This Might Hurt

Continuing on a TBR/Beat-The-Backlog kick (and ignoring my ARCs kick). Here's "This Might Hurt" by Riley Nash.

["One second can change everything.

I met him on the worst day of my life—the desperate boy with a gun and the most brilliant smile I’d ever seen. We saved each other’s lives and then walked away, because a hitchhiking criminal and one of the richest men in the world can’t possibly be made for each other.

I’m a void, silenced by my power-hungry family and pushed into an arranged marriage like the obedient pawn I am. I’ve given up hoping for anything more.

He’s an uncontrolled explosion, a lost man with a shattered moral compass who would do anything for redemption. He refuses to give up hope, even if it breaks him.

So when I come up with a wild, impossible revenge plan, there’s only one person I look for. One person unhinged enough to say "yes" when I ask him to marry me and ruin my family’s business deal. He can teach a good boy how to do bad things. He already owns me, body and soul.

The problem is, we’re both too broken to know when to stop. Our hearts are damaged and possessive and foolish. Now that we’re in too deep, I realize we only have one chance to build the kind of love that rewrites the damage they passed down to us."]

Well that did hurt. It hurt many times and many ways, and I probably would have cried more if I had let myself. And the complicated part, it wasn't tragic, it wasn't overly sad, it wasn't trauma/triggers/baggage/grief. It was loneliness compounded with an aching hollowness and un-medicated mental spiciness. Which maybe hit a few too many of my personal lows. 

But these two found solstice in their missing, jagged pieces in the other. Those broken pieces matched each other. Their darknesses reached out to each other. They were able to carry each other's baggage and bandage each other's trauma. 

All the while messing up a few times. But the utter sweetness of it all. And codependent spice and probably toxic levels of cuddles.

The moment of clarity when they first met? How the universe shifted back into place? How their very souls rewrote themselves? All of the yes. 

Trigger Warnings: suicidal feelings and intent, untreated mood disorder, depression, anxiety, PTSD, unhealthy coping mechanisms, emotional abuse, past physical abuse, parental rejection/abandonment, intensive hospital care, threatening with a gun, irresponsible gun safety, verbal threats of violence, and more.

#thismighthurt #rileynash #books #queerbooks #queererotica #bodicerippers #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Candy Hearts: Volume 3 (an LGBTQIA2S+ Charity Anthology)

Here's Candy Hearts, an LGBTQIA2S+ Charity Anthology. This is the third volume. (All proceeds will benefit the Rainbow Railroad, which helps LGBTQIA2S+ people get to safety worldwide.)

["What’s sweeter than a low angst queer romance at Valentine’s Day? How about twenty-one of them in one anthology to help support a good cause?

Each novella in Candy Hearts, volume 3, is overflowing with red-hot romance and all the good feels. This volume is full of “meet-uglies” and bad first impressions. What’s more satisfying than a happily ever after that started on the wrong foot?"]

I haven't read the entirety of either anthology, instead choosing to focus on the authors I've read in the past; when I have time (ha!), I hope to go back and read the rest of the short stories from these anthologies! I read 45% of this book, including: "Always This," "Love Thy Neighbor," "Grounded," "The Weekend Boyfriend," "What the Heart Wants," "All I Want Is You," and "My Demon Boyfriend."

TO BE UPDATED SOON

Favorite Story: 

Favorite Relationship:

I Want More Of:

#candyhearts #candyheartsvolume3 #candyheartscharityanthology #books #queerbooks #queererotica #bodicerippers #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

The Lies of Omission (Without Limits #3)

Continuing on a TBR/Beat-The-Backlog kick (and ignoring my ARCs kick). Here's "The Lies of Omission" by Skyla Raines. It's the third novel in her Without Limits series. 

["Two men.
One forbidden love.
And a truth that could ruin them both—if it doesn’t set them free first.

Sinclair
Getting exiled to my aunt's country home and being disowned was supposed to be a punishment. My parents were sick of my parties, my hookups, my refusal to play the perfect son. So now I’m stuck working at some uptight country club, pretending I’m not falling apart inside. Then I meet Theo Astor—buttoned-up, ice-cold, and twelve years older. He acts like he’s better than me, like I’m just a reckless distraction. The way he looks at me says otherwise.
I didn’t mean to want him. I definitely didn’t mean to need him.
But once we start, I can’t stop. Even if I’m just a secret he’s ashamed of.

