I really thought I would do these at least once a month, but that did not happen. I haven’t read as much this year, but here are some books I liked and others I didn’t like so much.

One liner: Una finally shifts and claims the alpha as her mate, but he rejects her.

I didn’t know rejected mates was a thing, and this is the first book I’ve read of that subgenre(?). The story moves along quickly with Una’s shift and rejection happening early in the book. If that happens in the beginning, what about the rest of the book? Wells does a wonderful job of bringing alpha Killian down several notches, and I loved the groveling. I’ve been rereading my favorite parts over and over. My emotions led the rating for this one.

One liner: Wren starts a new job at Good Music where she will have to occasionally see Callum, her rock star pen pal whom she ghosted three years ago.

Callum was too possessive and too much of a stalker for me, but I couldn’t help that it made my heart stir a bit. It was the vastness of his love for Wren that I liked and less of his actual behavior. I didn’t always see where the book was going, which is one of the reasons why it was more than 3 stars. While there were hints about what was going to happen in the third act, I can’t say I was a fan of what happened. This one was a quick read. Julia Wolf’s writing is growing on me.

One liner: Taralynn is in love with Shawn, but he refuses to give into his feelings for her.

This was one I saw on Bookstagram and the excerpt hooked me. Give me a good excerpt or quote and I am more than willing to give a book a try. I liked how it started, but then I got really frustrated with both Taralynn and Shawn. They are not dating each other and sleep with other people. Okay, makes sense. My problem was Shawn knowing Taralynn has always been in love with him and being a noble idiot until he realizes she might actually move on from him. Then he changes his behavior. I would have been happier if Taralynn just dropped him and moved on.

One liner: Elsa has been bullied by Aiden King since starting at Royal Elite high school, and she refuses to let him ruin one more year.

I read up to book 4 but this review is for books 1-3, which center on Elsa and Aiden. I don’t read dark romances often, but I do pick them up once in a while. Kent has interesting storylines and blurbs that make me want to pick up the book. This is not the first of her books I’ve read, and the problem has always been the same. There’s potential, but I don’t like the execution. Characters also often act against who they’re supposed to be. Elsa was completely frustrating. She was supposed to be strong and tired of Aiden’s bullying, but she hardly fought back. She started to fall for him after being assaulted by him. There was enough for me to want to know what would happen with Elsa and Aiden, but I couldn’t continue the series. I spent about 2 days reading the books, but it was laden with frustration and sighs of exasperation. Kent has many rave reviews, but her writing style isn’t for me. I have to remind myself to pass on her books from now on even if there are excerpts and Bookstagram reels that hook me.