Mini Reviews: Hearts In Darkness, Birthday Girl & Barbarian Alien Books 1-3 of #Tropeathon

Hearts in Darkness by Laura Kaye

****.5 (4.5 stars)

I loved the premise of this book. Caden and Makenna get stuck in an elevator in the dark hence the title. It’s hard to know how much time goes by but I’m pretty sure this book takes place only over several hours. Before getting in the elevator neither one of them had really gotten a good look at the other one. All Caden knows is that Makenna has red hair and all Makenna noticed was a tattoo on Caden’s hand. With nothing else to do they start talking and get to know each other. It’s definitely insta-love which doesn’t bother me but I know not everyone enjoys that trope. Although I think I would say it’s more insta-lust. It was a very quick and steamy read but it also deals with past traumas and the characters insecurities. I definitely want to read the second book in this duology because I want to know what happens with these characters now that they are out of the elevator.

Birthday Girl by Penelope Douglas

****.5 (4.5 stars)

Ok so this is a really hyped book. When I first started reading it I was enjoying it but I wasn’t enjoying it as much as I was expecting to but I kept reading and by the time I finished it I understood the hype for it although I would still say it was way over hyped. This is an age gap slow burn romance. When I say slow burn I mean slow burn. The characters didn’t actually get together until over halfway through the book which I get but ugh I just wanted them to get it over with. The chemistry between these characters is amazing which is why I was like screaming at them to just get together already. This is a forbidden romance because this is a boyfriends dad romance but there was no actual cheating on Jordan’s part. At first I was kind of expecting there to be a little bit of a love triangle but that didn’t end up being the case because Cole ends up being a horrible boyfriend in the end. There were a couple of things I wish would have gotten elaborated on in the end but that may just be a personal preference thing. Overall I really did enjoy this and I couldn’t stop reading it. It was very addictive.

Barbarian Alien by Ruby Dixon

***** (5 stars)

I’ve been meaning to continue on with this series since I read the first book last year. When I started this series I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it because I had never read an alien romance and I didn’t think it was going to be for me but boy was I wrong. I ended up enjoying this one more than I did the first one. Liz is a bad ass female lead. She wants to have control over her life and she makes things very difficult for Raahosh despite the pull she has towards him. She’s definitely very feisty and she knows how to get what she wants. Raahosh!! What to say about Raahosh? While the way he went about taking care of Liz and getting her to fall in love with him probably wasn’t the greatest idea I totally understand why he did what he did. I thought this book was funny and sexy and sweet and ugh I just want more.