seen from China
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Brazil
seen from Thailand
seen from Russia
seen from Thailand
seen from China
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from Mexico
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Spain
seen from China
Just in time for the summer holidays, River Kingston shares another list of 10 books that feature excellent Autistic queer representation.
So I did a thing!!!!!!!
I am so absolutely rapt about this!
A Summer Reading List of 10 of my top reads of the year - all books by queer Autistic authors with queer Autistic main characters
Clean Finish by Lily Mayne
I had a nearly impossible time not gushing about this one constantly, so I held my review til release day despite typically posting ARC reviews early. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to write this with at least a few minor spoilers, so consider this your warning if that’s something you’d like to avoid lol
I *loved* this book — I loved Seb & Larkin’s relationship, I especially loved that they’re a vers couple (which I NEVER see, esp in monster roms), I love the character growth (esp from Larkin!), I loved how supportive all the side characters were (mature Holt?!), I loved all the little moments between the pining and the “fuckletics” where they made bread or fell asleep on the couch watching a movie together, and I loved that even though some of the humor wasn’t my thing I was constantly smiling, laughing, or kicking my feet while reading.
Lily Mayne is SO good at the serious stuff, the emotional stuff that brings tears to your eyes, the heavy things that break your heart — we’ve seen it over and over in her other works — but this series is her time to flex her silly muscles, to lean into her humorous side, and to just have *fun*. And she does this well too, which is kind of wild how far her talent stretches. But I love that even picking up something that could be a gamble on whether I’ll like it or not, I know that because it’s Lily Mayne that its going to be good.
Just like we all know that anything spicy or romantic is going to be good from her and this book really delivers on both of those ends. I won’t elaborate here because I feel like that’s the juiciest bit of the story but I will say that some of my favorite Lily’s Spicy Scenes ™ are in this book, right up there with Charlie and Moth (iykyk).
.... To read the rest, which does include specific spoilers, you can hop on over to GoodReads for my full ARC review :3
Berries and Greed by Lily Mayne
Happy release day, @ authorlilymayne !! I am so, so thrilled that I was able to be an early reader for this absolute gem of a book. 🥰
Berries and Greed was everything Lily teased, hinted, and promised it would be and so, so much more. ♥️
I knew she would be just as good at writing beautiful, consensual MF romance as she is at writing MM — but for those that might need a little convincing I want to assure you that Berries and Greed is still delightfully queer* (and tbh way k!nkier, which I personally adored). While I won’t make assumptions on either character’s identity, their intimacy is basically the polar opposite of traditional MF romance for a variety of reasons and the creative ways they work around those reasons, in addition to some just flat out being preference, keeps this from being at all boring or “vanilla”.
I’m trying to keep my gushing to a minimum but this book is incredible and I am over the moon that more authors are writing cozy yet spicy monster romance. 🥰 This niche is my happy place.
🌶 Spice (K!nk & Variety of scenes): 4/5 (fancy monster 🍆, lots of toys, f3md0m, p3gging, LOTS of praise, & more) 💦 Steam (Detail & amount of scenes): 5/5 💕 Romance (relationship dynamics): 5/5+ (the sweetest friends to lovers, he falls first, don’t want to live without you romance arc) 🌱 Character Growth/Arc: 5/5+ (SO much growth & self-discovery) 📖 Plot: 5/5 🏳️🌈♿️ Inclusivity: 4/5 (FMC w/health conditions that affect intimacy, multiple explicitly labeled & some implied LGBTQIA+ characters, realistic mental health rep, k!nk & s3x positive) ⭐️ 5/5 Stars, def in my top 10 reads this year!
You can read my full (mostly spoiler-free) review over at GoodReads
And while you’re there I hope you add the Deep Earth Dating series to your TBR or better yet, go here to purchase or borrow on KU!
I’ve attached Lily’s trope graphic on the second slide so you can get a better look at @ grandmechantlapin absolutely gorgeous cover. (And maybe in hopes that it’ll further convince you to read this and flail with me.)
Thank you so much to Elo for collaborating on this canva pretty 💙 Couldn’t do it without you, bestie!
