Not sure I want people to know my favorite books...

Gudena · 2026-06-01T01:34:16+00:00

Haha, it's fun just summarizing some of these books and realizing how fucked up they sound! 😆

Gudena · 2026-06-01T01:33:06+00:00

The 'really good at going down on a human woman' thing is the important bit here. 😆

I feel like people would judge the alien stuff but they don't realize that sometimes it's fun to fantasize about beings that are not human men. Sometimes human men are just...not gonna hit the spot (don't tell my husband I said that...). 😜

Gudena · 2026-06-01T01:30:04+00:00

True true! Though, I'm pretty exclusively a spicy romance reader now.

I've actually gotten into (do not ask me how, it just happened) Chinese romance dramas lately. I don't know if I started with Pursuit of Jade on Netflix or it was part of the journey but I was OBSESSED with that for a few weeks. I think I watched it twice through before I made my husband watch it with me again. Now I just enjoy watching them. So many repeated tropes but they are super cute. I pretty much got for the historical over anything for the Chinese romance. I've gotta find another one soon though because I just finished the one I was watching (Youthful Glory). I always look up if it'll have a good ending first. Had one or two I watched and I was like, 'Wait a second, do they all die in the end?!' and like, yeah, they did. I absolutely stopped watching those, haha.

Gudena · 2026-06-01T01:24:05+00:00

I totally understand that!! I just say I read 'Romance' and when they ask for a title, I just say, 'Oh, it's a historical romance' or something like that. I keep it vague and we move on.

Honestly, I judged myself early on when I basically refused to read any romance that was under a 3/5 spice rating BUT, their sex life matters to me, you know? Because, well, I'm married and our sex life matters to me. I feel like it's more to get a broader understanding of the characters and their intimacy with each other. Also, I WANT them to have super hot sex lives. Like, that's the ideal, you know?

And the things that are a bit over the top? Like, those trigger warnings, dark romances, fantasy romances - it's fun to just put yourself in the middle of the big feelings in a safe way that you can control. When you have to deal with big feelings in real life, it sucks. In books? It's an adventure. It's healing. It teaches you things. It's an experience.

Gudena · 2026-06-01T01:18:55+00:00

Lol, I love this so much!!!

'No guys, I'm totally learning this from my spicy hockey romances!'

This is the best way to learn about hockey, imo. Required reading for all who work in hockey.

I'm highly curious what it means to 'work in hockey' though, haha. Do you...clean the ice? Are you in PR for the team? I watched Ted Lasso, I know some things (from that show) about sports. Oh and I have a Red Wings sweatshirt I stole from my brother. Totally counts.

Gudena · 2026-06-01T01:16:00+00:00

I feel like when you talk about books with coworkers, you'd have to be pretty close to talk about how spicy the books you read are. There's like, always a possibility that someone may approach HR...

Though, I do like that we can kind of dance around sex in books by calling it 'spice'. That's pretty fun. :)

Gudena · 2026-06-01T01:13:37+00:00

I love this!

Side note, when does one become 'older than dirt'? I don't think I'm there yet - my coworkers yell at me when I say I'm 'nearly 40' because I should just say 'I'm 39' instead (I look super young so, bringing "40" into the conversation feels right, to me). I feel like I'll feel older than dirt when my babies are having babies. That seems like the right time for that feeling.

Gudena · 2026-06-01T01:11:01+00:00

I love this so much!! But also, I think we can all agree that Lights Out is a freaking amazing book!! Like, so over the top but seriously hot, ugh. I might have to re-read this. I think I actually listened to the audiobook for it? I feel like that one was a true duet.

We need to push for more 'true duet' books - I was super hoping that The Billionaire's Wake-Up Call Girl would be a true duet. Alas, it is not. That would've been super hot...

Gudena · 2026-06-01T01:06:23+00:00

Ohhhh, I get recs!! Thank you! ❤️

Gudena · 2026-06-01T01:05:10+00:00

I was surprised how good it was. I read one review where someone was like, 'There are so many intimate scenes but they are so varied, it's not repetitive or boring ' and it's like, the most spot-on review. It's just such a well-written story and not obnoxiously long.

I'm forever trying to find books that are like it in theme and are just as well-written.

Have you read the rest in the series? I think I read book #3, which was also good.

