clearancerackbookreview

[clearancerackbookreview]

7th Circle/ Anarchy/ Club 22/ Timber by: Tate James

I found the first book on clearance for $4, and proceeded to purchase the other 3 for full price on Amazon.

Hades, or Hayden, is the gang leader in a small town that views her as its unofficial mayor. She was thrust into a life of a crime from a very young age, and suffered at the hands of many loved ones before she assumed the throne. She runs strip clubs, bars, local pie shops, and doesn’t shy away from spending her wealth. Still a young woman, (around 23 I think?) she is the sole provider for her younger sister, whom is still in high school.

The name “Hades” is given to her based on her brutal force in running her business. She is a ruthless boss, having all of her employees refer to her as the God of the Underworld or simply “Sir”.

Having been closed off from everything outside of her work, she is a complete enigma to the entire town, and her sister. Nobody really knows her. She barely knows herself… You slowly are shown more and more of who she is hiding behind the mask as she starts to engage in a sexual relationship with not one, but THREE different men.

The twists and turns of this story will always keep you on your toes, and wanting more. The author does a fantastic job of leaving each book hanging so that you’re scrounging to pick up the next one. The ending is deliciously satisfying and made me belly laugh with tears in my eyes.

I read all of this books in about a month or two? Hard to keep track, as I was reading other things simultaneously.

I did recommend this serious to 4 different people, all of whom loved it just as much as I did.

3.5/5

⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

[clearancerackbookreview]

Birthday Girl by: Penelope Douglas

*** DEFINITE SPOILERS ***

This book was borrowed, and free

This is “‘Daddy Issues’ The Book” basically. Boring smut and non-existent character development. It is here just to make you feel warm inside about being chosen by a man/being taken care of. Towards the end, I started flipping through the pages much faster, skimming certain paragraphs and skipping others altogether.

Honestly, if I was at home and not stuck somewhere else with only this to read, I don’t know if I would have finished it. But, I did, so I’m going to post it here.

The young, female protagonist is infuriatingly difficult throughout the entire story. She is ALWAYS causing problems, rarely solving them. The jump from being a shameless flirt and regretting her entire life is so frequent, it resembles some sort of personality disorder. And god, she is SUCH a pushover - her primary trait is being a homemaker and having like, 40 different “loved ones” who treat her like garbage.

All of the female characters in this book are one-sided and stereotypical.

The other perspective we get is the Daddy himself. For being the supposed dd of the ddlg dynamic, he is awful unsure of himself. If I was to take a “Daddy” I would expect him to have conviction is his decisions, instead of panicking every time I’m unable to prove him with assistance. He behaves like every other boy in her life, he’s just not physically neglectful.

The thing is, this man is the FATHER of her BOYFRIEND, and STILL the smut is vanilla.

A boring story, lackluster smut, and a marriage trope to top it all off. The ending left a bad taste in my mouth.

I read this in about 12 hours.

1.5/5

⭐️✨

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Butcher & Blackbird: by Brynne Weaver

This book was borrowed, and free.

A couple of serial killers turn hunting bad people into their “date night”.

Two descriptors: Gorey and horny. Similar to Haunting/Hunting Adeline; if you’re a complete freak, I recommend this. If not… you should sit this one out.

Blackbird is quiet, shameful, meticulous, and unhinged. Her eyes resemble dark night and looking into them, you’d feel no soul looking back. Butcher is charming, elegant, passionate, and wild. You’d never guess how normal killing is for him. They compliment each other in the best of ways.

Very… very very slow burn romance. Years and years of slow burning. The slowest of burns.

I read this book in about 8 hours

3/5

⭐️⭐️⭐️

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Pen Pal by: J. T. Gessinger

This book was on sale for $8

Oh. My. GOD.

This book genuinely surprised the hell out of me. I do not want to give too much away, as the constant twists and turns had me devouring this book whole. Basically, a woman has recently had her life turned upside down and starts to receive mysterious gifts from a stranger.

…… Genuinely don’t want to give away more than that. After I finished this book I lent it to about 4 different people, all of whom shared my reaction to the ending.

I read this cover to cover in about 10 hours.

4/5

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[clearancerackbookreview]

the house of my mother by: Shari Franke

I bought this book for full price

After finishing the documentary “Devil In The Family” on Hulu, I added this book to my cart and ordered it.

It’s about child stardom, child abuse, toxic religion, misandry, and Mormonism; Starting off with the rise of a wholesome family-oriented mom-fluencer and ending with a broken family. The author, who is the eldest child of 8, recounts her childhood and how she watched fame and the plight for Godliness mindwash her mother.

Although you can tell that this is her time writing a book, it is still very intelligently worded and engaging from start to finish.

I read this book in about 2 days.

4/5

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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Haunting Adeline &Hunting Adeline by; H. D. Carlton

These books were both borrowed, and free

A coworker of mine recommended these to me, and I was not disappointed. One of the darker books that I’ve read, sort of an introduction into “dark romance” for me.

