Horse Talk Reviews

A look at the kevin's upcoming ARCs for August and a sneak peek at September's reads! Some already read and reviewed, others yet to be opened.  image credit: Vanessa Stockard ARCs releasing in August A Coup of Tea by Casey Blair (Tea Princess Chronicles #1) Expected publication: August 2nd, 2022 Categories: Romance, Fantasy, Young Adult, MF From the publisher: When the fourth princess of Istalam is due to dedicate herself to a path serving the crown, she makes a choice that shocks everyone, herself most of all: She leaves. In hiding and exiled from power, Miyara finds her place running a tea shop in a struggling community that sits on the edge of a magical disaster zone. But there's more brewing under the surface of this city—hidden magic, and hidden machinations—that threaten all the people who've helped her make her own way. Miyara may not be a princess anymore, but with a teapot in hand she'll risk her newfound freedom to discover a more meaningful kind of power.

Contract Season by Cait Nary My rating: 5 of 5 stars I really enjoyed this book. It was fun and the characters were very well developed. They both had their own lives and worlds outside of each other. I mean, one is a country music artist and the other is a hockey player so it's too be expected, but it's so easy for romance books to forget about the rest of the characters lives and only focus on them together. I appreciated the book allowing both characters to develop as separate people. And even with this, the story still focused on them and the slow burn relationship development. The fake relationship was excellent too. It wasn't a super typical set up like for a high school reunion or because a great grandpa required the recipient to be married to get the money or whatever which made it interesting. The build up from the initial hook up, to them being outed, to using the contractual fake relationship to protect their careers seemed wil

Fangscreen by Ellen Mint My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is a lighthearted story about a moody, grumpy, socially awkward vampire stuck on a sunny island and a himbo dude he meets there. It is a silly, fun, all-vibes-no-thoughts book that really surprised me with how much I enjoyed it. This story is told from a single POV, the one of Jareth, the vampire MC. His voice is very particular and uses a lot of overtly flowery prose, kind of a parody of how you'd imagine a Victorian-era vampire would talk. It was a little jarring at first but I got used to it quickly, and the dry humor of it made for a lot of fun quotes. This book was honestly funny without trying too hard. The first few chapters are a little slow, but the pace does pick up a lot. Even then, I was charmed from the beginning, which surprised me, because I've been having difficulty getting into books recently. I think a big part of the charm of this book is that it's not pretending to

The Runaway by Laura Taylor My rating: 4 of 5 stars Another solid entry in this series. I appreciate the author's attempts to create interesting parts to the omegaverse world they created. In this book there is mention of the existence of omega baby farms? So interesting (and kind of messed up). The romance in this book was very sweet as well with two characters who were really struggling with the abuse of omegas and how they could change the world they live in. It got kind of messy in the last 25% of the book with points of view from a side couple I wasn't particularly interested in and way too much focus away from the primary characters and their relationship. If this was handled differently it would be a much better book. But even with this main couple was worth struggling through the end. Highly recommend the series to anyone who is interested in omegaverse world building. View all my reviews

Results: regret. I actually filled out the board twice for fun, once for only June books, and once for all of my 2022 reads. Behold, the evidence of my suffering: June Bingo Blackout A blackout of mistakes read in June, most specifically for the board.  The list of books and their corresponding squares, from left to right: Top row:   dark erotica everyone pretends is romance ( Binding Breath by Adara Wolf ) - lets be real, Wolf doesn't actually write romances but I pretend anyway try a new author, bonus points if they're queer ( Castle of Bones by M. Kato ) give an author a second chance and deeply regret your life choices ( Dancing in Darkness by Alice Winters ) - I do not like Alice Winters and this was a horrible experience detailed (or strange) omega biology ( Ugly by Roe Horvat ) - lots of womb fucking why is there a baby on the cover? ( His First Family by Victoria Sue ) - three babby! Second row:  unusual genitalia ( Jack Addison vs. Man Ravishing Spider by KA Merikan )

Violent Desire by Ariana Nash My rating: 2 of 5 stars I liked most of the Ariana Nash stuff I've read, and I even really liked some of her books. I was super excited for this one. I've been dying for a darker vampire romance with some fun action plot. Sadly, this wasn't it, and I'm still unsure if it's a me thing, considering the expectations I had for this book. Firstly, holy shit, the instalove. I'm already not a fan of this trope, but this particular brand of insta-love lacks so much finesse and... romance, honestly. I couldn't feel the connection between them at all. They barely spend any time together before being ready to die for each other. It's a lot of telling and not showing, because most of the book is spent world-building. Speaking of, the premise is interesting, I will give it that, but even the vampire plot is weighed down by a lot of info-dumping and a weak villain. I could see the action parts getting m