Abandon by Trish Heinrich
Today’s ⭐️ 5 Star Reads of 2023 ⭐️ is an ARC that I had the pleasure of reading by Trish Heinrich, Abandon — the 3rd book in the stellar Monsters & Artifacts series. Abandon can be read as a standalone and will be released May 16th, so mark your calendars or hop over to Trish’s IG and follow the link in her bio to pre-order it~
This book hit ALL the best Indiana Jones meets Warehouse 13 notes with the bonus of an absolutely badass FMC, Andy, and a hella nerdy orc sweetheart, Luke. The plot was fast-paced, the action was believable, the history and thought put into the artifacts made it all the more fun, and the chemistry between the MCs was fire!
I don’t usually enjoy second chance romances *that* much, but I absolutely adored Luke & Andy’s. They had real problems, they had real conversations, and even though it was hard and angsty and emotional at times it was SO relatable. The tension, the dirty talk, the steamy scenes *chefs kiss* — I can’t recommend this one enough nor can I wait for the next one!!
🌶 Spice (K!nk & Variety of scenes): 2/5 (dirty talk, marking, size difference)
💦 Steam (Detail & amount of scenes): 5/5 (the. tension. Y’ALL 🥵 and we stan a man that eats like ice cream)
💕 Romance (relationship dynamics): 5/5
🌱 Character Growth/Arc: 5/5
📖 Plot: 5/5+ (the plot was fantastic, I didn’t want to put it down)
🏳️🌈♿️ Inclusivity: 2/5 (Dad bod, diverse characters)
⭐️ 5/5 Stars, would recommend
Make sure you add Abandon by Trish Heinrich to your TBR! And as always if you have any questions let me know!
Special thanks to Elo for helping me make this canva pretty gorgeous! 😘
Gentlemen Prefer Villains by C. Rochelle
Happy release day to @c.rochelle_author ! I know you were nervous about letting this series out into the world initially but it has me in SUCH a chokehold and I know I’m not the only one! 😘
This second installment of the Villainous Things series is called Gentlemen Prefer Villains but I offer you an alternative title: "Two Unholy Terrors; a Tiny Tyrant and a Murder Baby" 😂♥️
You’ll see why when you pick the book up ;)
We head back to Big City to follow tall, dark, and deliciously deadly Suarez brother Wolfgang, aka Wolfy, right after Butch & Xander’s story ends (yes, you need to read them in order) and immediately get to meet the spitfire that has caught Wolfie’s eye, Simon. And as luck would have it our favorite walking red flag has caught HIS eye too and the sexual tension is both immediate and palpable. 🥵 Seriously, between that and the banter Simon & Wolfy’s dynamic quickly edged out Butch & Xaddy’s for favorite couple and I have no idea how C will top it (or if I want her to)!
Being the Hand of Death however throws a wrench (or two, or three) in things right off the bat too, so fear not if you need plot with your $mut to justify reading the good stuff, C’s got you covered with some major twists, turns, revelations and of course, draaaama ✨ There’s also hella references to the best musical of all time and a carnivorous plant that gets front row seats to the action 😏
🌶 Spice (K!nk & Variety of scenes): 4/5 (def check the TWs for this one, its spicier & darker than C’s usual) 💦 Steam (Detail & amount of scenes): 5/5 (between the tension and the actual scenes, I’m pretty sure my kindle caught fire) 💕 Romance (relationship dynamics): 5/5 🌱 Character Growth/Arc: 5/5 📖 Plot: 5/5+ (knocked my socks off!) 🏳️🌈♿️ Inclusivity: 3/5 (MM, queer characters, K!nk+) ⭐️ 5/5 Stars, would recommend!
You can find the full review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5179210892
While you’re checking that out make sure you add Gentlemen Prefer Villains to your TBR!
Heat Clinic by Alexis B. Osborne
A bit of a less-structured than normal post but I wanted to congratulate Alexis B. Osborne on her new release — Heat Clinic — and tell y’all that its definitely a must read if you enjoy omegaverse, especially kinky, queer, TAF style omegaverse! I was a lucky ARC reader and enjoyed it a lot.
I will warn you though, it’s a THICK book and it's about 85% pure unadulterated smut - and I am talking erotica level, super descriptive, kinky ABO s3x - and 15% low-stakes, character-driven plot. If you are looking for anything less (or more) than that, you'll wanna skip this one. I, however, signed up for it because of the promise of queer kinky omegaverse; the tagline that was shared/caught my eye was literally "it's the literary equivalent of a bunch of fetish gear tossed into a dumpster and set on fire" and Alexis delivers exactly that. If that sounds like your idea of a good time too I would tell you to double-check the content warnings, which the author did a stellar job with, and give it a whirl!
🌶 Spice (K!nk & Variety of scenes): 5/5 (wide variety of k!nks & toys/prep/etc, tons of dirty talk, plus the usual OV fair: knotting, heats, mating bites) 💦 Steam (Detail & amount of scenes): 5/5 (nearly nonstop smut; 85% fun & filthy, 15% sweet plot) 💕 Romance (relationship dynamics): 4/5 🌱 Character Growth/Arc: 4/5 📖 Plot: 4/5 🏳️🌈♿️ Inclusivity: 4/5 (whychoose/polyam dynamics, MM, canonically bi/pan characters, positive kink rep, queer rep in all aspects) ⭐️ 4/5 Stars, would recommend
You can find my full (much longer) review on my Goodreads/by following this link: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5389510216
While you’re checking out my musings please be sure to add the book to your TBR ;)
Monsters in Love: Wicked Tales & Monstrous Ever Afters - A Charity Anthology!
ITS HERRRREEEEE~
The charity anthology is live! “Monsters in Love: Wicked Tales & Monstrous Ever Afters” supports the Best Friends Animal Society, a no-kill animal shelter organization -- a truly worthy cause ♥️ You get monster smut and they get much needed supplies, win-win!
I haven't sunk my teeth into the full anthology yet because I was strapped for time BUT I did get the pre-order drop at midnight and can tell you with utmost confidence that the author line-up is STELLAR and there will almost certainly be something for everyone, as long as you like your monsters spicy ;)
I did however get to read C. Rochelle's story in the anthology and I'm including my ARC review for that below because I know once you've had a taste, you'll definitely be wanting more!
ARC Review: You Can’t Get There From Here — C. Rochelle ⭐️ Stars 5/5 | 🌶 Spice 3.5/5
This tasty snack of a monster romance read brought all my favorite flavors of werewolf to the table: size difference, consensual primal/chase play, mating bites, and knotting. YUM! 😋 The only reason the spice-o-meter isn’t higher is because of the length/page constraints; you can only fit so much into these shorts — but C. made sure to pack as much good stuff in there for her weird-hos as she could! And “You Can’t Get There from Here” is definitely a major nod to her Monsterlovin’ fans because our FMC, Billie, is a big ole monster smut-readin’ weird-ho too, and dang if that doesn’t come in handy when things start to heat up. 🥵
I would be remiss to not mention that in addition to spicy, this short also holds up to all of C.’s stories in the humor department too. She has a serious knack for tickling my funny bone while making my face flame and this short was chock-full of great lines — so many in fact that I had a hard time narrowing it down for y’all because I couldn’t write this review without leaving you with a tiny taste.
“Careful, little flower. I’m not sure you could handle my fancy accessory.”
“You’re ‘knot’ sure, hmm?” she murmured, a secretive smile playing on her luscious lips. 😏 (IYKYK)
If that’s not incentive enough for you to pick up “Monsters in Love: Wicked Tales & Monstrous Ever Afters” I would also like to mention that this short is a prequel for the upcoming series, “Strange Vacationland”, that she’s working on for us Monsterlovers! We get a sneaky peek into what’s to come as well as see a familiar name or two. 😉
Also, the Mainerisms? Warmed my cold, dead Mainer heart ♥️
Head over to @c.rochelle_author ‘s IG profile and click the linktree linky-link to find “Monsters in Love: Wicked Tales & Monstrous Ever Afters”, you won’t want to miss it! (Or click that for the universal link!)
Book 32 of 2023 The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by @kjcharlesbooks Thank you to @netgalleyfor the opportunity to read this eARC. The book is out tomorrow, March 7, 2023!! I loved the story. The setting is stunning, and the characters, Joss and Gareth, are wonderfully flawed. I loved the mystery of what was going on. The queerness of Joss and Gareth is perfect, and I loved the expansion of their relationship. 4.25 out of 5 stars, and 3 out of 5 🌶 for spice. Full review on Goodreads and NetGalley. #GayBook #QueerReader #BookFlatLay #BookstagramAesthetic #BookDragon #AdvancedReaderCopy (at Idaho) https://www.instagram.com/p/CpdGNPxp-IO/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
