Katee Robert

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 /5
🌶🌶🌶🌶 /4

!! Following may contain spoilers !!

Synopsis & Notes:

In our intro into the world of Sabine Valley, we meet Abel Paine and his 6 brothers (entertainingly named alphabetically like the Bridgertons) as they take back their home territory in a show of combat strength from Abel in the opening chapter. Overall where Wicked Villains is set in what is very much a dark and mysterious metropolis with a clear criminal underbelly, I get the sense that show more Sabine Valley is more of a spread out selection of areas than a clear city (my brain goes to Zootopia for some reason, in a fun way). The military compound nature of the setup in the Raider / Paine faction definitely gives off Dauntless (Divergent) vibes (lots of well trained fighters and needs for showy dominance), but combine that with a territory fighting to better itself after a series of bad & abusive leaders to give it some good complexity.

I’ll be honest, in the world of Carver City / Sabine Valley / Olympus, I prefer the city vibes to the rough and tumble Raider territory when it comes to settings. However, I loved the character dynamics in this book. Abel is obviously the strong dom, but he also has a practical streak that lets him assess those around him and pull out their strengths with great success. Eli is the sophisticated intelligence to Abel’s hard won street smarts, and the contrast led them from childhood friends to a delicious hate into lust dynamic now. And then we have Harlow who goes on her own journey of real growth in this book to become someone who can anchor an equal leg of the triangle the three of them form.

As these three strong-willed people figure out how to become an unstoppable team, this friends-to-enemies-to-lovers trope combo results in some delightful spicy scenes. I only docked the rating ½ a star for the military compound setting, but put Abel, Harlow, and Eli in one of the other two cities and it would be a full 5 star for me. show less

The Marriage Contract by Katee Robert
Book #1: The O’Malleys Series
Source: Netgalley
My Rating: 4/5 stars
My Review:

I’ll be the first to admit I don’t normally gravitate toward mafia-type books but when I saw Katee Robert as the author well, I just had to give it a go.

Mob life isn’t easy especially for the children of the men and women who are in charge. Those men and women need heirs as much to take over the operation once they are dead and gone as to marry off in strategic alliances. show more Since the death of her brother, Ronan, Callie Sheridan is now in the unfortunate position of being both the heir and the marriageable pawn.

Thanks to her father and in order to consolidate their power, Callie has been sold off to the Halloran heir and within just a few days’ time, she is set to be married to a man she has never met and never heard anything good about. As luck would have it, her betrothed is whacked in a strip club and Callie is certain her luck has changed. That is, until a few short days later when her father announces she is now to marry Teague O’Malley, second son of the powerful O’Malley mob family.

Teague O’Malley would give his left nut for a normal life but as an O’Malley, there is no such thing as a normal life. Teague has known, practically from birth that his father is just short of evil, his mother is cold and only just shorter of evil. His older brother is the heir and from Teague on down, there are a lot of O’Malley’s that can be married off as a means of solidifying power and making new, beneficial alliances. When Teague’s father announces his son’s engagement to Callie Sheridan, Teague balks at the pronouncement but knows there is nothing he can do to change his fate. The night Teague meets Callie, he is taken with her beauty but knows she is hiding something. She is jumpy as a March hare and wearing a scarf that does nothing to accentuate her beauty. When Teague inquires, Callie shuts him down and pushes him away.

Though Callie doesn’t want to like Teague and she certainly doesn’t want to share all her secrets with him, she finds him intriguing and most certainly sexy. If she’s going to have to marry someone, Teague isn’t an awful choice but he has a nasty habit of wanting to know more about her. Turns out, one of the secrets Callie is harboring may be the key to stopping an all-out war between the three prominent mob families but divulging her secret could cost her her life. While Callie is working hard to figure out how to stop a war and keep her secret, Teague is bound and determined to stop the war in his way which means uncovering and delivering the person who killed Callie’s former fiancé. When Teague finally uncovers the truth, he isn’t just blown away, he is absolutely bowled over, pissed off beyond reason, and worried beyond reason for his siblings and his fiancé.

The Bottom Line: Yeah, once again, Katee Robert has lured me to the dark side and she did it without even offering me cookies. In this instance, Robert offered me a dead sexy hero, a brave and mostly intelligent heroine, and a mess of family drama that often involves torture and murder. Yeah, now you see why I went willingly to the dark side.  Callie is a mostly sympathetic character who is trying to make the best of an unfortunate situation. Like her fiancé (the one who sticks not the dead one) Callie wants to go legitimate but she is fighting an uphill battle against her aging yet still in control father. Teague is sex on two legs but he is also fiercely protective and determined. Though he would never let his evil as Satin himself father know it, Callie is a perfect match for him and with her, they may just be able to do some good. This read is cover to cover tension, family drama, violence, naughty bits, and total uncertainty. I found The Marriage Contract to be a very typical Katee Robert read which means I thoroughly enjoyed and quickly moved on to the next read in the series, The Wedding Pact. show less

Now, this is a version of the story that I could get behind.

I have never been a fan of Disney movies. Being forced to watch them when my kids were small was like a 10th level of purgatory to me. However, had they been like this then maybe I would have changed my mind because I will take an anti-hero over Prince Charming ANY day of the week.

This book surprised me. There was a level of depth that I was really surprised by. This was not just some cheesy thrown together story. It was very well show more thought out. The characters were nothing like the originals. I appreciated that they felt real including their actions, behaviors, and emotions. It made the story feel authentic. show less

One of the things I have come to admire about Katee Robert and her heroines is how atypical they are. Tink in A WORTHY OPPONENT is a perfect example of this. She is the antithesis of Tinker Bell, from whom she is loosely based, and it is a glorious deviation from the elfin waif who society continues to worship.

Tink has curves; she calls herself fat, but I believe that word, as applied to a person, always connotes a negative feature. Not only does she not comply with the typical body size show more and shape, but she is hardly the type of person to lead a rebellion or inspire others to great feats. She is prickly to the point of being antisocial, rude, impetuous, selfish, contrary, and terrified. These features impact every interaction she has with others, and she only considers consequences as they apply to her. Tink is no hero.

While Tink's and Hook's relationship is a foregone conclusion before you start the first page, both of their character growth is what drives their story. Their individual childhood traumas still instigate most of their actions, which makes things like trust and open communication all but impossible without active choices to change. One of the best things an author can do when creating a romantic couple is to show the work needed to make a relationship successful, and Ms. Robert does just that with Tink and Hook.

A WORTHY OPPONENT is not my favorite of Ms. Robert's Wicked Villains series, but I appreciate Tink's nonconformity and her changing opinions regarding vulnerability. Tink and Hook end up in such a great spot, relationship-wise. I love their journey to get to that point, more so than with some of the other partners in the series. Ms. Robert has made a name for herself by providing updated, irreverent, and erotic retellings of classic stories, which is exactly what A WORTHY OPPONENT is. show less