These are the books I read from July 15th to July 22nd! His Secret Omega Co-ed by Ava Beringer 3 stars Omegaverse mpreg fluff. Had some weird pacing and way too many reference-style jokes but overall enjoyable. I do have suspicions the book is a vehicle for the author's platform against the pharmaceutical industry, though. Redemption of a Slave by Laura Taylor 4 stars A bit heavier of an omegaverse mpreg book with slavery and assault and omegas are not treated well at all in this universe. It had some very interesting takes on the omegaverse biology including making an actual use for betas! The romance was very sweet and slowburn. Medium brow omegaverse. Playing for Keeps by Beth Bolden DNF 41% No Rating OK I was totally going along with this book even if it was looking to be a 3 star at best read but then there was a scene where the two MCs and one of the MCs dads end up in the steam room naked together and have a *serious* talk. In the steam room! While naked! A dad and

The Wrong Rake by Eliot Grayson My rating: 3 of 5 stars 3 stars. This was a short mostly vibes not much plot book. The beginning read like the author had found a fun historical vocabulary list and used all of them but after a bit I either got used to the writing or there were less of these words and it got much easier to go with the vibes. Also, for being so short it was very steamy! I did like the vibes but overall the book didn't do anything new or memorable. I received an ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own. View all my reviews

The High King's Golden Tongue by Megan Derr My rating: 4 of 5 stars Horse rating: 🐴🐴.5 of 5 horses An entertaining high fantasy read with a romance (subplot? plot?). The world building was very well done - detailed and rich. I enjoyed the main characters and the more critical secondary characters a lot, with their distinct personalities. There were too many other characters for me to handle though. Especially combined with locations and titles, I got lost pretty quick. I fuzzed out like 90% early on because I assumed they were there for color (showing how adept Allen is) but then some came back and I was ?? ...well whatever, I enjoyed it anyway. It was less political intrigue and more political maneuvering at times. Which is fine, it was a fun read. Overall, it was a well written book with an engaging story and sweet romance. The High King's Golden Tongue on Amazon View all my reviews

Mad About You by Mhairi McFarlane My rating: 3 of 5 stars 2.5 stars rounded up First off, it should be noted the romance in this book was limited to approximately 2 chapters out of the 57 total in the book. Do not go into this book expecting a very romantic book as you will be disappointed. What the book does offer is a reflection on relationships one has throughout their life and how they can affect you. Family, friend, romantic, roommate/tenant, even employee/employer is explored in some way. The strongest part of the book, for me, was when the women who had the same emotionally abusive ex as Harriet (the main character) found each other and took down the ex publicly. I would have massively preferred the story end here but it DIDN'T. I was perfectly OK accepting the written out "hahaha"s and the ghosts of boyfriends past stuff until the very end when a romance was shoved in at the last minute. I would have even been OK with the romanc

The Barony Bet by Kai Butler My rating: 3 of 5 stars Horse rating: 0 of 5 horses I'm a sucker for pining/unrequited best friends to lovers, so I had to try this. Plus a fake relationship. Catnip! Unfortunately this still felt shallow to me. I never quite felt all the pining/emotions that Asta had for Deva, and the turnaround/realization Deva had was too simple for me. Or too easy? Not enough emotion!! More feels!!! That's what I'm after with this trope combo. There were a few times it got close but overall, not really. This had a slow start, setting up a lot of the world and character background, and only really got started at around 30%. The writing I thought was a little awkward as well, I think in its attempts to maintain a historical sort of feel it ended up being stilted. Overall, it was an enjoyable read, fairly surface but neither great nor terrible. The Barony Bet on Amazon   View all my reviews

Redemption of a Slave by Laura Taylor My rating: 4 of 5 stars I've read a lot of omegaverse and mpreg in my life so when an author can give me something new it's always a treat. The world of Redemption of a Slave had a fairly typical dynamic where alphas are in charge, omegas are the very bottom of the class system, and betas are somewhere in between. What was new were the slight changes to how the biology of alphas, omegas, and betas worked. It was enough to make it feel totally unique. I especially enjoyed how important betas are to the whole omegaverse ecosystem. The reveals of the biology quirks came up in an organic way too which was nice. Biology and world building aside, the romance in this book was very sweet and very slow burn. The omega main character had gone through a lot so the time and space between the two main characters felt necessary for the romance to develop and made it more believable instead of having a magical healing

