All posts by Kristin

Sneak Peek Wednesday: Finding Zaide by Kim Deister

Excerpt

Finding Zaide
Kim Deister
Publisher: Caffeinated Words Publishing
Publication date: Oct. 19, 2026
Genre: LGBTQ Romance

Life had gotten comfortable for Amara Addison, maybe too comfortable. Fabulous job, great friends, even an amazing ex-boyfriend who was her ride or die for life. Then Zaide Rossi sauntered into her life and suddenly everything changed. But no matter how crazy life became, finding Zaide made every last moment of chaos worth it.

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Review: Willing Prey by Allie Oleander

Erotic Romance

Willing Prey
Feral Love #1
Allie Oleander
Publisher: Berkley Romance
Genre: Erotic Romance

Post-divorce and buried in student loan debt, Claire Collins eagerly enters a spicy business agreement with an acquaintance who wants to explore his primal desires. The deal is simple—thirty days as his sexual prey, $30,000 in her bank account. All she has to do is give Shane Underwood the hunt of his life.

Claire’s a physical education teacher and perfectly happy to spend her summer having wild, kinky sex instead of working her usual serving job. But once they cross the tree line, she realizes how little she knows about the corporate lawyer paying her to be his prey.

Shane is different in the woods. Brutal. Devastating. Feral.

That’s okay with Claire—she is, too. And she’s sinking her teeth a little deeper into Shane’s heart every time he catches her.

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Review: Rejected by the Direwolf Lord by Freya Oakley

Paranormal Romance

Rejected by the Direwolf Lord
Freya Oakley
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication date: Oct. 9, 2026
Genre: Paranormal Romance Novella

I was promised to a direwolf lord to secure peace for my pack.

I had three years to prepare myself to become a stranger’s bride. I left my home, crossed into enemy territory, and walked willingly into Thornbrook Keep—only for Lord Ethan to call me a tithe in borrowed cloth, turn his back on me, and cast me off.

He rejected me in front of his entire hall.

So I run.

Straight into the wilds.

And Fenn follows.

My brother’s most formidable warrior has guarded me for years. Silent. Brooding. Infuriatingly controlled. He escorted me toward a future neither of us wanted, never once giving me reason to suspect what he was hiding.

Fenn knew I was his fated mate.

For three years.

Now the treaty is broken, danger stalks the forest, and the wolf who once let me go is done with restraint.

He wants me running.

Caught.

Claimed.

And this time, Fenn has no intention of surrendering what fate made his.

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Review: Love You to Death by Jenna Levine

Romance

Love You to Death
Jenna Levine
Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: Oct. 13, 2026
Genre: Paranormal Romance

A jaded grim reaper and a woman who wants another chance at life give ‘til death do us part a new meaning in this paranormal romance from bestselling author Jenna Levine.

Lucy McKenzie’s life has always been a disaster. So it should come as no surprise when one day she’s hit by an inconveniently-timed bus—and dies. Unfortunately for the handsome grim reaper who shows up to take her to the afterlife, Lucy is not about to go quietly.

Daniel is tired of his job collecting souls. While working for the Agency beats the heck out of going to Hell, he’s been doing this for literal ages. The drudgery has him yearning for more. Touched by Lucy’s plea for more time on earth, he convinces the Agency to make a Lucy can have six more weeks of life if Daniel can observe her and report back on humanity.

But as Lucy and Daniel navigate the chaos of life and afterlife together, they discover that a second chance at living might be their real chance at love.

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Blogging Through the Years: From Recipe Experiments to Romance Reads

Ramblings


The Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Ranblings of a Coffee-Addicted Writer. The hop occurs weekly, featuring a specific book-related prompt each week. The main goal is to connect bloggers, encouraging them to follow each other, discover new titles, and grow their audience.

 

This week’s question is

Do you run more than one blog? If so, how do you manage your time?

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Review: Watched by Lara Lorens

Erotic Romance, Sci-fi

Watched
A Savage Galactic Entertainment Romance, #1
Lara Lorens
Publisher: Self-published
Publication date: Aug. 24, 2025
Genre: SciFi Erotic Romance

Criminal lawyer Sam Connor woke up naked on an alien livestream.

