mood. I truly liked how we saw these characteristics through Sasha’s eyes while he stalked Roan before the kidnapping. Sasha was a character that I quite liked, I liked his mentality – survival and do not engage mode which is very apt for a mobster and killer. Roan breaking those boundaries with his “thank you’s” was so well-done, especially because we see Sasha breaking down as he couldn’t deal with that aspect of Roan – it showed how good Roan was and how he didn’t deserve what was happening to him. I hated a lot of the characters, found a lot of holes that were never resolved and I just wished some things were nicely tied up before the ending. Again, this book is not for those with a weak heart, there is more infatuation than true love but I did enjoy it.

Can’t Touch by Chara Croft: This will be a very short mini-review because the book was equally short and is mostly sex! The plot had potential but it didn’t deliver that potential, unfortunately. I did like how Tyson truly liked Sean and tried to keep away from him at the beginning. I liked how Sean was all about shyness and brains – and how he wanted to be there for Tyson. What I liked the most was Sean standing up against his mother – but I wished we would’ve seen more of that and what happens to both of them after the confrontation. It ended very abruptly so we don’t get to see Sean blooming and feeling comfortable in his skin, we don’t see him truly recovering from the traumatic experience inflicted on him by his mother so I wished the book was a bit longer and would touch on those themes. I think a few more chapters would have helped the plot bloom, especially the relationship between these two.

Just the Tip by Neve Wilder: Ha! This was so sexy I blush just thinking about it. Neve is the author of one of my favorite series Extracurricular Activities where this book is based on – but not related to any other character from previous books. The book has a bit of taboo because the two main characters are step-brothers (seniors in high school, their parents recently marry so they didn’t grow up together and barely knew each other). Still, it was sexy as hell and had a lot of dialogue which I usually feel is overkill but worked for this book. The book has a bit of an open ending where we know they get together but eventually will go to different universities so we don’t know if their romance is a summer fling which will eventually end but still, I enjoyed the plot, the characters were well-developed and loved their chemistry. I hope to see these characters later on during the Extracurricular Activities series.

Currently reading (◕‿◕✿)

Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim: I caved and bought the e-book seeing as my paperback has not been shipped yet. I’m currently 9% into the book and I’m quite enjoying it. As I have mentioned before I don’t read YA anymore but the book is based on a retelling which I like but have never seen other books based on it. A few weeks ago I was watching a Chinese drama and for some reason, the dress and story details in this book remind me of that drama. There are a lot of characters but so far I don’t feel overwhelmed with the names, and I like how Shiori describes her stepmother and how she sees her as the most beautiful woman and there is a certain level of respect. She tries to understand her stepmother but at the same time, Shiori wants other things – like having fun and spending time with her brothers who have other duties and seem to have forgotten about her, or treat her like a child. As with every other fantasy YA with world-building I do feel I will be very lost with the world and location of places – tho there is a map I’m using an e-book so is not like I can go back and forth every time a place is described. I do think there is something cool about how having magic is connected to the demons living on the mountain behind the castle – that I found extremely fascinating!

Days of Blood and Starlight (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #2) by Laini Taylor: I’ve read book one a thousand times, and I love the story. Laini has a way of writing that is not only gorgeous, it grasps you by the throat and won’t let you go until you finish the book. Book one is incredibly whimsical, and the world-building and the romance are lovely. I love everything about it BUT I have always struggled with book two. I have been stuck on 10% since I bought the book years ago – yes, I’m ashamed of this. I just can’t get past this page because I know what is coming – I have been spoiled – and I can’t push myself to continue. This is why I will try to read at least two-three pages every day to keep going. Because I do want to know what will happen with Karou and Akiva’s love story.

Bookish things that happened this week (づ￣ ³￣)づ

I won a giveaway! I’m so happy as I never win anything 😀 I actually won two different giveaway this past week. One I received on Saturday: Kissed by a Killer by Leighton Greene which is part of a series I absolutely love – this book especially is my favorite so far. I was so happy to see the author doing a giveaway on Facebook! The other book I won is Right as Raine by Lucy Lennox which I read and LOVED back in February, is actually part of an ongoing series which I also love love love 💖

Well folks, this are the books I read/I’m currently reading. I hope this format works for me because I found it more easy to complete and compile! I do miss the graphics tho, but those will go to the monthly recaps and overall updates ~ tootles!