His Secret Omega Co-ed by Ava Beringer My rating: 3 of 5 stars A solid 3 star omegaverse mpreg book. With a cover like that 3 stars is exactly correct. It was enjoyable enough even though I have a suspicion it was a vehicle for the author's stance on the pharmaceutical industry. In my fluffy mpreg??? Yikes. The pacing was a bit all over the place with huge time jumps and then suddenly a very detailed description of the omega's heat and then more time jumps. What the book chose to gloss over and what it chose to describe in excruciating detail was a bit weird. The romance between the two main characters was cute. The dramatic past and secret omega stuff kinda dragged on and on. And there were way too many "jokes" and "references" and other cringe nonsense in the dialogue. So yep 3 stars. View all my reviews

Fire Season by K.D. Casey My rating: 4 of 5 stars This was the second baseball book I read by KD Casey and of the two (Unwritten Rules, and this one, Fire Season) Fire Season is the more accessible and traditional romance. The baseball is less important to the main characters - it's still really important since it's their whole job, but it's not nearly the same level as Unwritten Rules - and the baseball is easier to understand. The romance isn't as melancholy or dense and is a straightforward domestic slowburn. While these might be good things to other readers, I find KD Casey's writing style suited for a dense story and the simple romance and less focus on baseball in Fire Season made it the weaker book of the two. I'm trying not to compare the books so much but I read them really closely together so I can't help it. Some things I thought were done well was the integration of the ex-wife character without making her a v

Contract Season by Cait Nary My rating: 4 of 5 stars Horse rating: 🐴 of 5 horses ARC difficulty: escalator Expected publication: September 6th 2022 This was a fun slightly-non-typical fake relationship story, and I really enjoyed the emotions that were present on page. Some unorganized thoughts: • There are no lyrics in this book! Thank all the gods, alive and dead, there are no written out lyrics. The author instead focuses on showing the emotions evoked by the songs played, especially when its Sea playing the song. We get to see how Sea feels, and how Brody is affected by the songs which is what I like to see in general. Emotions!! So this was awesome. • Homophobia, while present given the whole pro-athlete/country star setup, was not an overwhelming presence. It was there, it caused them issues, but it was not a Theme of the book and I appreciated that. • I did not read the first book, and this read just fine on its own. Cameo by the first books couple is brief. • I

My reads for the week of July 9-15! A mixed bag. Contract Season by Cait Nary ARC 4/5 This was a lovely fake relationship book between a hockey player and a country musician star. It was more …sedate? than my typical experience with fake relationships and musician stories, much more smooth emotional arc. I really enjoyed it. And there were no lyrics!!! None at all!!!!! just feels. Whit by Cora Rose Kindle Unlimited 4/5 I didn’t expect to like this one so much! Caleb is just a total himbo and it was very cute seeing him attempt to understand his obsession/attraction to Whit, and Whit dealing with this giant dumbass golden retriever of a person. Very cute and sweet. The writing was choppy at the beginning but it smoothed out. Jack Addison vs a Pack of Horny Werewolves and Jack Addison vs Centaur Pimps by KA Merikan Kindle Unlimited 4/5 both Story 3 and 4 in this serial. Fun, monsterfucking, starting to get emotional development going now too! Very curious where it’ll all go.

A Coup of Tea by Casey Blair My rating: 4 of 5 stars Horse rating: 🐴 of five horses ARC difficulty: walking bridge Expected publication: August 2nd 2022 This is a lovely little YA story of a princess finding her own way and building a found family in the process. It is reminiscent of Tamora Pierce for me, very nostalgic since I grew up on those kinds of fantasy stories. As other reviewers have noted, this is a very earnest story, and I think it works well for its genre. It has some very nice rep without being an information pamphlet or feeling performative. I think it has good messages, even as it is delivered a little blatantly. “Not all witches are women,” I say automatically. Our current understanding is that all witches are born with female reproductive organs, but that isn’t the same.   Plotwise, it has a fun adventure/fantasy plot with the requisite mean villain who is a little two dimensional. It has very nice descriptions, maybe a little heavy on them at ti

Whit by Cora Rose My rating: 4 of 5 stars This was really adorable! I loved Caleb - such a total himbo. He was so needy and cute and just a dingdong and it made it such a fun read. He was just so sweetly dense. I liked that he had a supportive and helpful family without them being obnoxiously overinvolved. He raises an eyebrow, and I feel myself blush slightly. God, this guy makes me feel like a fool for just existing. Whit was great too - him getting adopted by Whits family so easily was very sweet. The writing was pretty choppy at the beginning, but it did smooth out later. It did also get a little sex heavy later on, which left it a little imbalanced and I would have liked more focus on emotion but it was still a good read. I think this is one of those books where it could have stayed single POV and done just fine - I felt like I was getting to know Whit through Caleb's POV very well, and the occasional Whit POV felt a little out of place. That's also per

