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Never Hollowed By The Stare
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    • MANGA
    • BOOK REVIEW
    • SOUNDTRACK
    • QUOTE
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    • FIRST LINES FRIDAY 56
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  • Uncategorized

    RELEASE BLITZ: Vigilant by Cora Rose & Lark Taylor

    March 20, 2026 / No Comments
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    BLOG TOUR: The Great Forest and Other Love Stories by Warren Rochelle (Excerpt & Giveaway)

    January 25, 2025
  • Uncategorized

    RELEASE BLITZ: Unholy by Ella Frank & Brooke Blaine

    March 19, 2026 / No Comments
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    END OF THE YEAR BOOK TAG

    December 28, 2019

    RELEASE BLITZ: Tongue by Clancy Nacht & Thursday Euclid (Excerpt)

    May 17, 2022
  • Uncategorized

    SERIES REVIEW: Merciless & Ruthless (Park Avenue Kings Books 4 & 5) by Ella Frank & Brooke Blaine

    February 28, 2026 / No Comments

    Park Avenue Kings: Merciless by Ella Frank & Brook Blaine

    Who are we? Nobody really knows. We’re the seven most powerful heirs to empires, ruling Manhattan from our thrones on Park Avenue. By day, we’re the elite, untouchable, and more connected than you could ever imagine. By night, we revel in the darkness of our secrets, pulling strings that make the city bow to our whims.

    Ruthless.

    Dangerous.

    We’re the Park Avenue Kings.

    He was sent to watch me. Now he can’t look away.

    They sent the president’s son to babysit me.
    How precious.


    Shepherd “Shep” Winchester III thinks he’s here to keep me in line—keep me quiet, keep me still, keep me safe.

    Good luck with that.

    I’m Theodore “Theo” Rinaldi, the youngest Prince of Monaco, and the most merciless of the Park Avenue Kings. And I don’t do obedient. Not for my royal family. Not for the crown. And definitely not for the suit King sent to shadow me.

    Shep is all discipline and duty.
    I’m chaos in a custom suit.


    We clash. We combust.
    And then we cross a line we can’t uncross.


    Now there’s a blackmailer on our trail, a target on my back, and the Kings think I’m the traitor. But if they want to come for me, they’ll have to get through him.

    Because the soldier with the perfect posture and the unreadable eyes?
    He’s not just protecting me anymore.

    He’s falling for me.

    And I’m going to ruin him for it.

    Merciless (Park Avenue Kings #4) is the first book in a duet within the Park Avenue Kings series. Ruthless (Park Avenue Kings #5) will be the continuation.


    Rating:
    4.5 Stars – perfection is only half a step away

    Soundtrack: Mercy
    Artist: IAMX
    Album: Kiss + Swallow


    Park Avenue Kings: Ruthless by Brooke Blaine & Ella Frank

    They called him America’s golden son.

    Now he’s the man who’d burn the world for a prince.

    When Prince Theodore Rinaldi vanishes, Shepard “Shep” Winchester III will do anything to bring him back.

    What starts as a mission of duty ignites into a forbidden obsession—one that blurs every line between loyalty and love.

    Back in New York, the Kings are under attack, their secrets exposed, their brotherhood fractured.

    And when an attempt on Theo’s life plays out in front of flashing cameras, the world sees what they were never meant to: a touch too intimate, a look too raw.

    Shep is the son of American power.

    Theo is European royalty.

    And in a world built on loyalty, betrayal, and lies, love might be the most ruthless act of all.


    Rating:
    4 Stars – minor quibbles but I loved it to bits

    Soundtrack: Ruthless
    Artist: Allegra Jordyn
    Album: Ruthless


    Merciless and Ruthless is a duet in Park Avenue Kings, the spectacular contemporary romance series by acclaimed duo Ella Frank and Brook Blaine. The Kings are a secret brotherhood of vigilante billionaires known as Libertine, led by Tyrone Kingston— the “King.”

    Our Kings this week are Prince Theodore Rinaldi of Monaco and Shepherd O’Neale Winchester III, son of a former U.S. president. Best friends turned lovers after Theo’s brother’s royal wedding, Theo and Shep’s bond is tested by the meddling King, Shep’s ex, despite having two boyfriends (Park Avenue Princes). Theo becomes a target after a suspicious bombing video surfaces. He and Shep were in a safehouse in Brazil when Theo was abducted.

