#BookReview: Fake (Madison Kate #3) by @TateJamesAuthor @Read_Bloom

Synopsis: "You'll always be mine."

The latest taunt from my stalker reminded me I was nothing more than a possession to my father, to the Reapers, to Archer D'Ath. Even to Kody and Steele. Princess Danvers―the prize.

His wife.

Archer D'Ath's wife.

I hate them. They lied to me. Over and over again. I knew they were lying, too, and I hate myself for letting it get this far. For falling for them despite what they did to me. For believing in the relationships I wanted so desperately to be real.

Fake.

It's all fake. And none of them will let me go. Archer and his boys think they control me. My stalker wants to possess me. I'm not an idiot―I know my newest allies are using me, too.

That's fine.

I'll use all of them. I'll use them to take back what's mine.

My life. My freedom. My name.

No one owns Madison Kate Danvers.

#BookReview: Damaged Goods (All Saints High #4) by L.J. Shen

Synopsis: Underneath the goody two-shoes persona is damaged goods…but can the bad boy across the street save her?

Bailey Followhill is the perfect daughter. Sweet. Charitable. Pretty. Control freak. Not a hair out of place, not an inch out of line, she is everything her troublemaking sister Daria isn't. But when her A game turns out to be a lukewarm C- at Juilliard, Bailey's picture-ready life starts fraying faster than the worn satin ribbons of her pointe shoes. She's becoming a piece of gossip. The Troubled Child. A drug abuser. No longer the girl her best friend once knew.

Lev Cole is so golden, he's got the Midas Touch. Prized quarterback. Football captain. Hottest guy in SoCal. A textbook cliché. But with a girlfriend he doesn't love and a career path he doesn't value, Lev is coasting.
The only two things he cares about, Bailey and becoming a pilot, are out of reach.

But Lev is done being satisfied with the life others have chosen for him. He wants to pick his own cards. To demolish the seamless kingdom of lies his family stitched together on the ruins his mother left behind.

The question is, can he save his best friend and his dream before too much damage is done?

#BookReview: Angry God (All Saints High #3) by L.J. Shen

Synopsis: He's been told that good girls like bad boys…and he's as bad as they come. They call Vaughn Spencer an angry god, but to Lenora Astalis, he is nothing but a heartless prince. His parents rule this town, its police, every citizen and boutique on Main Street―and all Lenora owns is the grudge against him for the time he almost killed her. Not to mention that between hooking up with a different girl every weekend, breaking hearts and noses and rules alike, Vaughn still finds the time to give Lenora hell during their senior year. She fights back tooth and nail…but she never expects him to chase her across the ocean for an art program after graduation. Now, here they are, living together in a dark, looming castle on the outskirts of London. He's a fellow intern. A prodigal sculptor. A dangerous genius. Everyone says that Carlisle Castle is haunted, and Lenora thinks they're right. After all, the castle now hides Lenora and Vaughn's most ghastly secrets, and their paths begin to intertwine in ways they never could have imagined. Vaughn thinks he can kill the ghosts of his past, but he doesn't realize he's slaying Lenora's heart along the way―and some wounds never heal. She may know his secret…but now he knows her weakness.

#BookReview: Broken Knight (All Saints High #2) by L.J. Shen

Synopsis: Not all love stories are written the same way. 

Theirs has torn chapters, missing paragraphs, and a bittersweet ending. 

Luna Rexroth is everyone's favorite wallflower. 

Sweet. Caring. Charitable. Quiet. 

But it's not real. Underneath the meek tomboy exterior is a girl who knows exactly what―and who―she wants. Namely, the boy from the treehouse who taught her how to curse in sign language. 

Who taught her to laugh and to love, shielding her from the world when her mother abandoned her.

Except Luna is not the young, defenseless girl she used to be. And she doesn't need his protection anymore. 

Knight Cole is everyone's favorite football hero.

Gorgeous. Athletic. Rugged. Popular. 

But that's not real, either. 

Beneath the daredevil, hell-raising mask, he's fighting his own silent battles. And while it might seem like he could knock a girl up with his gaze alone, he's only ever had eyes for the girl across the street: Luna. 

When life throws a curveball at All Saints' golden boy, he's forced to realize not all knights are heroes, and sometimes, the only way love can flourish is if two people learn to grow apart before they can grow back together. 

