tab_reads's reviews
814 reviews

3⭐️ 3.5🌶️
MOOD: adventurous, tense
TROPES: virgin main character, age gap, student/professor
VIBES: why choose, dark(-ish) academia, sibling rivalry, demonology
GENRES: fantasy/paranormal, monster romance, college/academy
FAV QUOTE: Okay. Clear path forward. Honesty. Appeal to her hormones. Be a psychopath.

MAIN CHARACTERS: Lila Denton, Adrian Karras, Marcus Emery, Ceto Arya

I wanted to like this one more than I did.  I had to go back and look at the BookSirens description (which matches the good reads description) to figure out why I wanted to read it because for most of the book it felt like nothing happened - no plot movement, no character development (particularly with Lila), or relationship growth - and this was the book I wanted to read so much that I had to go back and read Zodiac Hybrids first. This is probably not the series for me which is really disappointing. 

THE GOOD: The best part of this story/series is still the lore & world. Adrian, Marcus, and Ceto are still the most interesting characters and I wonder what it'd be like not to have a fourth main character since she very much feels like a stand in for the reader (but not in a good way most of the time). The new pieces of that were great. Unfortunately, almost everything thing else was lacking. 
THE NEUTRAL: I was expecting more Ceto. I also thought there would be more months/moons especially given that it was laid out what happens during full moons in the first book. The first 60% of this story felt like filler. What we learn about Aiden & Marcus as kids was interesting but didn't really add to what is happening in the present in a way that moved the plot or added to their relationship(s). There was even an author's note that the book was longer than planned and that's not always a good thing. I'm not a fan of love triangles and the why choose elements definitely fell into that type of element - more so in this book than in the first one.
THE MEH: Lila wearing shapewear/restrictive underwear felt ridiculous after everything that happened in book one. Her relationship with her body was fine in the first book, not great but fine so for that to appear repeatedly in the second book was weird. It's mentioned in the first book that she packed some and she wore it once (and it was ruined) then it's not mentioned again. There were also a few times when fairly defined characters acted in a way that seemed outside their character and that was annoying but maybe had a reason? 

CW: sexual content, dubious consent, public sex, manipulation/mind games
DISCLAIMER: I received an advance review copy. This is my honest review.

4⭐️ 3🌶️
MOOD: lighthearted, mysterious, adventurous
TROPES: bi-awakening, instalust, instalove, hurt/comfort(lite)
GENRES: Contemporary, Action/Adventure, LGBTQ+

MAIN CHARACTERS: Matthew Bauer and Kieran Stevenson

THE GOOD: The overall mystery is engaging. For the most part, the main characters and side characters have distinct personalities. The dynamic between Matthew and Kieran comes across as both humorous and sincere and they do mesh well together. I do like a quick, engaging, and low-angst read every now and then and J.F. Miev delivers that :)
THE NEUTRAL: While I enjoyed this story, I didn't enjoy it as much as the first book in the series Who Said Mobsters Were Scary?- this one somehow felt more ridiculous and over the top. The writing also felt a little unbalanced. I expected a slower burn in regards to the romance but the plot also moved unevenly (more so in than in the first book) the first 60-70% of the book it felt like not much was going on and then everything was resolved fairly quickly in the last quarter. I was also expecting Kieran to be a little older until he was designated as 24 just given his involvement in the CIA.
THE MEH: I was expecting instalust I wasn't expecting instalove so that threw me a little. I also walked my dog in Alley Pond Park so I wasn't expecting that location to pop-up, not necessarily bad but it broke my suspension of disbelief for a moment to get so specific when there aren't any other specific locations in Queens mentioned.

Sidenote: It is mentioned that you can read this as a standalone but I wouldn't recommend it.

CW: sexual content, violence, gun violence, death, death of parents, panic attacks, flashbacks related to trauma (non-graphic), voyeurism (light)
DISCLAIMER: I received an advance review copy. This is my honest review.

