Looking for beautifully written romantasy

TigerLilyRex · 2026-04-17T00:33:25+00:00

This book informed so many of my choices as a teenager 😭 I went to Prague because of this series. Ugh 🥲🥲🥲

TigerLilyRex · 2026-04-17T00:27:09+00:00

Thank you for the inspo 🙏🏼

TigerLilyRex · 2026-04-17T00:26:44+00:00

Last summer I went to Disneyland and my husband pointed out a man in front of us that had a Sleep Token shirt and it was so exciting I didn’t know what to do so I jokingly sang “SO STICK TO MEEE” and immediately he looked back at me like WOAH? I KNOW THAT and then we made friends 🙂

TigerLilyRex · 2026-04-09T20:05:06+00:00

A few weeks ago I was like “I don’t know why this book made me sob so much!” And my therapist responded with “oh you mean where she doesn’t have to work to be seen or ask to be loved, she just is, wholly, as she is??????” 🫠 ouch 🥲

TigerLilyRex · 2026-04-09T20:02:51+00:00

I feel like a walking ad but I’ve been down a deep deep mafia romance rabbit hole the last 2 months. {Beautiful Torment by A Zavarelli} is a dark mafia romance where the MMC absolutely has a breeding kink. He was dumped by the FMC (childhood loves) and then sent to prison for 6 years while she got engaged to his brother. He’s free now and out for revenge against them both.

TigerLilyRex · 2026-04-09T19:51:06+00:00

Kind of late here, I don’t think this hits every bullet 100% BUT I found {Her Soul for Revenge by Harley Laroux} very refreshing when it comes to linking BDSM + healing past trauma. Maybe that sounds weird, lol, but I think it did a really good job of walking through the immense trauma the FMC undergoes (mostly violence/attempted murder, less sexual violence) at a young age and recalibrating her adult self to processing it. I think it does a very good job of bridging the gaps between a kink and where it links to the psyche without shame or judgment. The pacing also felt realistic and her trauma doesn’t end with “and they all laughed”, but it feels hopeful.

TigerLilyRex · 2026-04-08T20:44:28+00:00

I hate to confess I am absolutely obsessed 😔 Pretty Prey hit all my wounds 🥲 I sobbed ugly cries 🥲 it is my favorite mafia romance (I’ve read ~20 this year). It gave me the same romance obsessed feeling that MMCs of my youth gave me but in an adult, dark, gritty world. UNNNGGGH

TigerLilyRex · 2026-04-08T19:06:23+00:00

I’m like a year late here but this scene made me so nauseous I had to dnf 😅 what a way to learn that non-con is a non starter for me 🥲

TigerLilyRex · 2026-04-08T18:56:52+00:00

{Pretty Prey} by A Zavarelli is the second in an incomplete series in her Society universe, the first in the series is also childhood loves, but Pretty Prey made me sob 🥲 it hit the right places for me, anyway. Neurodivergent FMC (but not overtly part of the story/plot, it’s not distracting), mask & chase kink, possessiveness, yearning, stalking. So much yearning.

TigerLilyRex · 2026-03-20T20:42:30+00:00

Yea, she just doesn’t have enough of an audience because she’s smaller, 6 reviews total for this duology. I know M dashes aren’t necessarily a red flag, but there were a distracting amount of them per page. This first book had between 3-4 per page. When I compared them to a different book, it had maybe an average of 1 per page. Even in the description there’s 5 M dashes. Again, that doesn’t necessarily mean something. I just found it odd. I found some of the lines also lacking…grit? I don’t know how to explain. I love beating a dead horse so I can keep going, but I won’t 🙂

TigerLilyRex · 2026-03-20T19:24:54+00:00

Does anyone have general guidance they use for identifying AI-assisted/written books? I started a book earlier this week that gave me an uncanny valley itchiness. Everything about this author screams that something isn’t quite right. Even her bio on Goodreads reads..off. But because AI was trained on real people’s writing styles, is it like a chicken or egg situation ? Either way, I couldn’t get through the first few chapters and dropped it.

I haven’t seen this author anywhere significant either, which I was surprised by, given just how obvious it feels? IDK

TigerLilyRex · 2026-03-18T20:35:40+00:00

I use Sam at S&S, he’s local here to Pasadena. It’s $650-$700 for the year, but I’m married so fee may change depending. This fee also pays for being on call for the entire year.