But by the time they both learn that lesson, their forever might be too broken to repair.

#BookReview: Pretty Reckless (All Saints High #1) by L.J. Shen

Synopsis: They say revenge is a dish best served cold… 

Penn Scully has had four years to stew on what Daria Followhill did to him, and now his heart is completely iced over. 

He took her first kiss, and she took away the only person he ever loved. 

He asked her to save the rest of her firsts for him, and she walked all over his heart in stiletto heels and left it bleeding out on a bright summer day. 

Now, everything has changed. 

When circumstances leave Penn homeless in his senior year, the Followhills take him in as their latest shiny project. That means, for the time being, he's Daria's housemate, living right across the hall. 

And once he sees her again, he's determined to make this spoiled princess pay for ruining the only good thing in his life. 

But Daria is used to being misunderstood. Being slammed for every snarky comment, cynical eye roll, and foot she puts in the way of the people who hurt her. 

Being the girl everyone wants to see cry, and keeping her tears hidden. Penn wanted her firsts, but she wants to be his last everything. 

The problem is, once they see past each other's cutting barbs and wounded hearts, the truths they uncover might just start something new altogether.

#BookReview: Finding Eden (Acadia Duology #2) by Mia Sheridan

Synopsis: The second book in the Acadia Duology, a forbidden friends-to-lovers romance, from the New York Times bestselling author of Archer's Voice.

When the world as you know it has ended, when all that you love has been washed away, where do you find strength?

Calder and Eden are free from the stifling grasp of Acadia, but the new world they've stepped into is just as isolating. Each convinced the other died in the flood that decimated their community, they're forced into modern life, hearts broken, futures unclear. After all they sacrificed to be together, a life without one another, forever haunted by grief and memories, seems impossible to bear.

But they do bear it. They survive. And when they meet by chance years later, happiness, for once, finally seems within their grasp.

Still, the past is a bright, burning pain between them, and Calder and Eden cannot truly move on until they lay it to rest. With Acadia's story forced into the public eye and dangerous questions mounting, the two must untangle the truths of the life they came from to discover who they are and who they might become together.

Only, what they discover might drown them for good.

#BookReview: Becoming Calder (Acadia Duology #1) by Mia Sheridan

Synopsis: The first book in the Acadia Duology, a forbidden friends-to-lovers romance, from the New York Times bestselling author of Archer's Voice.

The light of love has always found its way into even the darkest of places, from the beginning of time to the end of the world.

There is a place in today's America with no electricity, no plumbing, and no modern conveniences. In this place, there is no room for dreams, no space for self-expression, and no tolerance for ambition.

In the community of Acadia lives a boy named Calder with the body of a god and the heart of a warrior. He serves his family with faith and honor, but he dares to dream of more…especially when an angel-faced girl his age is brought to their community. To Acadia, Eden is obedient perfection, prophesized to lead them to eternal peace, but to Calder, even at first glance, she is so much more.

Calder and Eden were never meant to be friends. Certainly never meant to fall in love. After all, Eden is betrothed to Acadia's leader, secluded until the day of her destiny. But as she and Calder steal fleeting moments and forbidden kisses, their hearts grow dangerously tangled, and it's too late to heed the warnings.

In Acadia, they can never be together. But Acadia is all they know. If they want any chance at a future, they must risk everything to choose between the life they were taught to live and the dream their hearts want to follow.

#BookReview: The Last Dragon King (The Kings of Avalier #1) by Leia Stone

Synopsis: The Dragon King is looking for a wife. 

This news throws the women in my village into a tizzy. The king will be sending out the royal guard to bring women of childbearing age to his castle in Jade City.

There is only one requirement: the woman must carry enough magic to produce an heir for him.

I’m a watered-down human with a mere ten percent dragon magic lineage, I know I won’t be chosen, but for some reason the magic sniffers command me to present myself to the king as a possible wife.

I’m ready to go to Jade City until my mother tells me a terrifying secret. A secret that could get me killed… by the king himself.

This is a full length fantasy romance standalone with an HEA!

#BookReview: Your Fault (Culpable #2) by Mercedes Ron

Synopsis: *A BookTok and Wattpad Viral Sensation*

Fast-paced and sizzling with a forbidden enemies-to-lovers romance, Your Fault is the second book in Mercedes Ron's Culpable trilogy. This suspenseful YA series untangles the threads of love, trauma, and secrets, perfect for fans of Ugly Love and After. 