3⭐️ 2.5🌶️
MOOD: adventurous, challenging, sad, tense
TROPES: virgin main character, 
GENRES: fantasy/paranormal, monster romance, college/academy


MAIN CHARACTERS: Lila Denton, Adrian Karras, Marcus Emery, Ceto Arya (introduced)

I had a really hard time rating this. I was going to give it a 3.5 but it didn't match another book that I recently gave a 3.5 and it definitely wasn't a 4 for me. This is the first Leann Belle book I actually finished - I have DNFed two. Why would I try again? Cause the descriptions always sound really good. I picked this one up because I read the description for the 2nd book - Zodiac Monsters but they have to be read in order.

THE GOOD: The lore/world that is introduced is interesting. The relationship between Adrian and Marcus is one of the bright spots of the book - it's complicated and that makes it a more grounding & realistic component to this fantastical world. Lila is a mediocre character at best so I am hoping that her development improves with the next book - which I do feel the need to read and continue the series.
THE NEUTRAL: There's potential but not a lot of follow-through and that could just be because it's a planned series, I don't know. There were also some little things throughout the book that didn't really  make sense - like Lila continuously referring to, and treating, astrology club like a class.
THE MEH: I read the CW and I was still shocked by Somnophilia (without consent or knowledge) - I don't know what I was expecting but it wasn't that. That one is on me. It wasn't outside my reading content areas since I do read dark romance but it felt like an odd choice given the pacing and overall vibes of the characters up until that point. Lila is naive to the point of being annoying. She routinely ignores things that the other characters bring up and doesn't have an argument as to why she thinks what she thinks - just that she's lived 22 years this way so she must be correct even as she learns things about the world that she never knew.

CW: (provided by the author) Somnophilia, dubious consent, age gap/power imbalance, primal, pain/fear/blodd used in sexual context, choking, public sex, light bondage, tentacles, breeding kink
DISCLAIMER: I received an advance review copy. This is my honest review.

3⭐️ 2🌶️ (Yes, even with a screwdriver)
MOOD: lighthearted, emotional
TROPES: second chance, fated mates
GENRES: omegaverse, sci-fi

MAIN CHARACTERS: Kat and Lip

THE GOOD: It delivers what it promises - alien shifter sentient objects. The story is okay as far as returning home after a bad experience in high school.
THE NEUTRAL: I noticed more typos than usual compared to the last book.
THE MEH: I didn't enjoy it as much as the last one. The whole bullying aspect didn't do much for the story and made the first 50% kind of meh. The side characters having their own agenda (and clearly setting up for book 3) also interfered with Kat and Lip's story and not in a good way.

CW: sexual content, mentions of bullying
DISCLAIMER: I received an advance review copy. This is my honest review.

3.5⭐️ 2-3🌶️
MOOD: lighthearted, emotional, adventurous
TROPES: found family, slow burn, fated mates
GENRES: rockstar, monster romance

MAIN CHARACTERS: Sinjin Murphy (Saint Madison), Iri, Cal, Dorian, Micah

THE GOOD: All the characters have interesting backgrounds. The premise of a very popular band performing their last concert was intriguing. The way the individual relationships develop between Sin and the band members over the course of the story works really well.
THE NEUTRAL: Even for her background, at the age of 32, Sin comes across as really naive and childish at times. It felt way too easy for Sin to solve problems for 2 out 4 of the band members. There is no real explanation for the fated mates/mates thing and that broke my suspension of disbelief. Some character descriptions are also inconsistent - the one that I noticed the most was that Cal is described as being bald but later has hair in one scene.
THE MEH: There is very little music in a book about rockstars. Overall, the story felt like treading water. It had all the elements to be really good. There is even exploration of character backgrounds but it felt like there was no depth. Even moments that I was waiting for, which I thought were going to be the big conflict or drama, ended up being so-so.

CW: sexual content, violence
DISCLAIMER: I received an advance review copy. This is my honest review.

4⭐️ 2🌶️
MOOD: lighthearted
TROPES: snowed in, opposites attract, grumpy/sunshine
GENRES: contemporary, lgbtq+ romance

MAIN CHARACTERS: Ethan Ward and Jake (no last name?)

This is a really cute, low-angst holiday story. It's a fast-paced read set in a snowy little town trapped away from the rest of the world by a snow storm.

CW: sexual content
DISCLAIMER: I received an advance review copy. This is my honest review.