It has been a while since I’ve shared a TBR post. Since going through the 75 Hard Challenge, my love of reading really suffered due to almost forcing myself to read books that I wouldn’t normally pick up. Towards the end of June, I really got back into it, mostly relying on my Kindle Unlimited subscription to find some new-to-me authors and just really branch out. I am so happy to say that I have finished two books within the last week and I am just drooling at the mouth to dive in to the books for July.

1. Sweet Retribution by Siobhan Davis

This is the third book in the Rydeville Elite series. I flew through the first two books last summer, however, I remember more of the plot than I do the character names. This is a high school bully dark romance. There were times where I would literally role my eyes at some of the things that would happen in the books. The main heroine isn’t really my favorite. That being said, I am in absolute love with the heroes in this. They are those typical bad boys that you love to hate and hate to love. Sweet Retribution, as far as I know, is wrapping up the relationship between the main characters that we’ve followed through the last two books. The perspective/couple changes with the next books.

2. The Passion of Hades by Eliza Raine and Rose Wilson

This is the second book in the Hades Trials trilogy and is a Hades and Persephone retelling. The first one was rather short so I flew through it. There wasn’t much romance and we didn’t see much of Hades. That being said, I surprisingly really liked the characters and so I can’t wait to continue with the story with this one.

3. The Darkest Temptation by Danielle Lori

This is book three in the Made trilogy by Danielle Lori. I did not read the previous two books, however, the description shows that it can be read as a standalone. The heroine in this one follows the trope of the perfect girl who grew up in a wealthy environment and she wants to break out of it. She ends up flying to Moscow (why am I attracted to Russian mafia tropes?) where she falls for the wrong man who ends up holding her prisoner.

4. Tryant by T.M. Frazier

This is the second book in the King Series. Again, I did love the hero in the first book, however I wasn’t a fan of the heroine. Just some of her choices were kind of questionable and didn’t make sense. But I did really like it and this second book is a continuation of their relationship and builds on some of the cliffhangers from the previous book.

5. War by Laura Thalassa

This is the second book in the Four Horsemen series. Laura Thalassa is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors of 2021. The first book in this series, Pestilence, introduces the reader to the apocalypse created by the Four Horsemen from the Bible. It was so heart-wrenching and beautiful that I immediately downloaded the following two available books in this series. The world that Thalassa created is so believable and the characters were well fleshed out. This second book follows War and the main heroine, Miriam. Like Pestilence, War seems to despise humanity with one exception and only Miriam can being about the gentle nature of War.

6. A Strange Hymn by Laura Thalassa

This is the second book in the Bargainer Series. I don’t like to compare books, but if you like A Court of Thorns and Roses, you’ll enjoy this (it does have more than a few similarities). In the previous book, the heroine went through a “transformation” and so the start of this seems to be her trying to come to terms with it. The mystery also continues in this second book.

7. Bound by Duty by Cora Reilly

This is the second book (I’m noticing a trend) in the Born in Blood Mafia Chronicles by Cora Reilly. It is a dark mafia romance where we explore the relationship with the sister of the heroine from the first book. The first book in this series, Bound by Honor, was one of those books where I hated to love the hero. He was so bad for the heroine and yet he wasn’t too far gone that he couldn’t redeem himself. I remember really liking the writing in that book, and so I’m excited to read another book by Cora Reilly.

8. Credence by Penelope Douglas

If you are a part of the romance community on YouTube, or at least familiar with it, then you’ve heard of this book. It has been on previous TBR’s of mine but it’s just one of those books that keep getting pushed back. This is marketed as a reverse harem romance set in the woods. Honestly, I think I’m just giving this book one final attempt simply because of the hype behind it. I don’t think I’ve read anything by Penelope Douglas in the past.

9. The Help by Callie Rose

Another high school bully romance, this is one that I found using the “discover” tab through Kindle and downloaded through my Kindle Unlimited Subscription. This follows the trope of a girl, kind of from the other side of the tracks, where she and her mother move across country in order to live with this really wealthy family as “the help”. Her mother enlists her into the same preppy school that their employer’s son goes to (who is obviously going to be super attractive and bad to the bone). Bottom line, he doesn’t want her there.

10. Untouchable by Sam Mariano

The last book in July’s TBR is…..you guessed it…….another high school bully romance. The main character finds herself harassed and the center of quarterback, Carter Mahoney, attention after she gets a star player kicked off the football team. When an author feels the need to warn about the contents of a book, it only intrigues me further. I see fiction as that, fiction, so I don’t get my panties in a wad over the contents. If anything it only makes me want to read it more.

As you can see, the theme for July seems to be all about that dark romance. I have been dabbling with some of my old writing projects again and so I have been needing some serious inspiration. I honestly am so much more happier reading the type of books that I want again. Smut makes me happy! Anyways, thank you so much for reading, and until next time…………….