C.M. Stunich: Devil's Day Party

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51813790-devils-day-party

Book Blurb:

I crashed my shitty yellow VW Beetle into Calix’s Aston Martin.
To be fair, he deserved it.
But Calix and his friends, Barron and Raz, they don’t see it that way.

Not that it matters.
They’ve bullied me for years, and I’ve never known why.
At least today, they have something real to be pissed about.
All of which would be fine, if today was a normal day.
But it’s not. It’s far from normal.
My mantra has always been: this too, shall pass.

But not today.
Not the worst day of my life.
Hot bullies, busted cars, and pain.

Somebody kill me now.

Tropes:

*High school Bully Romance *enemies --> more *Why Choose *Spice 

*Kissing between F/F & M/M  *death *Dark Romance *Fantasy *Ground Hog Day vibes

*Time loop story *State Challenge Arkansas

Thoughts:

This is my first book by this author, I love the movie Groundhog Day and needed a book for my 50 states challenge set in Arkansas so figured I would give this one a go and I'm glad I did.

Karma (FMC) is stuck in a time loop situation for an unknown period of time to start with it's Devil's day which is taken very seriously in their town with a huge party thrown every year.  Our FMC goes to a wealthy private school but is not from a wealthy family and has been bullied by many of the other students including our MMC's Calix, Raz and Barron.

Karma's initial day begins with her waking up in her car after she has very clearly been involved in a car accident with one of her bullies Calix... he naturally is upset and he and his friends threaten Karma telling her not to bother showing up to the party tonight... they take her car and trash it as a prank and basically rub this in her face later at the party... basically her whole day just keeps getting worse she gets in an argument with her family, steals her mom's car and crashes... expecting her life to be over she's surprised when she wakes up in her car at the time of the accident from the day before only everyone else is acting like these events haven't happened before... what is going on?

It takes Karma a little time on repeat to get things together, depending on how she interacts with her friends, her bullies and her family depends on how her day will go sometimes she ends up locked in a room, finding out her friends secret, but no matter what happens usually there is an embarassing illicit video that gets leaked of her and Calix from the year before when they got together... even though there are supposed to be no phones at the party.  The other thing that happens is she can't seem to make it so that someone doesn't die at the end of her day before the reset occurs.

The MMC's are bullies so things are dark and they often treat Karma and others poorly, they are wealthy and run the school because they can.

While in this loops Karma figures the best way to know her enemy is to get closer to them... she begins to get closer to each guy in turn and over time finds out that maybe their strong emotions towards her isn't hate at all... but love another strong emotion. 

There are a few mysteries in this story surrounding Karma, who is releasing the illicit video?  she quickly figures out it isn't one of her three guys... but who else could it be and why would they do it?  She is at the bottom of the barrel already in the scheme of things as far as high school heirarchy goes.  The other mystery is how can she create a perfect day that doesn't end with anyones death?  It seems every time something is going right... something still goes very wrong. 

This book is of course repetitive throughout being as she is reliving the same day and just trying to recreate things that worked in prior days vs. trying new things to see what happens to change the day and try to figure out what she could potentially do differently to get out of this loop.  

Karma struggles as she gets to know the guys individually because now that she's been involved with each guy how could she possibly pick one over the other?  Would there ever be a day she could have all three?  She struggled as each day was starting from scratch with all of the guys.

I did struggle with some of Karma's decisions during some of her days... but I get that she's a teenager too so was acting her age by making some of these choices.  Being a high school bully romance there were times that I didn't like the lead characters much or their behaviors... but they did seem to have some growth towards the end. 

Check your trigger warnings if you read this one it a dark romance and there are a lot of darker elements in the story.

Have you read this one what did you think? 

Reese Wilder: Our Little Ruin

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/253041683-our-little-ruin

Book Blurb:

ROWAN

My life hasn’t been the easiest. I’ve got a past. Everyone does.

I just prefer to bury my face in my books and disappear into another world.

Then someone breaks into my house and leaves behind a black feather.

After that, the feeling of being watched follows me everywhere.

Declan is the police officer on my case. Quiet. Broody. Protective. The kind of man who makes me feel safe.

But he isn’t the only one watching me.

