Princess of Thorns and Ruin - Anya J. Cosgrove

 A grumpy human servant.

An arrogant bodyguard.

The scoundrel that broke my heart…

Betrayals and secrets rule the deadly and hypnotic court of night.

The pleasure bite is an art that a proper vampire princess shouldn’t think so much about, but how can I resist the pull of Leo’s blood or the warmth of his tanned skin? My new servant has sworn his life to me, body and soul, but he’s quiet and full of secrets.

Alec Beaumont simply boils my blood every time he opens his damn beautiful mouth, and Sebastian Chastain is as cruel and calculating as the day he set fire to my dress.

I can’t fall for any of them, forced to marry whoever my brother will choose for me, but is duty reason enough to betray my own heart?

I’m a Delacroix. We rule or die. There’s nothing to compromise.

Princess of Thorns and Ruin is book 1 in a fast-paced, sizzling romance duet set in the deadly Delacroix night court. You’ll love this story if you like sexy vampire bites, enemies-to-lovers relationships, and heroes who love to share.

This duet is set in the same world as Magnetic, but it stands alone. Downton Abbey meets House of Dragons. Mature themes.

My Review

When it comes to dark, paranormal romances, you don't get much better than Anya J. Cosgrove. It's been a while, but I was really excited to find out that there was a new duet on the way. Although this is linked to Magnetic it is a standalone story. Do you need to read Magnetic first? No. Should you read it anyway because it's great? Obviously.

Arielle has just come into her 'powers' her human servant who gave her the first drink of blood that turned her into a vampire doesn't really want anything to do with her. Then there's her bodyguard, an old crush and even the hint of an angel towards the end of the book.

In many ways, this first part of the duet is just to set everything up for the conclusion and I have to be honest, I'm not really sure yet where it's going to go. I know where I might like it to go, but I'll have to wait and see.

I don't ant to give any spoilers, so I'm being quite vague. This was a brilliant read and I can't wait for the next book. Fortunately, I don't have to wait too much longer!

Acing the Game - Carey PW

Acing the Game
Carey PW
Publication date: February 10th 2023
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance

Is food really the way into a person’s heart?

Shep Lee thought he had it all. A successful restaurant, a loving husband who understood his asexuality, and most of all, the ability to be himself, a popular chef in the small town of Cloverleaf, Montana. That is, until his husband, Elmer Eshler, began pushing Shep more on sex.

Elmer doesn’t understand why he can’t turn his partner on—aren’t they perfect for each other? And Shep loves him, right? Shep, meanwhile, while confident with his body, is and forever will be sex indifferent. Why has Elmer suddenly changed his tune? But he doesn’t want to lose the man he loves so much. What can they do?

Shep convinces Elmer to try a polyamorous relationship. Elmer gets to have Shep and the sex life he’s always wanted. Shep gets a cooking buddy and a chance to experience a relationship and even try sex with a woman as his authentic gender. At first, Shep isn’t sure, but finds himself coming around—this feels safer than opening up the relationship. All three of them will be romantically involved, so that should ease any jealousy, right?

But when Willow Saint, a free-spirited, boisterous, and saucy young woman, comes into their lives, neither are prepared for the emotional and sexual rollercoaster that follows. Enthralled by Willow’s charm and kindness, Elmer and Shep struggle to understand what this means for their own bond. Can they become one happy family? Or will this ruin everything?

Goodreads / Amazon

Author Bio:

Carey PW (he/they) is an author, college instructor, and mental health counselor.

Carey currently lives in Montana, and identifies as nonbinary, transmasculine (AFAB) and panromantic asexual. Carey has discovered that writing about his lived experiences is a therapeutic outlet for him and hopes that his readers relate to his own personal struggles and triumphs shared through his characters’ narratives. He has also worked as a high school and college writing instructor, earning a B.A. in English Literature, a M.Ed. in English Education, and Ph.D. in Social Foundations of Education all from the University of Georgia. In 2020, Carey earned his second M.Ed. in Counselor Education and works as a licensed clinical professional counselor, LCPC.

Readers can learn more about Carey from his blog, www.careypw.com. When he is not writing, Carey is busy training for marathons, parenting his six cats, sharing his culinary talents on social media, and serving on the board for the nonprofit Center for Studies of the Person (CSP).

Carey PW loves to hear from readers. You can find his contact information, website and author biography at www.extasybooks.com.

Website / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / TikTok

My Review

This book was not at all what I was expecting. It tells the story of a couple; Shep and Elmer who are having some difficulties with their relationship. Shep is asexual, while Elmer wants a more regular sex life. They decide to address this issue by adding a third person to their relationship, younger woman Willow.
The book tackles a number of quite weighty and challenging concepts. How can they make a relationship work when they are so incompatible sexually, even though everything else works? How important is it to be on the same page when it comes to sex and what might be the fallout if they do decide to take this step?
I thought that for the most part, this was all handled well and sensatively. Unfortunately, there is a great deal of backstory to understand with these two characters, there's no real way around this as what follows in the 'main' part of the story simply wouldn't make sense without it. The problem is that we then end up with rather a lot of telling rather than showing and that slows the whole narrative down. It also made it difficult to fully connect with the characters. It's a shame because it does detract from the story somewhat.
I did enjoy this read despite this slight disconnect and it was a really thought-provoking read. I did feel that the end of the book was slightly less satisfying than it might have been. This is probably due to the nature of the storyline, but I was left feeling a little let down by the end.

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