Lex (Unexpected #5)

Catching up on a series you started a while ago counts as Beat the Backlog and TBRs (it does). Here's Cora Rose's "Lex." It's the fifth novel in her Unexpected series.

["Some people come into your life with the power to challenge everything you thought you knew about yourself.

Lex is chaos personified.
He’s strange and alluring. Unpredictable and unique.
He drives me wild in a way I’ve never experienced.
I’ve never felt desire like this and now I find myself craving his touch and wanting him more than I’ve ever wanted anyone.
I know I shouldn’t trust him though.
Lex wants something from me and my family.
He watches me through hidden cameras, stalking me like prey.
But his voyeurism excites me. I want him to watch me, catch me, consume me.
I am his obsession and he is my madness.
And together, our absurdity somehow makes perfect sense."]

Lex is even more fucking unhinged in his own book than he evvvver was in the previous books. He's snarky and insane and soooooo soft when no one is looking. So of course, when he finds mr-buttoned-up-virgin-accountant, he falls in love. I mean, who else is good enough for our Lex (and Cora mentioned many times in the beginning of this book about the copious amounts of wine she drunk while writing Lex..which makes a lot of sense). His (not exact) quote of the day: "I didn't have parents. I never learned to share" (in correlation to William and...just William (okay, and Brenda)).

And that one plot twist (that, I mean, sure, we all saw coming) was soooooo not okay. I haven't cried like that in a long time. Rude.

To reiterate, Lex is (a lovable) crazy-person. And he keeps claiming that Diablo is worse, which, okay, he is (I can't fucking wait for Diablo's book--especially if this is where the connection is to the Unexpectedly Twisted series (I looooove me some dark romance))).

Trigger Warnings: foster care, past parental neglect/abuse, stalking (not the mutually consensual kind), loss, and more.

#whit #sem #emery #luke #lex #colin #diablo #ben #unexpected #unexpectedseries #unexpectedlytwistedseries #corarose #books #queerbooks #queererotica #bodicerippers #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Luke (Unexpected #4)

Catching up on a series you started a while ago counts as Beat the Backlog and TBRs (it does). Here's Cora Rose's "Luke." It's the fourth novel in her Unexpected series.

["They say love comes from the most unexpected places; I found mine hiding in my bushes from the cops.

My life before Luke was a carefully structured routine. It was predictable and organized, just the way I like it. Some would call it boring, but I call it smart self-preservation, and if there’s one thing that could threaten to bring it all crashing down, it’s Luke van Beek.
He swept into my world like a tropical cyclone, all hot and chaotic, and tore down my safeguards.

Now I can’t seem to rid myself of this charming, larger-than-life, ridiculous man. He’s invaded my personal space, my mind, and my bed.

He’s tempting me in ways I haven’t been tempted before and I’m going to have to teach him a lesson about what happens to naughty boys when they misbehave.

But can my last remaining boundary, the wall I’ve built around my heart, withstand the man who lives to break all the rules? Either way, it seems, my life after Luke will never be the same."]

I gotta say, I fucking love the van Beek boys. They're chaotic and messy, but they're loyal as fuck and fierce protectors. Even if they have a penitence for fire and explosions and going-to-fast vehicles they built themselves (no one said they were sane...or refined). But Elliott's sisters weren't all that better. ;)

And I LOOOOVE the brief glimpses we got of Elliot and Luke in the previous book (all of the previous books had moments of tease for upcoming relationships, but this one was something else). Their meet-not-cute in here was perfect and totally them.

These two were beautiful. A mix of Sem/Mag and Caleb/Whit. But all their own. Beautiful and devastating and supportive as fuck. It was glorious. Even though I cried (quite a lot). 

Trigger Warnings: brief mentions of transphobia, gaslighting/toxic ex, and more.

#whit #sem #emery #luke #lex #colin #diablo #ben #unexpected #unexpectedseries #unexpectedlytwistedseries #corarose #books #queerbooks #queererotica #bodicerippers #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Emery (Unexpected #3)

Catching up on a series you started a while ago counts as Beat the Backlog and TBRs (it does). Here's Cora Rose's "Emery." It's the third novel in her Unexpected series.

["I know this is wrong, but I can’t help myself when it comes to him.
My mom deserves to be happy after losing my dad to tragedy over a decade ago. But her blissful new relationship comes with a catch.
His name is Emery, my new stepbrother, and he’s the most infuriating, impulsive, chaotic, and strangely intriguing man I’ve ever met.
I’ve managed to avoid him for a year but then on our way to our parents’ cabin, we get lost alone in the snowy mountains of Utah.
That’s when pretenses and boundaries between us start to slip and fall away as we focus on survival. I begin to see the charming and sweet man he is. And maybe all the wild and ridiculous things about him that used to irritate me, are what make him truly perfect."]

I'm sooo obsessed with step-brother romances. One of my top favorite romance tropes. Especially when it's as explosive as these two. And so fucking sad. 

This series has a formatting theme that the title character doesn't get all that many POV chapters (though this one did have a lot), but the ones they do get are incredibly insightful (and heartbreaking). When we met Emery in the last book, I knew he'd made me sob. He deserves sooooooo much (at least August finally sees that as well).

When you expect to cry when character E gets their heartbroken, but you don't expect to outright sob when character A get's their heartbroken. Thank you, Cora. Also, Cora said this story started out darker, and I'm not here for it (this had plenty of dark ass emotions, thank you very much).

Trigger Warnings: brief mention of past sexual abuse, parental neglect, foster care system, PTSD, anxiety, and more.

