Violet Rae

I didn't like this book, fair warning this review will be snarky.

Sick of beauty and beast retellings yet? Neither am I. Young girl (21) is forced into a marriage with a demon (ooo) and then they dance while some tea cups sing.. wait no. no.. they just fall in love. Oh and some other stuff happens but it's rather pointless.

Overall reco: I don't know if its that I was in the wrong headspace for this or something but I knew within the first few pages that I was going to either hate or dislike show more this book. Which is sad because I was HYPED for this book based on the cover and title alone. I love the books that don't take themselves too seriously, but this didn't hit that mark. On a positive note, I felt this was better written than Riches to Riches, which is ... something? no I will not be reading the rest of their books. and The title totally feels like a liar, as his body was described only in the sexy scene and its not at all the central part like it seems like it would be.

If you are new to the idea of monster type romances, this might be a good entry point.

"Shhh, you can take me, wife," he rasps...

Probably the only part I liked was like this line...

Plot: 1/5
Spice: 2/5 (WHAT?! IN A MONSTER NOVEL?!)
Characters: 1/5

When even the novella was too fucking long..(plot)
You could have cut out absolutely everything from the story and this would probably have been better. Like, if This was 30 pages of just smut, it would have been so much better.
The story felt.. forced? Shoed in? Its felt like the story was there to deliver the smut but neither side held up the bargain.
The whole story just didn't make sense and felt like too much. It felt like we could have spend the 100 chapters really exploring Mammon's developing feelings, how his dynamic was changing, how his work dynamic was changing. We got snippets that felt like they could have been expanded and opened, but instead it was like this weird jealous plot that wasn't jealous but was?

But Demons! There are rules! YOU ARE BREAKING ME APART, LISA!!!..(spice)
There were 2 scenes. 2. I am.. Look I'm a horny little horn dog. And that spice was so bland I had to GO BACK AND REREAD IT to make sure I wasn't just fucking crazy and skip pages. I am not generally one to hate on the level of spice, generally very happy to get it and will graciously bow at the feet of the spicy authors and accept what they give. But with 'demon' in the title I was expecting... more and was.. like I felt like I was that quote from "A Knights Tale": You have been weighed, you have been measured, and you have been found wanting.
So, I've broken my scale. 2 spice. no foreplay. The two characters spend most of the book talking about wanting each other, like constantly, but there was like zero build up.

ACOTAR had more fucking spice.

I have lost my mind..(characters)
They were.. bland. Everything here was bland. Pen was annoying, Lucifer was gross, and Mammon was probably the best of the bunch but still so very meh.
I think I sort of gave up about 30% and that is effecting my view because there was character growth. But in novella's it's often so fast that it's kind of abrupt. They make the kind of development that would happen over 300 pages in a matter of 10 and that can be hard to effectively communicate without feeling like I got whiplash. Here I got whiplash so hard I almost DNF'd. The other issue with this fast change is that sometimes the characters get like caught in a loop. Pen for example. She was betrayed and then was coming to terms with the stuff about her life before Mammon and after Mammon. But to the reader, all we read was her internally thinking about her mother over and over again and how her mother wasn't wrong. But then we didn't really see Pen's life change outside of that old life. She traded her life with her father (dickhead) to Mammon but was still a bird in a cage, except now she was happy with the cage? Actually aside from sending Mammon sexy thoughts and her thinking about how wrong she was about her mother.. we don't spend any time with Pen. We have no idea what she does in that house all day. I assume read? watch TV? She mentions that she doesn't go outside without Mammon around.. yeah just.. ugh.

Lube levels/nitpicky shit
So at some point her father's last name changes from Trumont to Truman. This bothered me so much that I stopped reading to see if I was imagining it. I was not. He's called "Forest Trumont" until page 27 (3 times) and then after that he's called Truman (3 more times). This kind of this ends up ruining the book if I notice it. Because I either think it's a sign about something and start over thinking and then get all these crazy theories (Yes, I clown about Taylor Swift and RepTV, why do you ask?!). OR I'm now aware of inconsistencies in the book and will notice them more. Which ended up happening here
Which brings me to the "Jedi Mind Tricks" and "Mind melt thing that Spock did". Sorry, I know this is kind of a common used thing in some age groups and groups (specifically nerd culture and even MORE specific in nerd culture). This girl is supposed to be sheltered but she has seen both Star Wars and Star Trek (and other media that would make this reference common place) enough to use it in her internalized thought process? But she was super sheltered...
()
I might have overlooked this had I not been so taken out of the book by the name thing.
Oh OH OH .. Don't get me started on the shit with the Rapha Mamoon snaps his fingers and they teleport. TELEPORT. SO WHY THE FUCK didn't he do that when they were attacked in the street?! It's not like he fucking can't because he does so like immediately following?! He also has an army and security guards but not at that moment? Okay sure, plot and there can be security holes but she's like "ohh something bad will happen" and he even goes and talks to the guards! Like.. fuck. BAD MAMMON
Oh and then what about dear old dad and his deal? He doesn't have to sign anything? okay but like.. what happened with that. AND yes. I KNOW that at the end I could go to her website and download the extra story via the newsletter but I have no confidence that it will get resolved there and I really don't want to sign up for another newsletter for a book that I really didn't like just to MAYBE get a loose end tied up.
OH, yeah. What the fuck was up with the blood? That was weird. Like as if it was trying to shoe into blood play but didn't know what the fuck bloodplay is.
oh and uh.. yeah. I was excited for "dad bod" he's described as having a dad bod in 1 of the 2 spice scenes and not before and its like.. an after thought. show less

This was my first romance book with a Gorgon as a main character and it was really interesting. I enjoyed getting to know both Gideon and Verity as well as the mention of Fable Forest from the new Filthy Fairy Tales multi-author series. This was my first book from either of these authors and I plan to look into their other books in the future.

I received a free advanced reader copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

I LOVE THESE TWO! The connection and care between this couple are so touching and their chemistry is off the charts. They come together under some sad circumstances and are both at different places in their lives but watching them come together to support and love one another is beautiful. I also love the grandmother; she is kind and funny and everything I hope to be as a grandmother one day.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

a sweet short story, liked the characters and the storyline