melstylensubstance's reviews
487 reviews

This one felt short and abrupt compared to other books of the series. I was really looking forward to this pairing. It was nice to see a slightly different romance trajectory, some of the other books were getting tedious it seemed with very similar stories. I liked that in this stories, the 2 MC fought together in a concerted effort. I could tell that something was wrong with merceo when his anxiety was ramping up. But Cas was too busy being a big fat jumper to conclusions rather than really ask what was wrong with his mate and to comfort him in a time of obvious distress. I didn’t care much for that.
I loved Lothaire’s “why the fuck would I care you’re a male” comment. He didn’t want the union because he was a demon, not because it was a queer relationship. I found that very funny. OH LEO

I really liked this one. It focused a lot on just Lila and sian trying to one up each other, and each time just proving more and more how suited they were. There was very little other Lore drama, other than Nix’s role in the whole thing of course. And it was fitting for the sorceri sisters be the ones to send Lila to pandemonium. The modern day references were hilarious - magic kingdom, seven dwarfs, box to the left, lol.
And the sexy times were so hot.

Another one I really enjoyed! I was definitely curious to see Munroe’s story. He was such a solid, sober dude in macreive’s story so I was curious to see how things unfolded with his mate. I loved the whole story and the conflict around choice. As always, good to see lothaire, and there was great glimpses of other lore couples. I got a
Title confused with all the time travel justifications, but I was happy enough to say “romance reasons” and not get too caught up in it. I thought ren’s first impression of cell phone was hilarious - glowing rectangle box that they stared at and petted in idolatry. So good.
There never was an answer as to why it was 7 days for ren to revive And I do believe this was the series first claiming of 2 lykae? I was down for it. I loved Munro and I just don’t have the words right now to explain why. It just is.

This one has been recommended as similar to Praise. And I get the similarities; age gap, rich dude, employer/employee, dom/sub flavour. But I felt this one had more heart, and that was mostly because of the kids. Brielle's relationship with the kids is what made the whole story believable IMO. She gave the kids what they needed; love, fun, non judgemental parental figure. The kids were the conduit for each to see the other. Julian saw her fun loving side, kindness, empathy, unbridled joy. He saw how much she cared about his kids. Brielle saw how she could be a bridge for the kids with their father, help him have a better relationship with his kids and not only be a disciplinarian. She saw how much he hurt, and how that impacted his relationship with his kids. I felt Julian's brokenness made sense....up to a point. I had a bit of issue with Brielle's immaturity early on, but got over that quickly. I'll say in the first bit of the book I found Brielle kind of annoying, the middle half I loved them both, and the last bit I felt Julian was being a stubborn douche. At least he went to real therapy. BUT - I think she took him back a bit too quickly. Although, I guess the proposal in and of itself was an apology an a compromise? I would have liked to see them talk out their issues a bit.

Not as good of a story as masters. Ways it wasn’t as good - the heroine was a spoiled sheltered rich girl who was spineless. What bothered me even more than the fact she “fell in love” so quickly was that she went from her brother and father railroading her in to letting Spencer speak for her. I do believe Spencer at least believed that she was strong in her own right and should be making her own choices as an adult. But he was spoiling for a fight so bad he didn’t even give her the opportunity to deal with her own shit before he made declarations for her.
I do t mind Spencer’s background and history as playboy - not at all. It’s not unbelievable that he would have interest in charlotte, or she in him. I think both felt things they never felt before. Was it love? I don’t buy it. It wasn’t as is the love was built on anything substantive. They were smitten, yes. But the I love you’d got nauseating and you just knew something was going to come out of left field. And it did. And it was realistic. What wasn’t realistic to me was the “reconciliation”. He was angry, she didn’t listen to him and ignored his wishes to be left alone. Then wakes him in the morning with a BJ. It felt icky to me. Consent goes both ways sweetheart. The reconciliation at the end didn’t ring true either.

I kept imagining Hugh Grant in Love Actually but Spanish looking. April was a badass. I love that they fought but it was never a break up.

This book keeps getting mentioned as bananas, the hero’s redemption arc. So I needed to read it and see what the fuss is about. The style of writing - it’s very different to me. I’m unsure if it’s because the book was written 30 years ago or if that is just this author’s style. The prose was very pretty. I imagine that 30 years ago a heroine like Jess was very rare and revolutionary. For an acclaimed HR there was a fair amount of plot with his friends and the scheming. Also unlike most HR the author didn’t shy away from scenes with the hero and whores, or the fact he fathered a bastard. I’m now going to go listen to my podcasts that are reviewing the book to see what’s what.

Re read for Derek Craven day! I have to say I understood both Derek and Sara better on the re read. It’s been over a year since I first read it, and to be honest I couldn’t remember more than the scene at the assembly, meeting Jenner, that she went home, Derek dazed in the ashes and ruin, and of course the breast milk in the epilogue.

On the second read - I could better appreciate the tightness of the story, picked up on more symbolism and Derek’s soul. White rose petals?? How did I miss that, lol. I still don’t understand his obsession with her spectacles tho. I had forgotten how large a part Lily plays in it all and that crazy bitch Joyce.

I liked this one a lot better than the first one. The misunderstandings and avoidance of truth were much more real and high stakes. Though, why wouldn’t cat ask her Russian mobster boyfriend to take care of her ex husband as soon as she figured out he liked her? I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t take much to convince him to help her out.

Oooooo good twist!! Didn’t see it coming, but I was waiting for the shoe to drop. Dimitri has so much trauma. He is a man with a singular focus that’s for sure. Obsession would normally be very creepy, but for some reason it works for him?!