Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Luxuria by Colette Rhodes

4 reviews

bzliz's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I’m so pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this! Monster romance is not my typical genre but this had some real heart behind the spice. I loved seeing Ophelia grow more confident though I wish we’d seen more interactions between her and more of the Shades. Allerick fulfills the roles of “grump soft for sunshine” and “king in the streets, freak in the sheets” perfectly. I appreciate the setup for Astrid and Soren’s story and I really like Damen so I hope there’s a future book for him.

Be warned that there is miscommunication here. I wasn’t bothered by the first major occurrence (
Allerick and the Shades mistaking the scent of Ophelia’s lust for fear
) since that tracks with what they know about humans and it allows time for Ophelia to start making connections to the Shades around her. The second major occurrence (
Ophelia thinking Allerick wanted her the leave with the Hunter’s Council
) was more frustrating to me because it backtracked on some of the progress Ophelia had made. Of course, it led to the conclusion but I really would have liked to get there a different way. 

Content warnings:
Sexual content (on page):
Breeding kink, knotting, predator/prey dynamic. Vulgar language used. 3.5/5 for spice

Abandonment (off page):
Ophelia was outcast from Hunter society when she was 16 due to her attraction to Shades. She was left alone to make her way in the world. There is minor discussion of these feelings throughout.
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melissaslibraryy's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

“I didn’t care that she’d turned her back on me. She hadn’t even bowed. Fire. I’d take her fire over her indifference any day.”

I’ve been in a monster romance mood lately and found this book available on KU at the perfect time. I haven’t heard anything about it before which I love bc I’m able to form my own unbiased opinion about it. 

This book has two of my favorite tropes: monster hunter x monster and arranged marriage. It does an amazing job of introducing the characters through this arrangement in order to establish a peace treaty between the hunters and the Shades realm. King Allerick is iffy about them being together and worried about how his people will take their new Queen but Ophelia handles the position fairly well. Don’t even get me started on how adorable it is that he gets protective and jealous once she starts ignoring him in return since he’s been avoiding her when he can since the wedding. I do wish there was more action and less miscommunication in the book which is why I bumped it down to 4 stars. I did enjoy their HEA and how the epilogue sets things off a bit for the next couple in the series.
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cluckieduck's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

Well this was a wonderfully delightful surprise, though I don't think I've ever read a *ahem* wetter book than this one. Seriously...So. Much. Slick! And smells and…trails.

Loved, loved, loved Ophelia as a FMC - she's hilarious and knows exactly what she wants.

I'd been promised monster fucking, and I wasn't getting any damn monster fucking.

I'm not usually a fan of overdrawn miscommunication, but Ophelia brought the right amount of comedic flair to deal with Allerick's miscues, and the way it all unfolded was really fun to read. 

If anyone's been tempted to dip their toe into the monster romance genre, I think this is a great one to start with. Really looking forward to book 2 with Astrid & Soren's romance 🔥🔥
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kam_be's review against another edition

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funny hopeful fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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