Now she’s a contestant on the galaxy’s most brutal reality show, where the only way to survive is to kill or f*ck your way to victory. With alien technology enhancing her body and a blob creature, she named Steve, as her guide, Sam discovers she has a talent for violence that surprises everyone, including herself.

But when the final trial pairs her with Takar, a deadly alien warrior who claims she belongs to him, Sam must decide what she’s willing to sacrifice for survival.

In a game where only one contestant traditionally wins, choosing love might be the most dangerous gamble of all. Let the galaxy watch. Sam Connor is about to redefine what it means to be human.

 

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Review: Moon Called by Patricia Briggs

Urban Fantasy

Moon Called
Mercy Thompson #1
Patricia Briggs
Publisher: Ace
Publication date: Jan. 31, 2006
Genre: Urban Fantasy

Mercedes Thompson, aka Mercy, is a talented Volkswagen mechanic living in the Tri-Cities area of Washington. She also happens to be a walker, a magical being with the power to shift into a coyote at will. Mercy’s next-door neighbor is a werewolf. Her former boss is a gremlin. And she’s fixing a bus for a vampire. This is the world of Mercy Thompson, one that looks a lot like ours but is populated by those things that go bump in the night. And Mercy’s connection to those things is about to get her into some serious hot water…

 

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Review: She Who Was Once the Sea by Dana Shea

Fantasy Romance

She Who Was Once the Sea
Dana Shea
Publisher: Self-published
Publication date: Sept. 29, 2026
Genre: Fantasy Romance

Once, Marella belonged to the sea.

She and her family were emissaries, not monsters, swimming the borders between sea and land, keeping peace between the merfolk and the human city of Rossaia. But when the humans turned on them, the mermaids sought salvation from The Stone Witch.

She kept her word, but she also damned them.

Now, Marella and her family exist trapped in stone at the heart of a dried-up city, freed only on the night of the new moon.

And with that freedom comes thirst. To survive, they must drink human blood before dawn seals them back into statues.

Garrett is living an unmoored life.

Looking for something to anchor him, he arrives in Rossaia haunted by emptiness. There, he joins the Fratelli di Sangue, an ancient brotherhood sworn to cleanse the city of the monsters haunting its streets.

Monsters like Marella.

When a chance encounter turns into a dangerous rescue on a moonless night, both hunter and hunted find their certainties unraveling. Drawn together by blood, secrets, and a forbidden pull neither can deny, they stand on opposite sides of a war older than memory, and to choose each other may mean betraying everything they believe in.

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40 Going On 14

Ramblings

This post is linked to Sunday Post, Staking the Shelves, Sunday Salon, and #IMWAYR

 

September was probably one of the better months of the year for me.

Life slowed down a bit. I was no longer going to the vet every week with my rescue foster. A cat, whom I’ve had since March and has needed a lot of hands on care. Since his health finally started to improve and we got into a rhythm,  I was able to relax a bit more.

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Review: A Soul to Guide by Opal Reyne

Erotic Romance, Fantasy Romance

A Soul to Guide
Duskwalker Brides #4
Opal Reyne
Publisher: Self-published
Publication date: June 20, 2023
Genre: Monster Romance

All Raewyn ever wanted was to go home.

After accidentally creating a portal to another realm, Raewyn finds herself trapped in a world she’s struggling to navigate. Desperate to find those with magic who can help her, she sets out on a dangerous journey to another town.

Unfortunately, on her travels, she learns there are bigger and scarier monsters than the Demons she knows of – and one of them won’t let her get away.

All Merikh ever wanted was to escape.

For a hundred and eighty years, Merikh has been hunting for a way off Earth. He doesn’t care who he has to eat, kill, or maim to get what he wants. So, when his prey ends up being a lost Elf, he realises this is his opportunity.

She’s prettier than any creature he’s ever seen, and so damn perfect that it’s impossible to resist her otherworldly lure.

But Merikh destroys everything he touches. Will he be able to overcome years of hatred and anger to allow himself to get close to her, or will he lose her in the process?

 

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