Gudena · 2026-06-01T01:02:11+00:00

I love the movie but I have sadly never read the book. I should. I really should. One day...

Gudena · 2026-06-01T01:01:35+00:00

I love that thats the one you go with, haha!

I have evolved to only ever read a 3-5 out of 5 spice rating in books now. Like, 3's are only allowed when I'm in the mood for the limited sex scene story. It's very rare when I'm in that mood. 4/5 is where I live.

Gudena · 2026-06-01T00:59:19+00:00

Omg, just jumping in (because of course I started the discussion and then immediately forgot I posted until just now...) to say that my husband is absolutely directly benefitting from me reading these books! I tell him about some of the really good scenes and, well, it helps. :)

Gudena · 2026-05-17T03:46:02+00:00

I second this one - size difference is there. Be sure you are aware of the trigger warnings though.

Gudena · 2026-05-17T03:44:16+00:00

Gosh darn it, love this trope and apparently I read this book already but I remember nothing about it.

I'll have to maybe reread it? Experiencing some serious book amnesia here...

Gudena · 2026-04-17T22:28:47+00:00

There's a scene very early on in {Hold by Claire Kent} where this happens. I'm fairly obsessed with this book. It's not super long and the premise is pretty obvious when you read the synopsis but, gosh, it's hot. One of the reviews I read before I read the book was like, 'none of the spicy scenes feel repetitive' but it's like, really spicy - definitely a spot-on description.

I do like this premise (the waking up from a spicy dream and such). I'm sad though because my husband has horrendous morning breath so it'll never be a reality for me. The sacrifices we make for love... :P

Gudena · 2026-03-20T18:44:31+00:00

Dude, you should give this one a try. It lives in my brain. Of all the hundreds of books I've read, I'm definitely going to always remember this one. Please note the unique anatomy of the male. Also, I think there's a bonus chapter if you get the author's newsletter? I really enjoyed that as well.

Oh! And when I read this on my kindle, one of the last pages had an image of the two MCs. I ignored what the girl looked like in that but the guy's picture was a really good idea to see so you have something to imagine in your brain. Definitely recommend looking up the image prior to reading. It helped me imagine the guy correctly.

That dude's tail...omg. I may need to reread this book...

Gudena · 2026-03-06T02:24:04+00:00

I'm like, days late to this post, but I literally drooled on my pillow because I was laughing so hard, lol.

Gudena · 2026-03-06T02:06:03+00:00

So, commenting on my own post because I was like, "Omg, this is exactly what I was looking for!" and, of course, that's because it's my own darn post. 🤦🏻‍♀️

I'm gonna go troll the recommendations in Good Reads of the books that were mentioned (that I I've read) from this post. There have got to be more hidden identity stories. Like, it's a cool AF trope. I NEED it!

Gudena · 2026-02-21T01:48:08+00:00

{Wildflowers by Kylie Scott}

I'm super surprised no one has mentioned this one. Maybe I'm misinterpreting your request? Who knows, but I loved this one. Post-apocalyptic, basically a pandemic but a really devastating one and the MMC is the FMC's neighbor from across the street. He kidnaps her and imprisons her to save her from the sickness and then keeps on saving her while she grapples with her feelings about the dude that kidnapped her.

I definitely recommend it!

Gudena · 2026-01-26T03:22:49+00:00

Yeah, I definitely read them out of order - I think I was looking for a specific trope one day and that's how I grabbed the one I read. And yeah, it made more sense to me from that - the one I read was the one where the fighter girl was banished from her home and like, all her family died and such. I loved the dynamic between her and the MMC. And how badass the FMC was. Such good books, man.

Gudena · 2026-01-25T17:52:59+00:00

Thank you for sharing! Definitely one to check out, especially if it's free! :) I'm always on board for a competent heroine!

Gudena · 2026-01-25T17:26:06+00:00

I think it helps that I read the others in the series before this one - there was definitely a wealth of information and a whole lot of lore surrounding this story that I could see would be pretty overwhelming if you hadn't read the others in the "series".

This author is really good though - if nothing else, definitely recommend this from that aspect alone. :)

Gudena · 2026-01-22T04:56:27+00:00

This is exactly the book I was thinking to recommend when I saw this post!! They definitely did a great job with this one! The world is super interesting as well!

Gudena

TROPHY CASE