True North by Corey Kerr My rating: 4 of 5 stars A delightful little book once we got past the trash eating problem bear phase. A phase which lasted a huge chunk of the book really. The beginning read like someone's daily log of activities they did with sentences like "JT worked out and had lunch with friends and came back and the bear was eating garbage in his driveway again." (this sentence was not from the book but it may as well have been). Once either I got used to the writing or the book stopped doing that (I couldn't tell you which it was) it got way better! Less garbage was eaten, more cute romance caretaking was occurring, more quiet domesticity at a summer lake house was vibing. There was also a LOT of dramatique running away into the woods to be a bear because being a human is Hard or whatever and a (view spoiler) that amounted to absolutely nothing except more dramatiques. With less garbage and less dramatiques this wo

Fangscreen by Ellen Mint My rating: 3 of 5 stars I didn't expect much from this book and it sure delivered! Fairly lighthearted and silly = I mean, it's a romance between a vampire living in a beach house and some guy he meets while chasing partyers off his property. I also can't tell if I just didn't have the attention span to read a book from a vampire's fancy point of view or if the book was confusingly written but there were some parts where I just did not understand what was happening but skimming those and moving on didn't detract from the overall book. Anyway! A solid 3 star silly paranormal beach read for the undead. Oh, and most importantly, there is actually vampire sunscreen in the book so the title is accurate to the contents! SPF 2000 sunscreen for vampires! View all my reviews

Silk Fire by Zabé Ellor My rating: 1 of 5 stars Horse rating: -∞ out of 5 horses ARC difficulty: actual curse Expected publication: July 5th 2022 DNF at 7% I was very intrigued by the blurb - a sci-fi fantasy story, with political intrigue and a queer love story?? Sign me up! I don’t read enough SFF these days. Alas, this was a stinker. This is actually pretty hard to review, because I was so incredibly lost the entire time. Honestly, I mostly recommend that you read  this review by dathomira on goodreads as its far better explanation of how bad this book is.  The names Right off the bat, we get a pronunciation guide on names. Just names, no context. Who are these people? Are these titles? How do they relate to each other? Knowing how to pronounce these doesn’t help me at all. On top of that, they are impossible to keep straight. Fantasy character names always end up a bit goofy, but these are long and complex to the point of my eyes glazing over. They don’t register, t

Too Hot to Touch by Katy James My rating: 4 of 5 stars 3.5 stars rounded up This book was a bit of a mixed bag for me. I enjoyed a lot about it such as the creating community, the emotional journey the male main character went on with his sexuality, the fact the diverse sexuality came from the male main character (super uncommon in straight romance!), the inclusion of updates on the couple from the previous book without it being shoehorned in, and how divergent the personalities of the two main characters were and how they tried to make it work. There was also a lot that gave me pause. For example, the female main character is teaching a college course, albeit a non credit course, and never stopped to consider the ethical implications of involving herself with one of her students even if they did sort of know each other already. I don't mind that it was a student/teacher hook up initially but this wasn't even used as a titillating setup it

This included the tail end of Discord bingo for pride month , which involved a lot of regret. Books I finished Bound to Two Bears by Kelex free, 1/5 sweet embrace of death this was for Bad Lube square (mud), and the bears were extreme dub con?? it was pretty messed up honestly. Learning the Ropes by RJ Moray  Kindle Unlimited no rating for the Diagram square (shibari). no rating because I don’t like anything about this setup or this authors writing lmao Brother Dear and Brother Mine by R Phoenix smash words, 3/5 both Fun not-romance dark bonkers stuff. Twincest. The writing style didn’t really work for me, which I think made the story fall a little less fun. I did like the ending a lot, very creative and unique. Consequences of Crying by Abigail Kade Kindle Unlimited 2/5 Still haven’t learned my lesson about multi author series, but this one is such a neat premise (fairytales!!). This sucked. I should have DNFd but i was curious about the plot and jumped to the end to se

I said May was a bad month for DNF books, and somehow I ended up with even more in June. Probably a combo of bingo poor life choices , and also a midsummer reading slump.  Well, if you never try new things you never win? I guess? But wait! Bonus time! Two books I finished but hated so much I gave one star to - usually my one stars are reserved for DNFs, but these are special.  One star: Ugly by Roe Horvat My review on Goodreads I'd heard a lot of great things about Horvat and his omegaverse, so I thought it was about time for me to try one of his books. Deep regret does not even begin to cover my decision to read this. I was told it was sappy and emotional, but for me I saw no actual believable emotional connection. I felt like the book wanted to interpret relentless dick into feelings and I could not buy into that. The alleged bond is 100% heat hormone based, and that is not enough for me here since there's nothing else to build on. Zero sap. The only actual bond here is Ma