    Merciless is certainly more intense, bursting with sexual tension as Shep and Theo explore their new dynamic. Theo is chaotic and impulsive, while Shep is steady and protective. Their chemistry is explosive, Theo pushes boundaries, Shep dominates, and both alphas aren’t afraid to switch roles.

    Theo is full of crazy antics, and Shep couldn’t help but be drawn to him, his protective instincts going on overdrive. I loved how they played off each other, their push-and-pull sparking irresistible heat. The only thing missing is Theo being merciless when he was really just impulsive.

    After a heart-stopping cliffhanger, Ruthless opens with Shep’s frantic search for the missing Theo in the Amazon. I thought this would take up most of the plot, given the blurb, but the two reunited soon after, and the rest of the plot focused on the search for the blackmailer theatening Libertine.

    This was also not King’s finest moment, having abandoned Theo when he was abducted, and fractures appear among the brotherhood. Also, I’m not impressed with how he pretends everything is fine until Theo demands an apology and has to throw a tantrum before King would do so. Alesso is under a lot of stress, leading up to his book, which I’m excited about.

    The villain takedown was rushed. I was hoping for more details on this part of the mission. There was a big deal about Alesso having a hard time finding the bad guy who was supposedly smart, only for said bad guy to do something dumb in public.

    Romance-wise, this part of the duet is more dramatic but also sweeter and swoonier. Theo and Shep lost no time making it official with not one but two celebrations that couldn’t be more different but equally ridiculously romantic! They have some of the most squee-tastic moments, and the books delivered the feels they promised.

    Merciless and Ruthless is a sizzling duet of danger, brotherhood, and royal weddings where a prince and a president’s son come together in chaos and passion. Overall, mercilessly thrilling, ruthlessly swoony!

    P.S.

    Park Avenue Kings is best read in order. Each King is gorgeous and deadly.

    Savage is Lachlan, shadowy and dangerous.

    Devilish is Lucien, temptation incarnate.

    Immoral is Benoit, utterly seductive and captivating.


    If you like my content, please consider using my Amazon affiliate links below to buy your copy of Merciless and Ruthless. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying Amazon purchases at no additional cost to you.

    MERCILESS: Amazon UK | Audiobook
    RUTHLESS: Amazon UK | Audiobook

    If you like my content, please consider supporting me on Ko-fi or PayPal. Your donations will help keep this website going. Thank you so much!

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    COVER REVEAL: Unholy by Ella Frank & Brooke Blaine

    February 19, 2026 / No Comments
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    BOOK TOUR: Forgive Me Not by Mari Costa

    April 14, 2026
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    COVER REVEAL: Vigilant by Cora Rose & Lark Taylor

    February 5, 2026 / No Comments
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    May 30, 2024

    COVER REVEAL: Emerett Has Never Been In Love by Anyta Sunday (Excerpt & Giveaway)

    February 1, 2021

    NEW RELEASE: Food Truck Warriors Box Set Part One by Beth Bolden (Excerpt & Giveaway)

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  • book,  Uncategorized

    REVIEW: Green Ravens by A.E. Via

    January 17, 2026 / 1 Comment

    Ravens: Green Ravens – A.E. Via

    They erased their memories, rewrote their names, and made them beasts. Now, the hunt for vengeance begins.

    Chief Aiken Oakley and Chief Styles Sawyer—two of the US Navy’s most elite Special Warfare Combatant-craft officers—vanished after their mission was ambushed in South America and later presumed MIA.

    Captured by the Raven’s organization, a covert assassin program, Oakley and Sawyer are stripped of their past, their memories, and even their names.
    They are subjected to inhumane experimentation and injected with predator DNA that transform them into primal, lethal weapons… and are now known only as Valor and Zorion.

    After breaking free from the program’s control, Valor and Zorion train themselves to master the beasts within them—pushing their minds, bodies, and instincts to the edge.

    But to take down the corrupt organization, they’ll need more than strength, fury and an appetite for revenge. They’ll have to form uneasy alliances with the two other deadly Raven units—the strategic, silent Browns, and the ruthless, unpredictable Blacks.

    Together, these assassins must unite against the program that created them… and destroy it before it creates something worse.