Theo
I’ve spent my entire life doing what’s expected. Running my family’s legacy, keeping up appearances, saying yes when I want to scream no. Then Sinclair Soul walks into my club—loud, messy, infuriating, beautiful. He challenges everything I’ve buried and makes me want things I’ve fought so hard to forget.
Unfortunately in my world, there are rules I must follow, prying eyes to avoid, and an engagement I didn’t choose.
I can’t have him. I shouldn’t even look at him.
But I do.
And once I touch him, it’s already too late."]

My fucking GOD! Why was this one worse than the last? Why was it more heartbreaking and more tragic and harder to swallow? Why did I cry (and sob) during most of it? 

The hurt-comfort-hurt was agonizing in execution. Theo had his reasons for being shut down and cold, keeping secrets and keeping his distance. But Sin, of all people, didn't deserve to be a secret, a shadow, a convenience, not after everything his parents did/said to him his whole life. That strong, loud, brazen man was broken by his life for Theo. Then again, Theo started off the book mostly broken.

But those last few chapters? When they finally accepted their feelings, themselves, and pushed for their own future? All of the horrible people got their karma? All of the okay people vowed to do better (and did better)? All of the good, honest, stand-by-your-side people go what was coming to them too? A cheesy as fuck, well-earned, romantic epilogue? Allll of the yes. 

Trigger Warnings: homophobia, mentions of conversion therapy, emotional child abuse, abandonment, manipulation, and more.

#thelieswetellourselves #thelieswebelieve #liesofomission #theliesoftemptation #skylaraines #withoutlimits #withoutlimitsseries #books #queerbooks #queererotica #bodicerippers #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

The Lies We Believe (Without Limits #2)

Continuing on a TBR/Beat-The-Backlog kick (and ignoring my ARCs kick). Here's "The Lies We Believe" by Skyla Raines. It's the second novel in her Without Limits series. 

["He was my safe place.

My protector.
My home.

River
Unwanted. Broken. Used.
I spent my childhood bouncing through foster care until I finally ran away, only to end up in the hands of a devil disguised in elegance. She promised me dreams spun in gold, but beneath the surface, they were nothing but sweet lies.
Now, I was trapped in a life where my worth was measured by others' desires, my screams unheard, my tears falling silently in the dark. The only thing stopping me from wishing it would all end was the thought of a boy from my past, the one with mismatched eyes—one like a clear summer’s sky, the other deep and shadowy like a forest. He was a fleeting spark of hope in a world that had none. A dream I never thought I’d hold on to.
The lies we clung to never came true... until they did. And when they did, they mocked us with their cruelty.

Bane
My world shattered the day my family was taken from me, plunging me into the foster system. I was lost and broken until I found solace in a boy with deep emerald eyes. He became my anchor, pulling me from the edge with his quiet smiles and steady presence. For two years, he was my everything, the one thing keeping me together.
After that loss, I vowed to make a difference—to fight for the innocent, protect the vulnerable, and bring justice to those who had none. I never thought the biggest case of my career would bring me face-to-face with the boy who had once seen straight through me. And I never expected the flood of emotion that would follow.
He was no longer the boy I remembered. He was hurt, broken, twisted by the cruelty of the world. I needed him for the case, but all I wanted was to shield him, to keep him for myself. I was torn between my duty to the greater good and the deep pull of a heart I didn’t even know I had."]

Well THAT was all kinds of painful. Like all kinda of painful. You start to feel like you can uncurl and let the blanket fall from your face a bit, and then booooom, more pain. So basically River, River's life, River's trauma, River's pain. The small bits of safety were Bane (and Shadow), but the life, the trauma, the pain, the reality (or the lies we believe (see what I did there)) demand attention. 

Which made their progress and their successes and their happily ever after all the more sweet.