When Noah fell in love with Nick, she knew their relationship would never be easy. They're fire and electricity, and when they're together, every kind of sparks fly. After last summer, Noah thought their passion had grown stronger than their fear, but her life is about to turn upside-down again now that she's starting university. Moving again while maintaining her relationship with Nick will be a difficult hurdle, with their age difference, campus life, dangerous parties, and inner demons stalking them both, reminding them of all they still don't know about each other.

No matter how hard they try, there will always be wounds that won't close. Is Noah really prepared to overcome her fears and truly trust someone again? Will Nick be able to put his past behind him and keep his heart open?

Or are they doomed only to burn each other's worlds down?

#BookReview: Heavy Crown (Brutal Birthright, #6) by Sophie Lark

Synopsis: A Temptation I Couldn’t Resist...

I saw her being stuffed in a trunk: Yelena Yenina, only daughter of the most vicious Bratva boss in Chicago.

The Bratva hate my family. They burned my uncle alive. I should have left Yelena to her fate...

But she fought like a Valkyrie. Gorgeous, ferocious, and unbreakable.

I saved her so I could make her mine.

She says she’ll never submit to a man. I guess we’ll see…

I’ll push her to the limit. And far beyond.

Heavy Crown is the mind-blowing conclusion to the bestselling Brutal Birthright series. It’s a stand-alone Dark Mafia Romance with HEA and no cliffhanger. Contains extra-steamy scenes guaranteed to make your night!

The Lark Notes:

I knew I had to end the Brutal Birthright series with the biggest twists, the most intense action, and the hottest hero yet. I’ve always had a soft spot for Sebastian from the very first book – you’re going to be so surprised where his journey takes him!

#BookReview: House of Ash and Shadow (Gilded City #1) by @LeiaStoneAuthor @Read_Bloom

Synopsis: “And what if I go dark?” I whimpered.
His face sobered. “Then I will jump into the shadows and pull you back to the Light.”

Seventeen-year-old Fallon Bane was born with a a single touch from another person will always cause her excruciating pain. Thus, she has accepted that she will die without ever being kissed, without even hugging her own father.

But when her beloved father falls ill, she breaks into the magical Gilded City to find a healer fae that can save him. When handsome healer Ariyon Madden agrees to help, everything she knows about herself and her curse changes. Because during her father’s healing, Ariyon reaches out and touches her bare skin. She waits for the agony… but it never comes.

For the first time in her life, she imagines a new future for herself. However, that fantasy is short-lived, because not only does Ariyon flee from her in disgust when he learns of her curse; he also reveals her existence to powerful fae who want to hurt her.

Fallon is then swept away to a magical academy, there she learns the terrifying truth about her family history and her dark magic. Her life and the future of fae everywhere hang in the balance, and all the while Fallon is dreaming of being touched by Ariyon Madden one more time before she dies…

#BookReview: The Broken Elf King (Kings of Avalier #2) by Leia Stone @Read_Bloom

Synopsis: I never should have taken that loan but my aunt needed the meds and they were too expensive for me to afford by myself. Now I’ve been sold to slavery and the Nightfall Queen’s guards have found out I’m not entirely human.

I guess I’m lucky they didn’t kill me.

The next thing I know I’m transferred to the Elf King’s castle to find out that he has bought me. It will take me five years to pay off the debt but I get to be his personal assistant. Personal assistant to the king. That can’t be so bad, right?

Wrong. Oh how wrong I was.

His council has tasked me with finding him a wife before they will fund his war against the Nightfall Queen. That part should be easy, he’s rich, disgustingly handsome, and smart to boot. The problem? He’s rejecting every high born female I send his way.

The more time we spend together, the more we realize I’m not just some half elf. There is a deep power that runs through my veins, one that makes me a target. His solution?

Enter into a fake marriage with him so that he can get the council off his back and I can get some protection.

That’s a great idea, so long as I don’t fall in love with him.
Should be simple enough…


The Broken Elf King is book TWO of FOUR in the Kings of Avalier series. It's a full-length standalone fantasy romance that focuses on the Elf King Raife Lightstone.

#BookReview: Broken Vow (Brutal Birthright, #5) by Sophie Lark

Synopsis: I’ll Protect Her… Whether She Likes It Or Not.

Riona Griffin is gorgeous, intelligent, and iron-willed. My perfect woman, except she hates my guts.

She thinks she doesn’t need anybody. But she needs me.

She’s being hunted by an assassin who never misses his mark.

I’m going to stay by her side, day and night, keeping her safe. Riona thinks that’s a fate worse than death but I know she’ll learn to love me.

If this hitman wants to kill her, he’ll have to go through me first.

“Broken Vow” is the wild and dangerous fifth installment in the "Brutal Birthright" series. It's a standalone Bodyguard Mafia Romance, with a HEA and no cliffhanger. Contains steamy scenes.

The Lark Notes:

I knew I needed someone hot as hell to melt Riona’s icy heart. Raylan is a rancher, a soldier, and a southern boy with charm to burn. Best of all, he loves a challenge. My favorite parts to write were the fish-out-of-water scenes, when uptight Riona ends up on Raylan’s ranch. I loved finding creative ways for Raylan to use his riding crop...

#BookReview: Bloody Heart (Brutal Birthright, #4) by Sophie Lark

Synopsis: When you get a second chance, you don’t wait for a third…

Simone Solomon lives in a gilded cage. She’s been raised to wealth, privilege, and above all, obedience.

Hiding in the back of a limousine, dreading another tedious gala, Simone is abducted by a mafioso who intended to steal a car, not a girl.

Dante Gallo looks like a beast and behaves like one, too — until he lays eyes on Simone. Their attraction is irresistible, even if they’re completely wrong for each other.

Simone is willing to risk everything for Dante — until the disastrous night that splits them apart.

Fate grants her one more chance to reconnect with the man she can’t forget. But Simone has a secret… a mistake she fears Dante will never forgive…


The Lark Notes:
This was the first book I wrote that ripped my heart out. It’s a story about longing and regret, and the determination to win back the most precious thing you ever lost. Plus there’s a scene with a belt that had me dragging Mr. Lark into my writing room. Nothing dries tears like some flaming-hot spice. XOXO – Sophie

"Bloody Heart" is the angst-ridden fourth installment in the "Brutal Birthright" series. It's a standalone Second Chance Mafia Romance, with a HEA and no cliffhanger. Contains steamy scenes.

#BookReview: Savage Lover (Brutal Birthright, #3) by Sophie Lark

Synopsis: Two people who believe they’re unworthy of love… until they meet each other.

Camille Rivera is drowning. Her father’s sick, her brother’s in deep with a dirty cop, and her mechanic shop is failing.

Nero Gallo is the neighborhood psychopath. As vicious as he is gorgeous, Camille has watched him burn through every girl in a ten-mile radius, breaking hearts and never, ever getting attached.

Which is why she can’t believe it when Nero saves her from a seriously sticky situation. They’ve lived next to each other all their lives — is it possible she never really knew him at all?

Camille is about to learn that the only thing more dangerous than trusting Nero is falling for him.


The Lark Notes:
I like to call Savage Lover my “James Dean meets Fast and the Furious” novel. Nero is a mood — he’s passion and anger and violence wrapped up in an all-too-tempting package. Camille is completely down-to-earth and she’ll do anything for the people she loves. They’re opposites, but exactly what each other needs. – Sophie

“Savage Lover” is the wild and reckless third act of the “Brutal Birthright” series. It’s a stand-alone bully Mafia Romance, complete with HEA and no cliffhangers. It contains blazing hot bedroom scenes for mature readers only!!!

#BookReview: The Ruthless Fae King (Kings of Avalier #3) by Leia Stone @Read_Bloom

Synopsis: Lucien Thorne is the most vile monster in all of Thorngate. As Winter King, he rules our land with an iron fist and a cold, dead heart. And my father has just informed me that I am betrothed to marry him….

As the Princess of Fall, it is my duty to marry whatever suitor my father chooses for me, but Lucien is not someone I can fathom spending the rest of my life with. Not even for duty.

When he arrives to negotiate my dowry, I break protocol and take matters into my own hands. But the more time I spend with this mysterious man, the more I wonder if the rumors about him are even true.

As I get to know the real Lucien, I start to discover that there is a dark history in his family, one that explains his ruthless behavior. One I plan to expunge if I am ever to live out my life in the Winter Palace in peace.

As much as I want to hate Lucien Thorne and everything he’s done to our realm… I cannot deny my heart.