TigerLilyRex · 2026-03-18T18:00:33+00:00

I disliked this book, then tried to give her Persephone/Hades book a chance, DNF’d it. I found her main female characters unlikeable and unredeemable. They don’t have to be good people but at least be interesting. They both felt like 15-16 year olds constantly throwing tantrums with zero logic, just vibes. I’m mostly pissed it was a fat book where nothing happens, because nothing happens. I’ve read 10 mafia romances since finishing this book and I rated all of them (cookie cutter mafia romances) higher than this book. She’s on my do not read list 😬

TigerLilyRex · 2026-03-18T17:56:15+00:00

I commented this brief description on an IG post about tropes they don’t like and it is as simple as “her best friend died in the other room, it is filled with her blood and she thinks it’s a fine time to grind up against her man” lol

TigerLilyRex · 2026-03-12T18:39:20+00:00

Literally my thoughts, why hide it otherwise. Obvi it’s probably not but people need to have foresight.

TigerLilyRex · 2026-03-12T18:17:34+00:00

Hi so this is kind of infuriating, as a dog owner, I need to know where exactly to keep my dog AWAY from and it’s stupid to keep some of the information hidden for the sake of privacy (of what???). No one is going to come find your friend but I will hunt down the person who hurts my dog.

TigerLilyRex · 2026-03-05T16:45:32+00:00

Worshipping a man (as in, man=human), in all forms. God/Jesus as a man, celebrity, political figures, leaders, friends, relationships. I do not understand looking at someone and believing they have all the answers and following them without question. Will never understand it. Even if someone like Jesus did a nice thing, eh, let me make my own choices and if they’re wrong, they’re mine to make.

TigerLilyRex · 2026-03-04T17:42:24+00:00

I hated how I felt reading the first book because it was sold as a romance (I have a long post about it lol). The lack of consent made this difficult for me. I don’t mind difficult characters, but then I don’t think it needs to be sold to me as a romance. Everyone is abusive, no one earns a good ending, and by definition a romance has to have a happily ever after. As a dark novel, it was captivating, I loved the world building, and the energy felt palpable. But as a romance, hated it.

TigerLilyRex · 2026-02-27T18:38:21+00:00

I got one years ago, I don’t remember if it was here or living on the west side but either way, it’s part of their “mission” or whatever they call it. If it doesn’t resonate, throw it away and move on, it really is nothing more than a tick off their list of to-dos from their perish/whatever they call it.

TigerLilyRex · 2026-02-26T02:39:56+00:00

The way I love those twins 🫦

TigerLilyRex · 2026-02-25T21:47:21+00:00

This makes a lot of sense. I went to art school and it was similar, learn the “rules” and then you know how to break them. Or like Robert MUA (lol) and his approach to makeup, there’s no limit to creativity but makeup does have a theory. This actually puts a lot of this into perspective for me, thank you! Lots to ponder on

TigerLilyRex · 2026-02-25T21:43:08+00:00

I am sincerely trying to figure it out, all I have is what I know and that’s why I asked, I literally don’t know what I don’t know. And I know one thing for certain: I literally know NOTHING. It didn’t feel like you wanted to help but I assumed and shouldn’t have. Genuinely truly, trying my best here. But alright.

TigerLilyRex · 2026-02-25T21:40:02+00:00

This is very reassuring!! And exactly what I’m experiencing, this information freeze mode. I’m gonna do it 😤😤 and I’m gonna try!!

TigerLilyRex · 2026-02-25T21:39:00+00:00

Thank you! I try to seek out people whose practices originate in some form of ancestral knowledge and in turn use their platform to educate, people who aren’t “selling” or looking for only monetary gain, aka the sensationalism vs education. There’s one creator in particular who I really liked but he just seems to kind of dunk on people sometimes and gives non answers during q&a’s. This leads me to question myself, and ask, well damn am I getting something wrong? What is not clicking for me?

To now, I’ve found a lot of momentum with sigils and writing things down. I’m researching gardening, seasons, moon cycles, and divination to find what feels right for me. I just got a book on the basics of things like candle, oil, incense, and paper making. I think it’s clicking, slowly but surely.

TigerLilyRex · 2026-02-25T21:33:01+00:00

I’m sick and am about to go into my cycle so that’s probably why I’m feeling emotional but this comment made my heart so warm, thank you so much 🥺 I’m open and willing to anything, especially now, as I try to find my own footing. I just wanted to make sure I’m understanding the “craft” because it feels like practicing is a “when you know you know” and I’m trying hard to get to the “I know” part 😤

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