Trigger Warnings: child abuse (mental, psychological, physical, sexual), abuse, mental health rep, panic attacks, suicidal ideation, loss of loved ones, sex work/trafficking, drug use, sexual assault/rape, stalking, physical assault, attempted murder, murder, manipulation, homophobia, and more.

#thelieswetellourselves #thelieswebelieve #liesofomission #theliesoftemptation #skylaraines #withoutlimits #withoutlimitsseries #books #queerbooks #queererotica #bodicerippers #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

The Lies We Tell Ourselves (Without Limits #1)

Continuing on a TBR/Beat-The-Backlog kick (and ignoring my ARCs kick). Here's "The Lies We Tell Ourselves" by Skyla Raines. It's the first novel in her Without Limits series. Because apparently, I'm also crossing off a lot of the bully-romance books I have TBRed. 

["𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝.
𝐌𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞.
𝐌𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬.

𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐞
ʙʀɪᴀʀ ᴜ ᴡᴀꜱ ᴍᴇᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴀ ꜰʀᴇꜱʜ ꜱᴛᴀʀᴛ, ᴀ ᴄʜᴀɴᴄᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴅɪꜱᴄᴏᴠᴇʀ ᴍʏꜱᴇʟꜰ ᴀᴡᴀʏ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴀꜱᴛ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ʜᴀᴜɴᴛᴇᴅ ᴍᴇ. ʙᴜᴛ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍ Qᴜɪᴄᴋʟʏ ʙᴇᴄᴀᴍᴇ ᴀ ɴɪɢʜᴛᴍᴀʀᴇ.
ᴏɴᴇ ɴɪɢʜᴛ. ᴏɴᴇ ᴘᴀʀᴛʏ. ᴏɴᴇ ᴛᴡɪꜱᴛᴇᴅ ꜱᴇɴꜱᴇ ᴏꜰ ꜰᴀᴛᴇ.
ᴀ ꜰʀᴇᴀᴋ ᴇɴᴄᴏᴜɴᴛᴇʀ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴏʏ ᴡʜᴏ ꜱᴛɪʟʟ ᴏᴡɴᴇᴅ ᴍʏ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛ ꜱᴇɴᴛ ᴍʏ ᴡᴏʀʟᴅ ꜱᴘɪɴɴɪɴɢ ᴏꜰꜰ ɪᴛꜱ ᴀxɪꜱ, ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ᴏꜰ ᴍʏ ʟɪꜰᴇ ʙᴇᴄᴀᴍᴇ ᴍʏ ᴇɴᴇᴍʏ ɪɴ ᴀ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛʙᴇᴀᴛ.

𝐃𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐧
ᴍʏ ʟɪꜰᴇ ᴡᴀꜱ ꜱɪᴍᴘʟᴇ: ᴛʀᴀɪɴ, ᴘʟᴀʏ, ᴀɴᴅ ᴡɪɴ. ᴏɴᴇ ᴍɪꜱꜱᴛᴇᴘ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ᴄᴀᴜꜱᴇ ᴍᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴅʀᴏᴡɴ ᴜɴᴅᴇʀ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ ᴏꜰ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴏɴᴇ'ꜱ ᴇxᴘᴇᴄᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴꜱ.
ᴀ ɢʜᴏꜱᴛ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ᴍʏ ᴘᴀꜱᴛ ʜᴏʟᴅꜱ ᴛʜᴇ ᴋᴇʏ ᴛᴏ ᴍʏ ʀᴜɪɴ, ᴀ ꜱᴇᴄʀᴇᴛ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴄᴀɴ ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ʙᴇ ʀᴇᴠᴇᴀʟᴇᴅ. ɪ ᴄᴀɴ'ᴛ ʟᴇᴛ ʜɪᴍ ᴅᴏ ᴛʜᴀᴛ.
ɪ'ʟʟ ʙᴇᴄᴏᴍᴇ ʜɪꜱ ᴡᴏʀꜱᴛ ɴɪɢʜᴛᴍᴀʀᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴋᴇᴇᴘ ᴍʏꜱᴇʟꜰ ꜱᴀꜰᴇ.
ᴇᴠᴇɴ ɪꜰ ɪᴛ ʙʀᴇᴀᴋꜱ ʙᴏᴛʜ ᴏꜰ ᴜꜱ."]

