jellystorm's reviews
443 reviews

Taming the Viscount Viper by Evangeline Priest

funny lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.75

Utterly adorable. 

 

I would definitely qualify this as a cozy monster romance. It’s light on angst and the relationship between the two mains is as fluffy as they come. 

 

It did get to feeling a little stretched out at the end and the low angst had me half relieved and half disconcerted. 

 

All in all, it was a cute read and I’ll happily read more by this author. 

Sap and Spile by Vera Valentine

3.75

Cute, quick, winter romp. No plot to speak of, but a fun, spicy read. The guys could have been a lot more inhuman, imo, but it didn’t take away from the book.

Held By A Monster by Kenzie Kelly

3.5

This was decent. Nothing groundbreaking, but it was a cute read with cool creatures. The subplot felt underdeveloped and shallow, which affected how unexciting its ups and downs were. I also wasn’t super thrilled with the spice, which had several fadeouts and was only okay when it was described. The Wyrfangs are cool enough to bring that up a notch, though. Between the horns and claws and awesome name (not to mention the fancy peens), they made up for a good 50% of this book's positive points. 

 

Am I mad I read it? No. Will I read the rest of the series? Maybe just to see Quin get his happily ever after. 🤷 

XOXO, Daddy by Elle Sparrow

4.25

This was a fun read. I love a true-to-kink romp and this one was either very well researched or the author is part of the Little community. Maybe both. 

Now personally, I’ll read anything at least once and this isn’t the first Little book I’ve read. It is, however, the first one with smut happening during the Scene and I can see how that might be off putting or triggering for some, so just an FYI that is a thing that happens. 

On a broader scale, the writing in this was fantastic. The bads were a little mustache twirly, but not enough to put me off the story. 

There is fatphobia on page and some apparently very hurtful kink shaming off page, there is also bad BDSM etiquette (not between the mains) which would definitely be in the realm of SA. 

If none of those things scare you off, it’s a very nice spicy little trip and I really enjoyed it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming and Fatphobia

Moderate: Sexual assault

Bound by Secrets by Mia Sian

dark emotional

2.0

First of all, let me say that while I get the author was trying to do a whole thing with the FMC’s family names, having all of the siblings (including the estranged little sister) and the mom start with the same letter and sound is just a wild choice for a book. And then adding another C character and K name with the same sound?? I was SO confused for the whole first part of the book. 

 

I also think the depictions of the main character’s assaults were unnecessarily explicit. Like. I get that it was traumatic for her (hell it was traumatic for me) and I get that the author seems to want to underline that trauma in red ink. 

 

But I just can’t see any good reason beyond pure prurient shock value as to why that scene should have been given just as much detail and attention as the love scenes. 

 

I’m just going to come out and say that the writing wasn’t very good. It wasn’t (by far unfortunately) the worst I’ve read, but by the third time the author used “slither” instead of “sliver” I was completely over it. 

 

And it wasn’t just errors, the writing was just not very good. The laptop scene felt almost like it should have involved a railroad and twirly mustache. It made no plot sense, the dad storyline felt like it was being made up as I read it, and the book ended like I was reading an unfinished draft and they just hadn’t gotten the last chapter in yet. 

 

There were several problematic parts as well, most notably was the line about one of the characters being a lesbian and, as such, perfectly happy to help a female character bathe after she’d been tortured and suffered an attempted SA that I felt was beyond tasteless. There was a disconcerting air of “no homo” with one of the guys too that (early on when I still had hope) I had assumed would be resolved. No such luck. 

 

All in all this book took me a week to finish what should have been done in a couple days. No idea why I didn't just DNF it. 

The Naughty List by Ellie Mae MacGregor

3.0

Cute sexy Christmas novelette. 

 

I would have liked this to be just a little bit longer, especially in the epilogue. 

 

Once again, I was recommended a romance read that skewed hard into erotica instead. As usual, I’m not exactly mad about it. 😂 I say that just so potential readers know that there is next to zero romance in this book, and the majority of that is in the epilogue. Not that it’s not sweet and loving, it’s just the vibe. 

 

I look forward to reading more from this author. 

Clock Work by Cassie Mint

3.75

So this book had all the Cassie Mint staples, but what really made me enjoy it so much is the way she writes the shy FMC. She’s awkward and awkwardness makes her overcorrect, which tends to lead her to very expensive accidents. I love how the MMC just effortlessly steps between her and anything that might trigger her discomfort, from settling himself to block an entire train full of people from her view, to stepping between her and another man who made her uncomfortable. 

 

And the poor guy is so convinced he’s some decrepit old lecher preying on his innocent apprentice. 

 

I just love this fluffy ball of spice. ❤️ 

Snow Storm by Cassie Mint

3.25

Cute wintery read with a regency feel, despite the modern setting. 

 

Not my absolute favorite in the series, but definitely still a very good novella by an author who seems to have them down to a science. 

 

Unlike some of her other works, this one feels like a novella. The instalove wasn’t quite as believable as it usually is. 

 

It’s still worth the read, though, and I’m looking forward to the next in the series! 

Cold Wood by Cassie Mint

lighthearted

3.5

Another adorable (and spicy! 🥵) novella from a certified fave. 

 

I generally don’t have a good track record with retellings of any kind, despite loving them theoretically. I have Opinions about the stories I know which inevitably mismatch those of an author attempting to retell them. 

 

However, in a turn of events which should shock absolutely no one, Cassie Mint has managed to wrote an exception. 

 

My only complaint about this novella is its brevity. I would have loved to see this as a fully fleshed novel. Unlike most of her novellas, I actually felt the page limit on this one. 

 

Regardless, still an excellent read and I’m looking forward to the rest of the series! 

Thin Ice by Cassie Mint

4.25

This was a cute read. I love that the author manages to fit what feels like an entire slow burn of mutual pining in such short books. 

 

That’s talent, right there. 

 

Now I was already predisposed to liking this before I started: It’s written by an author who os quickly becoming a one-click for me, it’s got an age gap, a touch of forbidden, and a mentor/mentee type power imbalance. And I am weak for all of those things individually. But all together? 

 

Yeah I was all in from page one. 

 

Can’t wait ti start the next one!