I blame Netflix’s Virgin River series for cutting into my reading time the past week, but here’s what I’ve been reading and enjoying.
The Brimstone Inc. series by Abigail Owen–I swear Abigail Owen doesn’t ask me to buy or read or review her books, but I rocked through two of them in about a week.
This steamy paranormal romance series stems from Brimstone Inc., a supernatural corporation that solves magical problems while serving as a matchmaker on the side.
The first book in the series is a nymph and a demigod. It’s a forbidden lovers and a workplace romance with an Uber-rich boss who has a literal hero complex. Spoiler: It’s always a “gasp, one bed” romance which I’m a sucker for. By the end, you’ll be rooting for the heroine to have her happy ending in more than just the romance. But Ms. Owen plays it smart and gives us a satisfying all-around conclusion that had this Happily-Ever-After reader snapping up the next in the series.
The second book in the series is a couple introduced in the first book–two alpha wolf shifters who are trying to make an arranged marriage work while not losing either of their strong individual selves in the process. This one took me a little longer to get into but once I did, I was hooked. It has lots of action and the romantic escape we are all looking for even with the two leads recognizing that being a lasting couple takes work.
I’ve already bought the next in the series. It’s a witch in peril from the first book who moves into a home to work as a nanny to tween-aged triplet girls (?!?!!) with a single dad–who is the witch hunter investigating her. Can we all spot the huge potential for conflict already? I can’t wait to dig in for more.
Beautiful Bastard by Christina Lauren–I started this book a few months ago, and the whole boss-intern relationship had my management brain screaming, “Call HR.” I put it down and walked away from it. This time, I finished it in two days because while Chloe is an intern, she more than holds her own in this relationship. Plus, the writers (Christina Lauren is a writing team of two) deal with the power imbalance head-on which I appreciate. Although I’m still in shock at amount of money this intern spends on lingerie. So prepare to suspend realism and just go with it.
I love the anti-hero whose family chides him about his behavior as most of his alpha tendencies tend to be brought out by the heroine who he refers to as a “shrew.” Don’t worry. She has plenty of comeback for every single snarky comment he hurls at her. This is an enemies-to-lovers with the will-they-or-won’t-they push-and-pull that I love.
This is a super steamy contemporary romance read with the emotional depth to back it up. It is part of a series.