Honeysuckles (Monster Stalker #1) by January Rayne
I have no good excuses for this. I can't even tell you how I found this book, why I rented it through KU, or what was going through my mind when I realized just how "monster fucker" it was. Monster fucking is not my usual genre, so this was kind of my third attempt to see if I might like it. The answer is... Not really. Unless there's something I'm really invested in, I think I've decided my feelings on the matter. That being said, this book was particularly wild.
What I Liked: I guess the idea that the four horsemen of the apocalypse monitor the supernatural goings on in the mortal world and act as a sort of police force for it is kind of funny. It was nice to see everyone who'd made Demi's life difficult just get their heart ripped out, fun to fantasize about.
What I Didn't Like: Yeah, I think I knew pretty early on that this wasn't going to be a serious read for me but... It's hard to get past sexual assault, drugging, and forced pregnancy in a story. It's definitely part of the suspension of disbelief, I unfortunately am not able to suspend my disbelief that far for the sake of enjoying a monster fucking fantasy. It's just too much for me.
I definitely don't recommend going into this book blind--if you're interested in dabbling with monster fucking, start somewhere else is my advice.
Just for the Cameras by Viano Oniomoh
This is a polyamorous romance novel about sex workers Kian and Jordanne who have a mutual crush on their roommate Luka. The book starts right off with them fantasizing about Luka, when Luka accidentally disturbs them. The three of them start a sexual relationship on the premise that they are filming content for Kian and Jordanne's audience, but all three of them want something deeper. On top of that, each member of the group is struggling with some personal issues. Jordanne wants to connect with her mother over a major moment in her career, but her family has ostracized her for her sex work. Kian wants to quit his day job as it becomes more intense, despite his family's pride and support for that job over his sex work. Luka's father reaches out to him despite their estrangement, and he struggles with the first attraction he's felt since a bad breakup a few years prior.
What I liked: All of the characters were earnest, well rounded, and honestly just individually interesting. Nobody was more interesting than somebody else, which made the relationship of the three of them way more engaging. The descriptive writing was excellent, and this was a very immersive book--settings felt lived in, the characters felt compellingly real, and everything that happened was easy to visualize (and I'm not talking about the smut, I'm talking about the food).
What I didn't like: There was nothing that stood out to me that I particularly didn't enjoy. I would say that my only warning is that there was definitely more sex than I had anticipated--even knowing the premise and seeing some promos of the book. And personally, I could have done with a little less of it towards the end of the book. There were a lot of personal storylines that were being wrapped up for each individual character, as well as for them as a whole, and I felt...distracted by some of the later sex scenes.
Courting Samira by Amal Awad
Courting Samira is a rom-com about Samira, a twenty-seven year old Muslim woman struggling to find love. Samira's courtship process is a mostly traditional Muslim one that involves her parents setting up meetings with potential suitors, and her indicating whether or not she would like to see more of them. Through happenstance, she meets her cousin's future brother-in-law and despite the meddling of her friends in her love life (and their preference for her to end up with their mutual friend Hakeem) Samira begins to learn how to stand for what she wants.
What I liked: This is a refreshingly cute and funny romance. Samira has a lot in common with the typical female protagonist of mid-2010's romcoms, which is to say she reminds me of Lizzie Bennett from the Lizzie Bennet Diaries webseries. Samira comes from a Palestinian family living in Australia, is in the beginnings of her career, and hasn't gotten to experience real attraction or affection in her courtships quite yet. I was also pleasantly surprised by how the love triangle in this ended up--I was really worried for a while that the novel was telegraphing her ending up in a relationship that felt underdeveloped.
What I didn't like: While I liked the fact that Samira's love life progressed parallel to her career, and that both were equally important to her, I wish they had climaxed at different points in the story. It felt rushed and hectic having her bounce back and forth between the two topics by the end, though I suppose that could also be interpreted as her reaction to those concurrent events.
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