    Black, Brown, and Green Ravens… The organization turned them into weapons, and now they’ve come back for war.


    Green Ravens is the second book of the spectacular sci-fi military series Ravens by A.E. Via. The Ravens are genetically enhanced super assassins created by a black ops military program.

    Each team is identified by color. The first Ravens were the Blacks, Ex, and Meridian, who have gone rogue. They teamed up with the Browns, Grace, and Mirage, who also broke free as soon as they realized the program director had his own nefarious agenda.

    The third team are the Greens, former Navy officers Chief Aiken Oakley and Chief Styles Sawyer. As Navy officers, they worked together on a mission that quickly went tits up, leaving the two to fend for their lives in the Amazon.

    They came upon the secret Ravens encampment, and what they thought was a rescue turned out to be a genetic experiment nightmare for both. Now reborn as Valor and Zorion, they have enhanced animal abilities from the spliced DNAs of the Amazon’s apex predators. They just have to bide their time and escape from the insidious grasp of the program director who wants to turn them into mindless killing machines.

    A.E. Via outdid herself with this latest installment! Fast-paced and tightly written with a masterful blend of swoon, action, and suspense, Valor and Zorion are your deadly alpha super soldiers and sweet, soulful yearning lovers.

    Valor, with the DNA of the jaguar, is dominant, territorial, and protective of Zorion. Zorion has the DNA of the hawk, the natural enemy of the jaguar. Instead of clashing, the bond between the two men remained unbreakable.

    Echoes of their mutual attraction in past lives resonate with the magnetic pull of the present, a connection that transcended trauma and amnesia. It’s so unspeakably romantic! And if that’s not squee-tastic enough, we have Valor and Zorion constantly cuddling for that hurt comfort magic!

    We have been teased by The Order in Black and Brown, a super-secret society of righteous assassins. Here, we see more of the inner workings of The Order, helping train the Greens, taking down the bad guys, and reworking the Ravens program. The high-octane action scenes were thrilling! I’d love to see them on screen. From Shaolin martial arts to high-tech weaponry, the Greens are on top of their game!

    I think the only things missing are detailed sensory descriptions of sight and smell. I wished the author leaned more towards the animal abilities and made Valor and Zorion just a little bit more feral. But giving them hawk and jaguar pets were cool.

    I loved the concept of the Cherished, which is what The Order members call the other half of their souls. This is essentially what the Ravens are to each other, and I loved how the author portrayed the trust, loyalty, and love between the couples. With Valor and Zorion, there is a certain vulnerability and coziness to their dynamics, a constant warmth and refreshing lack of antagonism that made them stand out among the Ravens.

    The secret society is a badass addition to the already fascinating world of the Ravens. The world-building is fantastic, providing enough details to create a complete picture without info-dumping. The appearances of the Blacks and Browns are cherries on top of an already richly concocted treat, and this series is now my top favorite from the author.

    Green Ravens is a story of defiance and vengeance, of remaking and undoing. Equal parts a tender romance and a gripping sci-fi military story, this novel delivers compelling characters, high-stakes action, and heartfelt relationships. Overall, immersive, emotional, and intense as a trek through the Amazon!

    Rating:
    4.5 Stars – perfection is only half a step away

    Soundtrack: Savage
    Artist: Vowless
    Album: Savage

    P.S.

    Ravens is best read in order.

    Ex Meridian – I’m sorry but Ex and Meridian had me gushing! Technically part of the Nothing Special series.

    Black and Brown – Grace and Mirage speaking volumes in their silence gave me life!


    If you like my content, please consider using my Amazon affiliate links below to buy your copy of Green Ravens. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying Amazon purchases at no additional cost to you.

    GREEN RAVENS: Amazon UK | Audiobook

    If you like my content, please consider supporting me on Ko-fi or PayPal. Your donations will help keep this website going. Thank you so much!

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  • Uncategorized

    RELEASE BLITZ: Ruthless by Ella Frank & Brooke Blaine

    January 8, 2026 / No Comments
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    RELEASE BLITZ: Deviant by Cora Rose & Lark Taylor

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    COVER REVEAL: Merciless by Ella Frank & Brooke Blaine

    September 18, 2025 / No Comments
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    RELEASE BLITZ: Immortal by Brooke Blaine & Ella Frank (Giveaway)

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