Croc and the Fox by Eve Langlais REVIEW

Hello shame, my name is Hope.

This is my favorite book in the series so far. I loved Renee and her whole dynamic. I loved the fact that she was both a victim and a fighter. I loved how resilient she was. I love how Eve put her in a situation where she was helpless and put her in the position where she was the only one that could do something.

There's critics that will say something like this; "Renee is so unrealistic. She went through so much trauma for so long and she didn't even bat an eye. She recovered so smoothly." NO SHE DIDN'T and let me explain why.

Eve wrote Renee's character really well because Renee went through prolonged trauma. Throughout the majority of the book she is extremely dependent on Viktor. The dependency is typical of a person in Renee's situation. Viktor is who she knows will protect her because Viktor saved her from a bad situation. Renee also is very hesitant around strangers, not just hesitant but very mistrusting and scared around strangers. In fact, Renee spends a large majority of the book afraid. She also made jokes about her situation, which can also occur with some victims. It's not that Renee miraculously healed from her trauma, it's that she's coping with it by ignoring it's severity. There will be a time off-screen when Renee has to deal with her trauma but for now she focuses on things that makes her feel safe and happy.

Since this is a humor based erotica series, Renee kept things really calm and I commend her for this. Leaving Renee's struggles as subtle things is a true to life ordeal for individuals that have experienced prolonged trauma like Renee had. Even speaking from my own experiences after a lifetime of various abuse, a person doesn't notice that something's wrong with me unless something is really wrong, and it's from ignoring the trauma and focusing on other things. I never went through something as extreme as Renee but I understand her and that's what let's me know that how Renee is doesn't mean that she's okay, it just means that it's not the focal point for Renee. She's focusing on Viktor and in the future when she finds it to be the right time to face her trauma in a way where she can really heal, she has Viktor and her mom to support her.

That being said, the plot for this book was better than the one in the second book because Renee was a shifter that was experimented on by the mastermind. This book was a perfect puzzle piece to the rest where the second book was just kind of 'meh' and that was good. I have to say that this is my favorite book thus far.

Also, the fact that my erotica tag is getting bigger and has no signs of shrinking.... I feel shame.

Swan and the Bear by Eve Langlais REVIEW

Last review I expressed my small amounts of shame while reading the first book in this series. The fact that I read this in daylight with the parents in the room next door... Somehow the shame intensified? Only a little bit.

I loved Jessie, she's that wonderful mix of sass and smarts that I love in a main character. Mason, I didn't like so much. He wasn't that bad (a little pushy) but it was more like Mason wasn't in my tastes.

The story? Well, it was a strong okay. I felt as if the author wanted the story to intertwine so cleanly that she'd make up any reason for the bad guys to go after the main characters. Miranda is always the main goal but instead of legit trying to find Miranda they go through a huge amount of loops and turns to not really find Miranda. YEAH. It seemed as if it was all by chance. Plot convenience.

I feel as if there were better ways to incorporate Miranda and Mason into the big entanglement of plot instead of using them as an accessory to Miranda's timeline WHILE pretending that this plot is unique to Mason and Jessie. It isn't and I can't really let that go.

However, I did still enjoy this and I still wish that I could own the books physically. SHAME.

New American Best Friend by Olivia Gatwood REVIEW

So, I won this in a goodreads giveaway and it's not a normal occurrence where my review would be the first review on a book that I actually liked... This is a special occurrence, nay, an achievement. Small battles people, small battles.

Usually, I don't like poetry, I mean, I love poetry, but most people don't do it right. Maybe they write it the right way but any idiot that can rhyme can write crappy poems. It takes real talents to make it into something worth reading. I genuinely think that this is something worth reading.

Not only is this poetry a nice reading experience but there's a heavy truthfulness to it. In truth some of the titles sound like they could belong to my own life story. Odd how some things are so relatable in such a way.

In all honesty, I find this as a very tranquil and dark read that switches back and forth oddly. Some stories are about just generally growing up and others about other things. If you're a fan of the by the book poetry where you have to know every ounce of symbolism in existence to understand maybe you won't like this. I mean, some people have that compulisve need to feel like they're better than everyone else BUT if you want poetry that feels real and raw, I would suggest this. It's pretty good.

Naked In Death by J.D. Robb REVIEW

Instead of reading any of my bulk of books in my 'to review' pile I opted to start and audiobook. If you don't know. The In death series is a series that is 45 books long. Naked in Death is the first. I devoted 10 hours of my life listening to the book that I could've read in two hours (no longer 3 accomplishment!)

Overall the story was okay. It has a really strong emotional aspect that Robb hopes distracts you from the plot details but it doesn't. The setting doesn't work. Seeing as this particular book was written in 1993 the future was not that different from the time of 1993. You could say that in that aspect she succeeded because it's not that different from this current time either but when it comes to science fiction (which at this point it is) it fails. You can't just add fancy tech and robots and expect people to believe it. I legitimately forgot the setting nearly every chapter and that's kind of disappointing.

There's also problems with the way the story went down because it would not happen that way (it wouldn't). If it was the real world Eve would be out of a job (rightfully so) and even if she didn't the crime wouldn't have been resolved the way it had been. If you've read this, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

Roarke is a cookie cutout of a male character but I have no complaints because rich Irish men is dreamy. Only in romance novels though. Most characters in this book was a cookie cutout, which, I mean is kind of disappointing because Nora Roberts has written more books than the years that I've been alive times 3. However, what sells sells right?

