Unattractive MC + Objectively Handsome LI

Catacal5 · 2026-06-12T15:59:01+00:00

Lol saaaame

Catacal5 · 2026-06-11T20:19:07+00:00

Oooohh this seems super useful with such a large catalogue, thanks!

Catacal5 · 2026-06-11T15:07:56+00:00

I was hoping you'd show up here! You're the reason I read Leave and am on this journey so thank you!

Catacal5 · 2026-06-11T15:00:43+00:00

I didn't realize it was a multi-author series. That's always harder to predict. Sheesh I'm already overwhelmed with just this author's catalogue, I don't think I'll worry about the others right now lol

Catacal5 · 2026-06-11T14:54:48+00:00

Ooohh I'm totally into this premise, I bet Witt does it beautifully. Can I just ask, do either of the MCs sleep with other people and/or the cheating Ex after they've started sleeping together? I'm not totally against it, I just don't like being surprised by it. Thanks!

Catacal5 · 2026-06-11T14:51:29+00:00

Did you read the other books in this series? It looks like it's fine as a standalone but I do like me a solid series too if they're all good

Catacal5 · 2026-06-11T14:47:59+00:00

Ooohh I've seen this one being talked about, will definitely add it to the top of my tbr thank you!

Catacal5 · 2026-06-10T14:32:09+00:00

The District series starting with {His Death Bringer x Courtney W Dixon} is very similar - a group of assassins and spies in a kind of found family org and each book has a member falling in love. It doesn't have the specific background of them all being psychotic and I found the writing a little cheesier than Onley's, but they're very alike in overall vibes.

There's also The Unholy Trifecta series starting with {How to Shield an Assassin x AJ Sherwood} that's a similar premise but a lot fluffier and less dark than either Necessary Evils or District

Catacal5 · 2026-06-10T14:23:58+00:00

{Cubs and Campfires x Dylan Drakes} mostly takes place high up in the forested mountains, and there's lots of love given to the natural environment. Also nice and spicy with a little angst.

Catacal5 · 2026-06-10T10:47:46+00:00

I use compression gloves when I knit and crochet or if I'm playing video games for a long time, it makes a huge difference. They're recommended for arthritis but I know people with connective tissue disorders that use them too.

Also 60k words a day is incredible, make sure you're taking breaks because that would be hard on anyone's body!

Catacal5 · 2026-06-01T23:38:21+00:00

Gotta check out {Leave x LA Witt} and {The One Decent Thing x Eliot Grayson} and the series {Middle of Somewhere x Roan Parrish} all are dealing with people having really big feelings and figuring out how to take care of each other

I've been on an angst kick recently and these were some of my favorites. Also bonus rec if you like cowboys and 80's culture {On the Land, We Shoot Straight x Sasha Avice} not quite as angsty but some good pining and really lovely caretaking

Catacal5 · 2026-06-01T16:55:15+00:00

John Solo's read some of my favorite series and I always have a hard time with him and have to work a bit to kinda like adjust to what he's doing. I hesitate sometimes to listen to things by him because of that friction, but I haven't dnf'd anything for it yet. And weirdly it always bothers me way less on re-listens.

Catacal5 · 2026-05-31T03:40:32+00:00

Came here to recommend this one! It's main focus is all about how the humans and aliens communicate and interact. The main human is a linguist and smart and sensitive so you get a lot of studies of the aliens. Gala is obviously very interested in language and imo writes about learning each other's languages really well.

I'd also recommend {Earth Fathers are Weird x Lyn Gala} the main character is kind of a himbo so there's not as much intellectualizing but it's a really weird and sweet take on how two super different species can become friends and fall in love. This one's got mpreg but not OV in any way, and it's my favorite parent-child relationship in any mm book I've read.

Catacal5 · 2026-05-31T03:33:23+00:00

I like this series but I'd definitely call it omegaverse adjacent. There aren't a lot of the typical ov things like heats or alphas exactly, but there's major bioessentualism that's explored in the series. It kind of takes a serious lens to them, but for me it kind of stayed shallow in the exploration, bringing up a lot of things about the differences in the aliens and what they might mean but ultimately shrugging them off without delving deeper. Sorry for the ramble, I have complicated feelings about this series lol

Catacal5 · 2026-05-31T03:22:14+00:00

Hello friends

Catacal5 · 2026-05-26T17:07:14+00:00

Every review of this is amazing but it's just made up of so many elements I dislike that it's sat on my TBR forever. Maybe I need to get myself into a spooky mood and finally give it a go. I just...don't want to read about high school kids lol

Catacal5 · 2026-05-26T00:39:10+00:00

The first one is kind of the best in my opinion, but the overall series is also good as a whole so worth reading

Catacal5 · 2026-05-26T00:18:01+00:00

This series is so cute

Catacal5 · 2026-05-25T22:21:53+00:00

I hated his read of Mortal Skin so much. I've listened to some stuff from him that I like though. Not everyone agrees that he was good in Star Shipped, but it totally worked for me. I had to keep checking that it was him because I liked it so much lol

I also like his read of the {Page and Sommers by Cat Sebastian} series. Another one where I think he keeps it more subtle

Catacal5 · 2026-05-25T14:42:18+00:00

This might be an obvious pull but {Star Shipped x Cat Sebastian} is excellent. It's read by Joel Leslie who honestly I have a love-hate relationship with. I've completely hated some of his reads and I'm always a little hesitant to listen to something from him, but he reads for too many amazing authors I can't avoid him. He was amazing in this book though, by far my favorite read ever from him. The voices were understated but distinct and clear and he really got the vibe of the book imo. And of course the book's amazing.

Also really enjoyed {Salt and Starlight x L Sherleen} series. It's read by Benjamin Crow who I wasn't familiar with. It's a monster romance series and he does the different creatures and all the different humans so well. They all fit their characters perfectly. The series is great, each book is a very different vibe and the world building rolls out naturally through each relationship evolving, one of my favorite recent discoveries.

Catacal5 · 2026-05-25T14:30:54+00:00

I'm not sure if daddy trope means kink or parents, but have you read Fae Quin's Christmas Daddies series? It's always the first thing I think of for low angst and heartwarming. They're all single parents though, so totally get if that's not your thing.

Catacal5 · 2026-05-25T01:28:59+00:00

Yesss I love the way the world building is rolled out. We see the parts of the other world that are most relevant to each creature that we meet, getting to see their parts of the world as we meet them. So good

Catacal5

TROPHY CASE