One stalker hides in the shadows, leaving black feathers behind like warnings.

The other wears a mask and threatens anyone who gets too close.

And somewhere between fear and obsession, I stop knowing whether I should run from them…

or let them ruin me.

DECLAN

Rowan thinks I’m here to protect her.

That’s the lie I let her believe.

She looks at me like I’m safe, like I’m the man standing between her and the monsters hunting her.

But I was never the hero in this story.

I watch her sleep.

I follow her home.

I know the sounds she makes when she comes undone.

The closer the black-feathered stalker gets to her. The closer I get to losing control.

She thinks the masked man wants to scare her.

He doesn’t.

I want her to run straight into my arms.

Black-feathered stalker

I saw her first.

Long before the cop started circling her like a starving dog.

Rowan was always going to be mine. She just didn’t know it yet.

The problem is Declan thinks he can claim her before I do.

But obsession makes monsters out of men.

And I’ve never been afraid of becoming one.

Tropes:      

*Indie Author  *ARC 2026  * Masked Stalker  *Morally Gray MMCs *He falls first 

*Posessive MMCs  *Touch her and 💀  *Police officer MMC *Therapist FMC *why choose

*Dark Romance  *Found family  *Unhinged characters *Dark family secrets  *Danger

*Trigger warnings-->  lots check your triggers prior to reading  *Why Choose  *Suspense

Thoughts:

I'm going to be honest... I'm newer to Dark Romance reads and they are not usually my go to but I have been branching out and trying new things especially when I know it's from an Indie Author.  Since this isn't my usual read I wasn't sure what to expect, if you are newer to this genre (like me) please first check your trigger warnings there are a lot of darker elements in this book.

This is my first read from this author but it won't be my last.  To start with we have Rowan (FMC) she is a therapist and deals with a lot of personalities in her line of work, she works hard and when she gets home she loves nothing better than getting cozy and reading a book... her favorites happen to be dark romance and even though she doesn't realize it right away she's about to be in her a dark romance all of her own since she has not just one stalker... but two.

Rowan is strong and brave... when she realizes she's being watched and her stalker breaks into her house, how did he get in without setting off the alarm??  instead of being scared she feels safe with him, maybe she's just as unhinged as he is?

Where Rowan's first stalker makes her feel safe, the second leaves mysterious gifts in the way of Black feathers... what does this even mean?  It's creepy! 

Even though this isn't my usual type of book the book flows well from one event to the next and had me wondering what would happen when Rowan found out who was watching her.

Declan (MMC #1) has two sides one side he is protective, strong, caring and hot (all the things) and he is a police officer (💓).  Declan's other side is still all of these things he's just a little (or a lot) obsessive, morally gray and isn't afraid to take what he wants... and he wants Rowan all of her even to the point of setting up scenarios her dark romance loving heart would love like being chased in the woods. 

This story had me hooked, I had to find out what would happen next and there were a lot of twists that kept me second guessing things that I thought might happen.  

Our Black Feathered MMC helps to keep the tension going throughout the book.

Some of the things that happened in this book were a bit on the too dark for me side but over all this was an enjoyable read I liked seeing how the lead characters developed a beautiful relationship (which was surprising to me considering how it all started) and I'm looking forward to reading more books from this author! 

I think that if you enjoy dark romance with morrally gray men, smart female leads, secrets revealed, twists and a lot of chaos you would enjoy picking up this one!  

Have you read anything by this author?  What would you recommend next?  

 

S. Rena: On Thin Ice

 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/239680503-on-thin-ice

Book Blurb:

God of Malice meets Pucking Around in this spicy hockey romance where one freshman becomes the twisted obsession of three university hockey players.

I only have one shot to make a life for myself, and more than just my future is on the line. My baby brother is still back in the dump I escaped from, still living in a house of cigarette butts stuffed in beer cans and slurred arguments. So now that I've gotten to Sovereign Kings University, I have to make it worth it. I'll keep my eyes down, ignore the rich kids’ taunts, and graduate.

At least that was my plan before I busted the knee of a hockey player. Having possibly ruined the team’s chance of a championship, I'm now the target of the players. The golden boy captain, Alexander, is the ringleader of my popular bullies. Every day Kane—the tall, dark and perpetually pissed-off defense—finds a way to humiliate me. Yet, being painfully ignored by the huge, reserved goalie they call Mountain may just hurt the most.

When the guys aren’t making my life a living hell, they’re twisting me up inside with desire and giving me glimpses of the real them. But can I risk losing my heart to one hockey player—let alone all three? I’m certainly in for a long, hard season.

*College Romance  *Hockey/sports  *Darker vibes  *Enemies --> More  *why choose 

*spice  *taboo relationship *rich kids/poor kids  *Bully *Trigger warnings (check yours) 

*death of parent (in the past)  *family drama  *multi-cultural characters *Netgalley ALC 

*Multiple POV  *family secrets 

Thoughts: 

Sam (FMC) has had a tough life made even tougher since her mother passed away and she's stayed in custody of her step father to protect her younger brother.  Only now she's leaving her brother to focus on her studies at a new college across town if she does well there this will be huge for both of them she can fight for custody and give them both a better life.

Shortly after arriving she sees a familiar face in Kane (MMC #1)... only he doesn't welcome her like she thought he might he is moody and pushes her away.  Kane doesn't want Sam at his school she knows his history that he has worked so hard to hide from everyone (including his closest friends) and he needs to keep things together finish out the school year and make sure that his mother (who is mentally ill) continues to receive the care she needs in the super expensive facility he can't do any of that if Sam gets in his way.

Alex (MMC 2), Kane, and Mountain/Bryden (MMC #3) live together in the house that Alex's father has bought for them off campus even though he's not supposed to Alex throws a big party.  One of the popular girls invites Sam and she finds herself in a predicament where she is cornered by one of the Hockey players outside it's fight or flight and she fights... originally set on keeping her head down and pushing herself to succeed flying under the radar this just put her on the map for all the wrong reasons and now everyone is mad that she just possibly ruined the teams chances at finals which is coming up soon. 

Instead of listening to what happened at the party the leadership at the school takes the hockey player's side... but she is at that point thrilled not to be expelled, although her sentence might be worse she now has to work as the hockey players assistant (sharpening blades, filling up waters, clean up, washing jerseys) all while surviving the bullying and taunting that is now happening.

My heart went out to Sam she was put in a terrible situation and was trying to make the best of things in a world where the rich and powerful rule.  Throughout the book the lead characters lives all intertwine but for a good majority they are not "together" it is more of a love triangle (square?) until the last 5 or so chapters when things come together... *I will put a spoiler down below

All of these characters are dealing with their own hard times but over the course of the story you see Sam falling for each of the guys for different reasons.  There is a lot of family drama going on throughout this Alex's dad is the head of the school and he is shady and secretive.  Wanting to find out why she is even at the school Sam uncovers news to her that her mother went to this same college she never told her she went there and since she has passed she can't ask her any questions wanting to find out more she begins to investigate which leads down a rabbit hole of bad things that happened and were covered up but someone doesn't want Sam digging and when she begins to receive threats who is there for her... all 3 of these guys and if she's being honest with herself... and the guys when it comes down to it she can't let go of any of them.

I didn't really dislike any of the main characters but certain parts felt rushed especially the ending.  I only truly felt Sam developed a relationship naturally with Bryden as they built a friendship after being paired together in one of their classes for Alex and Kane it was more of a insta lust situation even though she did know Kane previously he went out of his way to not be friendly to her when she re-entered his life.  I appreciated the mystery in the story I just wish that that this section was built up better instead of being rushed towards the end of the book and I think that it could have been extended instead of having a spicy situation right after the big reveal of all of the information. 

I listened to this as an ALC and felt all of the narrators did a great job with their parts.  This one was just ok for me I feel that there was too much going on at the end which is another reason in how it felt really rushed to wrap everything up.

**Possible spoiler***

Kane knows and has known that he and Alex share the same father, the father has been paying for Kane's mother to be in an expensive mental health institution if he keeps quiet and doesn't announce that he is his illigitamet son.... two brothers being with the same girl at the same time and then in a relationship with her after I'm not a fan of this plot point... family shouldn't be getting that close, that parts a no for me.