God, what a roller coaster. That was a beautiful mess of fear and meanness and fierce devotion and unbridled chemistry. They connected (reconnected) instantly, like they did all those years ago..until fear and anxiety got ahold of Dillion.

Jamie is a ray of fucking sunshine, for everyone and everything, except himself. He was resilient and brave and so fucking kind. 

Their journey back together wasn’t easy, sooo many people and circumstances got in the way, but it made them stronger.

Trigger Warnings: mental health rep, bullying, homophobia, off-page memories of domestic violence, memories of physical childhood abuse, drugging, kidnap, attempted murder, beating, violence, and more.

#thelieswetellourselves #thelieswebelieve #liesofomission #theliesoftemptation #skylaraines #withoutlimits #withoutlimitsseries #books #queerbooks #queererotica #bodicerippers #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Prince of the Barbarian (Not-So-Savage Barbarians #6)

Here's Amy Padilla's "Prince of the Barbarian." It's the fifth official novel in her Not-So-Savage Barbarians series.

["There’s always a point in someone’s life where they regret the decisions of their past. Take me for instance. I skipped my lessons as often as I could get away with, figuring I’d always have someone with me to translate or watch my back. As a prince of Al Nuzem, I was very rarely alone. But when one of my own guards stabbed me in the back and had me handed off to the barbarians, my inability to speak even the common tongue meant I couldn’t tell them I wasn’t what they thought. And no amount of fighting was going to get them to bring me home. Not until they learned to communicate with me. It wasn’t going to be the other way around. They’d learn eventually."]

I thought I would be annoyed with Zakai. Granted, he was a brat, but he had a good heart and just wanted to be loved and cared for and paid attention to. He wanted to be important and special to someone (and who doesn't?).

Uttin didn't know what he wanted, but it certainly wasn't a tribute who couldn't (wouldn't) talk while he was supposed to be training (and not sure if he wanted to be training) to take over the clan. Deep down, he want something of his, something he could call his own, something that no one else had (something that didn't necessarily come with loads of responsibility).

Together, they were adorable as hell. Fitting together perfectly, matching each other in ways they didn't know they needed. 

And this book was the PERFECT ending to an absolutely perfect series. Sweet and sassy, filled with all kinds of new loves and found family, new alliances and new homes on the horizon. Not to mention that last chapter (what's better revenge than living your best life (okay...torture/murder with a semi-villainous monologue is close)). 

#theunexpectedbarbarian #thebarbarianstribute #savedbyabarbarian #seduingabarbarian #thebarbariansclaim #thephysiciansbarbarian #thebarbarianprince #notsosavagebarbarians #notsosavagedbarbariansseries #amypadilla #books #queerbooks #queererotica #bodicerippers #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Goodbye, January!

January was a blur of cold and wind and snow and more cold. Also, Christmas seems aggges ago.

2026 Resolutions:
     (1) Don't stop reading
            (b) Complete Monthly Reading Challenge(s)
     (2) Make memories
     (3) Share love of books/reading
     (4) Be kinder to myself

(1) Book's Read This Month: 48.

    (b) Monthly Reading Challenge(s): Shape = Capricorn. Got some A-Z stuff recorded. Some ARCs. Got a lot of Beat The Backlog done.

(2) January Memories: I saw Clue at the theater (sooo good!) and dinner with my mama, my grandma, and my aunt. Cleaned my grandma's. So many record breaking cold days. SO much snow (like sooo much). A looot of read though, a lot a lot.

(3) Posts this month (including this one): 46.

(4) Quite a few days of telling myself I'll get up at a decent time and then sleeping in; my bed it just so warm and the world is cold and mean. A few depressive moments, but nothing crazy. The reading helped. My anxiety was high, trying to juggle so very many, many work projects and life and weather. Lots of self-care moments (I made some lego flowers today).

Anyone still holding onto their resolutions?

Any exciting February reads? Any existing 2026 reads?
Anything I should check out?

#newyearsresolutions #goodbyejanuary #hellofebruary #hello2026 #dontstopreading #makememories #shareloveofbooks #shareloveofreading #bekindertomyself #books #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks