ErikaWasReading’s Reviews > Beasts And Beauties > Status Update

A Siren’s Story by Stephanie Hudson ⭐

This entire story is telling with 2% showing. It was an interesting idea, but it’s just paragraph after paragraph of info dumping and over-told backstory. This is a bummer because the present, action-focused scenes were actually really good :/

The Glass Court by Coralee June ⭐⭐⭐

Good Fae/human-fated mate story. And a nice introduction to a “new-to-me” author. Definitely grabbing more of her books.

On a Wing and a Prayer by Aaron Speer ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This felt like something off AO3, with the use of BABE as the setting and the death of real authors kicking off the story. Plus, the idea that everyone was characters pulled from different authors’ books. But it was fun. I’m a little bummed as the author’s own main character was the least interesting in this story, so I’m leery to check out his books.

Bad Moon Rising by Steffanie Holmes & Katie May ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a fun “how we all became monster hunters” origin story that has me interested in the book. I found myself thinking that it must be hard to write about anything monster hunting because every other sentence they would use a phrase like “hunters” or “family business” and I would be like “Supernatural!!”

Of Ferns and Gullies by Lana Pecherczyk ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Well, that’s a whole new meaning to pixie dust. I love that this story focused on Sid and was a spin-off -- especially since we got a Shade & Silver cameo. It was also great to see a mating where the human was a man, which just helps expand the mythology.

Fancy Fury by Margo Bond Collins ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This story reminded me so much of the early Janet Evanovich novels when Stephanie was figuring out how to be a bounty hunter and struggling between the hottie bounty hunter mentor and the sexy cop.

Insatiable by Emma Dean ⭐⭐⭐

I thought it started on such an interesting premise, with her bloodline being bred as the ultimate vintage for vampires. But then the end just takes a left, and it’s like, “that’s it?”

Frayed Bond by Kaydence Snow ⭐

Ugh...why is Leon still around? And why does it seem like the author favors him? I don’t get how the FMC could hear that backstory and be like, “they are equally to blame.” Leon almost killed Mason’s brother, bankrupted Mason’s family, and prevented Mason’s mom from getting a job that could have changed everyone’s future, but boohoo, poor Leon had to go to France. WTF

Biker Bear by Miri Stone ⭐⭐⭐

The whole “animal has a different name than the human” made this really hard to get into. Maybe if I were more familiar with the author's stuff and were used to it, it would be easier, but it was off-putting.

Though, once I got over that hump, I enjoyed it. I haven’t encountered fated mates that are M/M, so I liked that aspect. Plus, Tobias and Jasper were cute.

A Discovery of Demons by Amelia Hutchins ⭐⭐

Rowan = Lucian, Moira = Lena, book = seal. Plus a whole lot more in this story that was exactly like Playing With Monsters. Like, the plot was so much the same that I kept having to go back and look at my reviews to figure out if this was some prequel. It wasn’t till things got freaky-deeky that I was like oh, Rowan is only 98% Lucian.