#whit #sem #emery #luke #lex #colin #diablo #ben #unexpected #unexpectedseries #unexpectedlytwistedseries #corarose #books #queerbooks #queererotica #bodicerippers #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Sem (Unexpected #2)

Catching up on a series you started a while ago counts as Beat the Backlog and TBRs (it does). Here's Cora Rose's "Sem." It's the second novel in her Unexpected series.

["Sometimes your dream guy isn’t who you think he is.

Sem has been stalking me for months. He shows up everywhere I am and lurks in the background, his eyes always on me. I don’t understand his fascination with me, but he won’t leave me alone.
He’s definitely not my type. He’s too big, too reckless, and too feral.
But then one night he breaks into my apartment and dares me to do something crazy and I can’t say no.
Then I do it again. And again.
Now it seems we’re both addicted to this secret little game.
But when I begin to see the man beneath the brutish exterior, will falling in love prove to be the most reckless bet yet?"]

These two were something else. It was animosity and dares to heart-eyes all around. It wasn't easy for them (it might have been with a little more communication), and everyone saw how in love they were, but it took some time to get on the same page. And me almost crying. Again. 

And once again, Sem's few POV chapters were heartbreaking and beautiful.

Trigger Warnings: bullying, homophobic language, mild violence, and more.

#whit #sem #emery #luke #lex #colin #diablo #ben #unexpected #unexpectedseries #unexpectedlytwistedseries #corarose #books #queerbooks #queererotica #bodicerippers #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Whit (Unexpected #1)

Catching up on a series you started a while ago counts as Beat the Backlog and TBRs (it does). Here's Cora Rose's "Whit." It's the first novel in her Unexpected series.

["Straight guys don’t have crushes on other dudes, right?

Except my roommate, Whit, is intriguing, and I find myself watching him constantly. He’s a mystery I can’t figure out. And these feelings I’m having about him are confusing.
Then, one night, I find myself wrapped around him, and after that, I can't get enough.
But Whit has secrets. He doesn’t let people in, and the more I fall for him, the less I know.
I can't let him go, though.
Until I realize I’m going to be the one broken at the end of our story."]

I looooove dual POVs because you get the full-picture, but I also reallly love single-character POV books, because you can infer what the other person is feeling/thinking, but you don't know for sure (and the narrator sure as fuck doesn't know--at least with many of these single-character POVs (Caleb (the adorable himbo he is) didn't know what he was feeling let alone what Whit was feeling)). It adds to the suspense, but it also adds to the humor (and angst--curse the angst). And the very few Whit POV chapters we do get? They eviscerate my heart. 

And these two eviscerated my heart. I sobbed, quite a lot actually. 

This romance was as beautiful as it was heartbreaking. I can't wait for more. 

Trigger Warnings: mentions of depression, self harm, suicide attempts/ideation, past child abuse, manipulative parents, and more.

#whit #sem #emery #luke #lex #colin #diablo #ben #unexpected #unexpectedseries #unexpectedlytwistedseries #corarose #books #queerbooks #queererotica #bodicerippers #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Dared (LSU #4)

Catching up on a series you started a while ago counts as Beat the Backlog and TBRs (it does). Here's Becca Steele's "Dared." It's the fourth book in her LSU series.

["When I discovered that my online gaming friend was Leo Evans, a student from my university, I had no idea how much my life would change.

On paper, we’re complete opposites.
He’s a shy computing student and I’m an outgoing footballer.
Yet there’s an undeniable connection between us.

Despite our differences, he’s become my closest friend, and I'm on a mission to make him see himself the way I see him.
So I’ve been daring him to do things to get him out of his comfort zone, to prove to himself that he’s capable of so much more than he thinks he is.

Then…Leo turns the tables on me.
He dares me to kiss him.
It’s supposed to be for practice.
But then it happens again.
And again.

It started with a dare.
It wasn’t supposed to turn into something more…"]

I kept seeing ads for this book, which prompted me to catch up on the series itself. Oh, boy. I saw the ads and teaser quotes and the tropes, but I was NOT prepared for this. For Leo and Finn. Holy shit; these two.

These two were utterly fucking perfect for each other. Their friendship was deep and strong and powerful as hell. And when they moved on to spicy dares?! Holy fucking hell. The heat level of these two was off the charts (even if they didn't talk about the status change of their friendship).

Trigger Warnings: social anxiety, panic attacks, and more.

#collided #blindsided #sidelined #unwrapped #ignited #tempted #dared #matched #lsu #lsuseries #beccasteele #books #queerbooks #queererotica #bodicerippers #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Tempted (LSU #3.5)

Catching up on a series you started a while ago counts as Beat the Backlog and TBRs (it does). Here's Becca Steele's "Tempted." It's a part of her LSU series.

["When Bennett Archer walked into my favourite nightclub, celebrating his promotion to London Southwark University’s first team, he immediately caught my eye.

Since then I haven’t been able to get him out of my mind.
On paper, we’re complete opposites. I’m flamboyant and assertive, while he’s laid-back and reserved. His hobby is football, and mine is showing my body to my online subscribers.

But there’s something about him. Something I want to pursue. So I decide to show up at his football match and make it clear that I’m interested in him.

I know I can be too much for some people, but am I too much for him?
I can tell he’s tempted by me…but will he give in to his curiosity?"]

I haaaaate how much I relate to the characters who feel as if they're "too much." It's sooooo fucking relatable. At least Bennett disagrees with Niccolò's self-assessment. And, sure, Nic is a drama queen, but he’s sweet and hilarious and genuine.

I was obsessed with Niccolò in the previous book, and I'm SO glad that he got his very own (quirky and flirty and perfect) HEA here. Now on to adorable Leo's!

#collided #blindsided #sidelined #unwrapped #ignited #tempted #dared #matched #lsu #lsuseries #beccasteele #books #queerbooks #queererotica #bodicerippers #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks