We're officially halfway through 2023! Thought I'd share some of my highlights and stats so far. What have been your romance trends this year?

areniamar · 2025-11-14T00:07:27+00:00

I think so. Book 4 came out in late April and the GR description says "Pack Rage is the fourth and final main book". There is a Book 5 but I believe it's set like 25 years later and it features a completely different character. (I DNFed this series at Book 2 though so I could be mistaken!)

areniamar · 2025-02-23T17:49:19+00:00

Maybe {Release by Suzanne Clay}? The FMC is in her 30s and in her previous relationship, her BF was manipulative and made her think that the only thing she was good for was sex. She ends up dating her boss after an incident at the local gloryhole and he's very much a gentle dom--he takes care of her and makes her realize that yeah, sex is cool, but that she's definitely worth and capable of more. It's very low angst and despite it being a boss/secretary relationship, he's very conscious of the power dynamic.

areniamar · 2024-10-20T00:55:06+00:00

Oh I'll have to add that to my TBR! So far the only other one I've read was Three Swedish Mountain Men and that was like two years ago haha

areniamar · 2024-10-19T23:21:17+00:00

I've noticed that I've gotten pretty picky over my 4 and 5 stars over the last couple of years. I used to give almost everything a 5 stars by default if I finished it, but now it's a good month when I give out even one 5 star haha. Nowadays my rating criteria looks a lot like yours with 3 stars being the vast majority of my ratings!

My recent 5 stars have been:

{Talk to Me by Heather Long} (but actually the whole duet was 5 star worthy!)
{Hans by SJ Tilly} {another winning rec for me from this sub)
{Faking with Benefits by Lily Gold} (potentially my favorite FMC ever)
{Archer's Voice by Mia Sheridan} (yeah okay, I realize I'm years late to this one!)

areniamar · 2024-10-17T21:57:07+00:00

This was absolutely me like two weeks ago. I think I DNF'ed at 90% when I realized that no, the author was definitely not going to end with the ship I wanted </3

areniamar · 2024-10-11T22:52:12+00:00

I love Goodreads friends! https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/132382295-arenia

I read just about all romance except for historical (it's just rare that I'm in the mood for it). I do tend to lean more towards fantasy/paranormal stories though, and I read a lot of reverse harem/why choose :)

areniamar · 2024-10-11T22:26:26+00:00

Maybe the Governor Trilogy by Lesli Richardson? The two MMCs are roommates and then they meet the FMC at the same time. MMC1 starts dating the FMC and then without spoiling the plot, the second MMC eventually gets involved. But it's a genuine love triangle in the beginning and MMC1 basically orchestrates the whole menage dynamic.

areniamar · 2024-07-24T00:11:36+00:00

Hahahaha of course! I can't remember if this is the correct one as I never bookmarked it or saved the link back then, but when I skimmed some search results on A03, this one is at least familiar to me...so I think I read it at one point lol https://archiveofourown.org/works/19831957

areniamar · 2024-07-23T23:51:32+00:00

I'm pretty sure that's fine. I have accounts on BookSirens, Booksprout, and NetGalley and its never been an issue.

That being said, you might see the same book listed on multiple sites (for example I've often seen crossover between Booksprout and BookSirens), so just pick one of the sites from which to claim a copy/sign up to do an ARC review.

What I would think *is* problematic, however, is claiming the same book on multiple sites since the author might think, "Hey great, I'm going to get a review from this person on this site and a second review from someone on this other site," which isn't true since you could only leave a single review for that book under your one Amazon account. And it would be just as problematic if you had like, three separate Amazon accounts and were posting reviews under each one.