I'd suggest this book only if you're looking for something to lightly enjoy. Fans of romance novels might enjoy this but mind the subject matter because it gets really dark.

Bunny and The Bear by Eve Langlais REVIEW

The last time such a book as this came onto this blog, I feigned innocence because I honestly didn't know what I was getting myself into. In this case, I can't do that. I knew what I was doing when I decided to listen to this on audiobook at 2am. I am not ashamed.

I'm a little bit ashamed.

Now, for an erotica this is pretty fun? Eve mixes humor and sexual tension really well. This must be one of the most ridiculous eroticas that I have encountered in my few months of reviewing books but then I think about Small Favors and change my mind. There's some weird things out there people. A bunny and a bear have sex in this book in human form like how am I supposed to review this with a straight face? The answer is that my lips are on the left side of my face as I type this.

All jokes aside I actually enjoyed this. There was humor and it was something different. Definitely different. I liked it enough to want to read the rest of the series and to own physical copies? If possible?

This review isn't in depth because at it's core this book is erotica. If you pick up this book looking for something extraordinary, you're not going to find it. However, if you want to have a little fun, then by all means read it.

The Flinestones Volume 1 by Mark Russell REVIEW

So, I'm a little bit too young to say that The Flinstones was an active part of my childhood. I don't really know when the cartoon started but it was not in the 90s. I'm pretty sure. However, I did watch a lot of Flinstones. Well, not a lot, mostly the live action movie but I'm sure if I had watched the cartoon I would have been content with that.

I'll take the evidence of my content mess being how much I liked this graphic novel. It was much faster than the Scooby Doo Apocalypse thing I read last week. Maybe I just like dinosaurs more than monsters? That has to be it.

The content is both humorous and reflective of events happening in our lives. I'm not talking about the severe SJW crap. I mean the things that most people agree with (real human problems). However, most of it is absurd and that' she okay with me.

The art I liked it a lot more than Scooby Doo as well. It just seemed better. As I'm writing this I'm not entirely sure of the artist but I'm very confident they're not the same as the one who illustrated Scooby Apocolypse. Not that that art wasn't good it just wasn't appealing to my eyes.

I definitely think that people that liked The Flinstones would like this comic. To me, it's not really any different.

The 'Oh My Goodness It's February' Playlist

Hey, happy March! I collected songs that are new to me in February and put it in a playlist on youtube. Since it's now March, I thought I would share these songs with you. I have two books to review and will do so soon. Within this week most likely.

o1. Helium ;; Sia
Okay, so I saw Fifty Shades Darker with my best friend this month and I thought it was pretty good. But the movie doesn't really matter because the fucking soundtrack is awesome. Helium was my favorite song in the soundtrack and it's the one that I continued to listen to throughout the month so it made it to the final version of the playlist. It just seems like Sia can do no wrong in music.

o2. How Would You Feel by Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran is coming out with a new album this week and fuck me I am ready. How Would You Feel was one of my favorites of the songs that have been released ahead of the album and I listened to Eraser and LOVED IT but I can just listen to How Would You Feel for days. I have suspicions that there will be a lot of Ed Sheeran on next month's playlist. I can't wait!

o3. I Believe In You - Michael Buble
Oh Michael Buble, when he has a good song it's fucking good. The video and the song kind of tugged on my oh so sensitive period driven heart strings and made me cry. The song wasn't a hard obsession like some of the other songs on the playlist but this song is just so good. Not just catchy good but definitively good.

o4. I'll Follow You . Shinedown
This song almost didn't make it through my great purging of this playlist last week but I ended up keeping it because I really do like it. There's no legit reason for my affection of it. It just sounds nice.

o5. John Wayne ;; Lady Gaga
I just love Lady Gaga okay. So far, this album has been a big win. I didn't really like her last album but I like this one a lot more. I didn't like this song when I first heard it but the third time I heard it I loved it. Plus the music video is really cool.

o6. It Ain't Me by Kygo & Selena Gomez
There's nothing really special about this song it's just really catchy and the lyrics sound nice. Overall it suits Selena's voice and it's a nice listening experience.

o7. Ciao Adios - Anne-Marie
One of those badass breakup songs. I just like the sass man.

o8. Beauty and the Beast ; Ariana Grande & John Legend
One of my favorite songs as a kids and of course I'm going to love the remake if it's done by Ariana Grande and John Legend. It just sounds so nice.

o9. I Don't Wanna Live Forever . ZAYN
The original version of this song sucked. I don't know what went wrong but I suspect that the original tempo didn't suit Zayn's voice and Taylor just did that screeching that she's prone to do. However, this acoustic version is vastly superior. I feel that it suits the lyrics a lot better. Just my opinion.

1o. Our Tears by Hyorin & Park Seojun
This was my favorite song of this month. Hands down, goodbye, everyone go home. It sounds so nice and the lyrics are so good. This song made me want to watch the whole fucking drama. I haven't but it made me want to. I listen to this song probably five times a day at least. It's just too good. Too good.