Feed - Aveda Vice
This novella is the second book in the Fangs with Benefits series and follows Harbinger (a banshee) and Flint (a gargoyle). Whenever Harbinger touches someone, she is able to tap into their emotions. She tries her best to keep her skin covered to avoid any accidental touching, but when her and Flint get into trouble during a job, they accidentally touch and now she is intensely aware of his feelings - for her. This was a bit lighter on the BDSM side of things than Feed, but still very steamy. I liked the amount of connection that Vice was able to build between these characters and I'd love a whole series of romantic suspense stories following them on their adventures. (TW/CW are listed in the description on Goodreads and on Amazon)
The Dating Playbook - Farrah Rochon
This is the second book in the Boyfriend Project series and follows personal trainer Taylor and former NFL player Jamar. After a knee injury ended his rookie season, all the sport blogs and commentators said Jamar would never play again. He wants to prove them wrong and Army brat Taylor, with her no-nonsense attitude and drill Sargent training style is just the person he wants to whip him back into shape. Only condition is: no one can know what they're doing. So when they're spotted together by a journalist and questions start flying, Taylor says the first thing that comes to mind: they're dating. I really enjoyed this story and thought Taylor and Jamar were really perfect together. Of course, a personal trainer and NFL player were going to have the physical attraction, but their relationship went deeper than that. They worked through a lot of personal history together and helped each other realize what they actually wanted out of life. I do wish the fake dating part lasted a little longer or had more pull on the plot. My favorite part of fake dating stories is when they are forced into a real life situation that causes them to become a little too close (like dates to a wedding, for example) and I didn't feel like the fake dating had enough emotional consequences in this story for my personal tastes. I thought Taylor and Jamar had really well developed characters and character development (both apart and as a couple) through the story.
Thanks to NetGalley and Forever for the ARC in exchange for review.
Expected publication is August 17, 2021
Her Soul to Take - Harley Laroux
This is the first book in the Souls Trilogy and follows Leon and Rae. He's a demon following orders to kill, she's a human that was picked to be his victim. But once Leon is off his leash, he doesn't want to kill Rae, he's intrigued by her and her dark desires. Rae has returned to her home town after years away, only to find herself the focus of a cult that plans to awaken an old God that lives in the abandoned mines. She's meant to be a human sacrifice, but Leon isn't giving her up that easily. This book wasn't exactly what I was expecting but I loved everything about it. I really thought this was going to be much more sinister and darker, but I found this to be a dark romantic suspense where most of the 'dark romance' aspect came from the BDSM elements and not so much from the surrounding world. I was intrigued from the very beginning, especially by Leon's chapters. He's a bit of a reluctant hero where initially all he wants to do is escape his imprisonment by this cult and return to his home in Hell, but once he meets Rae he just can't leave her behind. He's possessive, he's alpha-y, but he has a soft spot for this one human. Rae was a bit of a frustrating character because she really didn't seem to have an ounce of self-preservation or rational thinking since she kept going and doing things that Leon told her not to (like fight supernatural creatures by herself). But, taking a step back, that's exactly what her character would do because she keeps reminding herself (and the reader) that Leon won't be around forever so she needs to figure out how to take care of herself. I really enjoyed the suspense plot with the cult and can't wait to continue on in the series. Between this book and the two Aveda Vice books above, I think I might have found a new favorite sub-genre.
(TW/CW are listed in the description on Goodreads and on Amazon)
Deliver - Pam Godwin
This is the first book in the Deliver series and follows Liv and Josh. This is my second Pam Godwin book and I can honestly say that her books are some of the darkest subject matter I've read but I'm not entirely sure they're my preferred brand of dark romance. Liv is a Deliverer in a human trafficking network. She picks a person that fits the buyer's list of requirements, takes ten weeks to break them down and rebuild them to the buyer's specifications, then she delivers them and walks away. Josh is her eighth victim. Unlike her previous victims, Josh sees past the mask that Liv puts on and he wants to not only free himself, but take her with him. This was ... a lot. This book was 450ish pages and spent about the first 40% really establishing the world we're in. Josh gets abducted right at the beginning, so then we're spending a lot of time as Liv attempts to torture and break him down. We also see Liv's perspective and how she feels about what she's doing as well as some information on how she came to be in this position. Liv is a very complex character and I really liked how we got to peel back her layers as the book went on. I couldn't really get my feelings straight about Josh - at first, he felt really realistic and I was interested to see how he'd handle the situation but then it felt like he flipped a switch into savior mode and I didn't really understand how he felt about Liv. Of course, this is a romance, so the two have a happy ending, but it really felt like more of a happy for now because I really didn't picture them having enough in common outside of their shared trauma to have a long term (and healthy) relationship.
(TW/CW: a lot. Seriously, this is a book about human trafficking and basically breaking down people so they can be sold to their new 'masters' and the process isn't pretty or consensual.)
Priceless - Miranda Silver
This new adult dark romance follows Patrick and Christina. Christina is a junior and spent all fall semester partying and blowing through her bank account. Now, spring semester has started, she's trying to make up for her poor grades last semester as well as make sure she can pay her rent, utilities, and her Adderall dealer. She sees Patrick across a party one night last semester and she hasn't been able to get his icy stare out of her mind. They reconnect at the beginning of this new semester and he has an interesting proposal for her - be his companion, do what he wants in bed, no relationship outside of his room, for pay. But what Patrick wants at night isn't the lovey-dovey vanilla sex Christina is used to from her ex boyfriends, it is harsh, humiliating, and leaves Christina raw with emotion by the end. Overall, I liked this story but it might have been a bit overhyped by Twitter/Instagram. This has dirty talk for days. The things Patrick says are downright filthy but certainly won't be everyone's cup of tea and can be a little intense. This book is about 340 pages long, and I found a lot of the middle repetitive. There is a lot of on-page sex and Silver does not hold back - it is steamy. But there are only so many times I can hear Patrick call Christina names and have her go weak at the knees before I get desensitized and start to skim read. Since they only meet up to go to bone town, there isn't much opportunity for relationship growth that isn't related to the sex so I get why we had so much. I did really enjoy their little conversations after sex and how those conversations added up over the weeks to really getting to know each other. I also liked how the sex did morph from strictly physical to being emotionally cathartic which I think is something not touched on in a lot of the darker romance I've read. Most of the book is told from Christina's POV and I would have liked to get more from Patrick (we get a few chapters throughout the book, but is isn't close to 50/50 like a lot of romance books).
(TW/CW: drug use, infidelity, BDSM specifically degradation/humiliation kink)
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