The main love interest, Zade, is a 10/10 as far as intrigue goes. The juxtaposition between being a social justice vigilante and creepy perverted stalker allows you as the reader to leave your judgement at the door and enjoy the smut. He is a good guy! He’s just a little quirky. He likes to stand outside your window at night and watch you sleep.

Sincerely don’t want to spoil too much of this. There are several trigger warnings in the beginning that will give you a good idea of what is to come; Abduction, seduction, production… Much is kept a mystery and slowly revealed as you go on, so I won’t give away too much here.

If you’re a little bit of a freak, you’ll probably really enjoy this. Guaranteed to get your heart racing.

I did start to nod off towards the end, but finished it satisfied nonetheless.

I read these books in about a week.

3.5/5

⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

[clearancerackbookreview]

Bound To You by: Alyssa Brandon

*** DEFINITE SPOILERS ***

This book was on sale for $3

I don’t even want to bore you with the details. Little were given, anyway.

Werewolves and mating bonds. Alphas and betas. I wasn’t expecting much so I can’t say I was disappointed, but I did belly laugh during several moments that were not intended to be funny.

Megan is a shell of a young girl. Her only real personality traits are that she’s horny, naive, and she likes cars(?) sort of. Her father throws her a party to help her find her mate, as she is 18 and for some reason that means she is basically an old spinster. Her “mate” is a complete ass of a boy who basically uproots her life and then ignores her for the entire book.

One thing that is very confusing is the Alpha hierarchy system. It starts with her father being introduced, literally, as the Alpha of All Alphas. But then.. her mate is also an Alpha? And then… she herself is ALSO an Alpha? None of it makes any sense.

She moves into his house where he is the Alpha and all of his Betas are enormous, 100 year old brutes. For whatever reason, Megan tries again and again to seduce this man, and he is rude about it every time. She steals and loses a car? At one point. She befriends the little wild girl who roams the halls (literally never explained. One of the few interesting side-stories and it just dies out like a match in a puddle of water). She guts one of the storage rooms and turns it into a haven for Wi-Fi reception….? Because she loves Pinterest and Instagram….. Seriously. Not making this up.

When the stars finally align and James, her mate, takes the stick out of his ass for long enough to lay one on her, he essentially humps into her for a few glorious minutes until withdrawing himself and leaving without either of them having an orgasm. And that’s her first time having sex, ever, period.

Basically, they are never on the same page until James almost dies and by that point you have all of 5 pages left in the book.

I should deduct several points solely for the unironic usage of “effing” in lieu of the the word fucking, and “holy crap” moaned in the heat of “lovemaking”

I read this book in about 3 hours

0/5

[clearancerackbookreview]

Bound To The Shadow Prince by: Ruby Dixon

*** SLIGHT SPOILERS ***

This book was on sale for $15

While taking a break from the ACOTAR series (I did not want to finish it.. I didn’t want it to end) I found this book was helpful in scratching my Fae-war itch.

Candra, the main character, is a spoiled princess who was born with a chronic illness of sorts. Her rich life is turned upside down when she learns that she must go in place of her, now deceased, sister to serve as an offering to the Gods. She is to be isolated in a stone tower for 7 years - no sunlight, no ocean breeze, no correspondence from family or friends, and no nurse to aid her in her daily medicinal necessities.

She is locked up with another royal offering from her people’s enemies, The Fellians; a winged population with dark features and backwards-bent knees (also, conveniently equipped with the ability to see in the dark).

It doesn’t take long for her to have to rely on her nemesis for basics, like food and care. Having come from the abundance of the Palace, she was ill-prepared for the challenges the tower had in store. The Fellian, named Nemeth, is equally as wary of Candra, regarding her as a threat and nothing more.

Of course, they grow attached to each other, finding solace in each others arms during frightening storms and vicious attacks from the outside. Soon enough, the learned hatred they carried on from their ancestral histories starts to dissipate as they compare legends. Lessons they learned as children, all meant to deepen the hatred of the opposing side, proved to be fabricated extremism. It seemed as though they weren’t all that different; they both feared what they believed the other would do.

—————

Experiencing the journey of Candra gaining perspective outside her bountiful childhood, and Nemeth outside of his scholarly one, is the best journey of this book. While at first they both hated the tower and wished to rid themselves of its confines, they later find that they welcome the solitude and the simple life of waking, cooking, exercising, and sleeping. I found myself feeling the same way. The backdrop shifted from a prison to a vacation, without changing anything other than your perspective. Brilliant character development for Candra, turning her from a selfish brat into a brave and wise woman. Nemeth seemingly stays stagnant. He is always very level-headed and kind.

The sex scenes are very, VERY heavy on breeding-kinks. So, uh, if that’s something you don’t enjoy I don’t imagine you’ll like this very much (one issue I find is in how quickly authors jump to the pregnancy trope - I could have done without it completely).

All-in-all, I found it easy to root for both of these characters. The ending was very satisfying, even if it was a bit cliche. Sometimes cliche isn’t all that bad.

I read this entire book in about 14 hours. Definitely a sugary treat and not something that will alter your life drastically.

2.5/5

⭐️⭐️✨