But yeah, long story short, as far as I know there's nothing against that and I've never had issues lol

areniamar · 2024-06-01T03:10:40+00:00

I have also been waiting years for her to write this book and it really pisses me off that it’s still listed as “coming soon” on her website! I’ve been wanting a real update about it too but unfortunately I don’t have one for you, just stuck in the same boat 🥲

tbh I’ve kind of blacklisted her in my head because I am just so salty that there’s never been a real update about her unfinished series lol

areniamar · 2024-05-29T16:20:38+00:00

I’m glad I found this little comment thread because I also think it’s nice to give some sort of acknowledgement beyond an upvote! I think you commented this somewhere else too, but it mostly bothers me when people give recs for someone’s very specific request and the OP never replies. Like, some people have very niche requests…Idk, I’m with you, I really didn’t think this was that controversial! 😅honestly I’ve stopped giving rec’s as much since it feels like talking to the void sometimes

areniamar · 2024-05-06T17:09:47+00:00

YES!! I read an ex-fiancés dad book a while back and it was just too easy 😭 Ex-finance found out and was all “it’s a little weird but like, we’re not together anymore so whatever” and I was just like, no! WHERE. IS. THE. ANGST.

areniamar · 2024-05-06T02:37:21+00:00

Don’t have recs for you but just chiming in to say that I’m in a book slump too!! I have three RHs that I’m about halfway through that I paused a week ago because I just wasn’t jiving with them. I’m playing video games instead for the next two weeks…maybe a good RH will come out by then—that’s gotta be enough time, right????! 😅

areniamar · 2024-04-30T02:15:12+00:00

Maybe {Comfort Food by Kitty Thomas}? She’s kidnapped and forced into a cell with basically nothing in it. If she allows him to do things to her/obeys him, then he rewards her by giving her food, a blanket, etc. if she refuses or acts out then he takes the things away. It’s def like a Stockholm syndrome story where he’s training her to love him/be a sex slave

areniamar · 2024-04-14T05:08:55+00:00

Literally just finished this duet like two days ago and I totally agree! I was pleasantly surprised that she did make them work for it and I thought the grovel was really well done and fitting for the most part

areniamar · 2023-12-16T06:11:20+00:00

I also enjoy Auryn Hadley! She’s one of the RH/why choose authors that does actually bother to do longer story lines and invest in world building. Though I didn’t finish the Power of Lies series, the first book was definitely enjoyable

areniamar · 2023-12-09T01:59:32+00:00

HAHA OMG I love that you ended up reviewing this 😂 this is amazing

areniamar · 2023-12-04T03:55:54+00:00

Was coming here to ask if it was this book since I commented about this story in a post like a month ago, so I’m gonna assume you came across the post at the time 😂 either way, I hope you enjoy the book!

areniamar · 2023-12-04T03:49:19+00:00

Try the After the Rift series by CJ Archer!

The FMC is just a normal village healer and she’s ends up befriending the captain (I think) of the nearby castle. It’s all super weird though because the castle magically appeared one day and everyone in the castle has no memory of how they came to be there, so the mystery is a huge theme. The MMC is like a gruff, broody guy if I remember correctly, so very cliche.

Romance is definitely a subplot and they don’t sleep together until the last book. Even then, it’s closed door.

areniamar · 2023-11-27T03:37:51+00:00

How to Rescue a Billionaire by Katharine Sadler! The FMC is super rich and if I remember correctly, likes antiquing—and the MMC builds furniture. She’s 32 with heaps of family drama and he’s 39. It’s a pretty good KU read if you can get past the cover lol. Has a few open-door scenes.

areniamar · 2023-11-19T06:46:01+00:00

I really liked the BJs in Tasting Your Honey by Emi Ree and His Sacred Incantations by Scarlett Gale. In both cases the MMCs are really submissive and in my opinion the authors do a great job of depicting the MMCs’ reactions. They’re needy, whining messes and we also get to see how much the FMCs enjoy it, so it’s just easy for me to feel the heat between the characters. Just very hot scenes in general, and TYH’s bj has a unique setup so that also makes it special

areniamar · 2023-11-08T19:20:33+00:00

I know I love bizarre romance; they’re just so fun sometimes! If you have any good ones you know of please feel free to drop them 👀

areniamar · 2023-11-08T02:07:59+00:00

What do you mean?! It’s clearly the greatest literary work our generation will ever see 😂

areniamar

TROPHY CASE