Series Review Archives - Page 2 of 2

Series Review: WAGS by Naima Simone

Sep 16, 2020

It’s been a long time since I’ve read a sports romacne series that I just devoured. But as soon as I started the WAGS series by Naima Simone I knew I was going to love it. And I did. So today I thought I would share my thoughts on the 3 books currently published.

I normally don’t read many football romances, but the WAGS series was fantastic. It’s entertaining, the romances are steamy and sweet, and the characters are fantastic. And I will be reading more from Naima Simone now. It’s that good combo that sports romances have where you get the sports, you have the romance, but you also have characters arcs as well. So let’s get into it!

Scoring With the Wrong Twin: The first book in the WAGS series was such a blast to read. I think it was the most entertaining of the three. This was just a fun read. This one follows the shy and awkward Sophia Cruz who has a hard time telling her twin sister ‘no.’ And when she asks Sophia to pretend to be her in an upcoming photoshoot, she says yes. She wasn’t expecting to meet Zephirin Black. Sparks fly from the start, and there’s a connection right away. The only problem is, he thinks that she is her sister.

Sophia was such an interesting character. While she was shy and awkward at times, she had these moments that she was able to stand up for herself. I liked that we got to see Sophia grow throughout Scoring the Wrong Twin. We get to see her grown from the first page. She gets to love herself and in doing so, gets to love others around her. I loved that she is smart and quirky as well.

It took me a little bit to like Zep, but a lot of it was because of the wall that he built. Like it was hard for Sophia to get to know him more, it was hard for the reader. But once those walls started to break. It became easier to like and connect with him. Zep was really interesting. And Scoring the Wrong Twin went on the reader gets to know him more and understand him.

I enjoyed the romance in the firsts WAGS book, and although it isn’t my favourite. I still loved seeing Sophia and Zep start to fall for one another. My main problem was that I wanted to see more. I wanted to see them have more conversations, and do adorable things for one another. At times I felt that feelings were made ‘off the page.’ In saying that I did feel that Sophia and Zep had some great chemistry and it was a fun romance for sure.

Overall I had such a blast reading the first WAGS book. Sophia and Zep had amazing chemistry and I loved seeing them figure each other out and break each other’s walls down. It was a great start to the series and introduction into Naima Simone world.

Photo by Riley McCullough on Unsplash

Scoring off the Field: This is a friends to lovers and is the second book in the WAGS series and follows Tennyson Clark as she wants a new start. She has been secretly in love with Dominic Anderson for far too long now and she wants to move on. But Dominic is an overprotective playboy and it isn’t going to be easy. Dominic doesn’t like change, and when Tennyson tells him she wants to quit her job as his assistant he wants to stop her. But his feelings start to morphe and is that the only reason he can’t let her go?

I loved Tennyson Clark as a protagonist and character. She was quick-witted, smart and I just wanted to hug her. From the start, the reader can see how much she cares for Dominic and she knows that moving away from him is her best option. It’s the only that she can find herself again. I liked how while at times she thought she was weak, she was strong. Tennyson’s character growth was lovely to see and I liked that she grows throughout the book.

Like in the first book it took me a while to warm up to Dominic. I think it’s mainly because he couldn’t see what was right in front of him. But also because he thought he wanted Tennyson in some ways and not others and that did put a mark on their relationship. I loved that he was protective and he felt that he needed to make sure that she was safe. Dominic grows throughout this WAGS book. And the reader gets to see not only his feelings change but the way that he looks at things.

The romance in this one uses one of my favourite tropes of all time childhood friends to lovers. I love the richness and the history that it involves. Tennyson has loved Dominic for a love time and while she tried to hide those feels it hurt it. Dominic didn’t realise the feelings he had for Tennyson were more than friendship. And slowly throughout the book, they come together and both of their feelings are put out in the open. But there is a lot of pain in the process. And that also hurt them.

Overall I loved reading this friends to lovers romance. Tennyson and Dominic were adorable and the reader can see them go from friends to more. But they are more than just lovers, they are best friends. They both need each other in more ways than they think. And that is shown throughout the novel.

Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash

Scoring the Player’s Baby: This is the one that I was most looking forward too. I love reading unexpected baby romances. Then throw that it with sports romances and I’m all for it. The third book in the WAGS series follows Kim Matlock and Ronin Palamo as a one-night stand turns into something more when they have a baby on the way. But they both have their problems; Kim has divorced her cheating football player ex and swore to never be with a football player again. And Ronin wants nothing more than a family, but right now he feels like he’s is being torn apart.

Kim has gone through a lot before even the book even starts. Her ex-husband is a cheating bastard, and her dad is not any better. She doesn’t have many good male relationships to fall back on. Because of all this, she does have a lot of trust issues and the effects all her relationships. As the novel goes on the reader can see that her walls start to and the true Kim comes out.

Ronin is my favourite male from the WAGS series so far. He is funny, sweet and protective all wrapped up into one. From the start, the reader can see that Ronin has taken an interest in Kim and as the novel goes on it turns into something more. He cares a lot about family and will do anything for them, even those not related by blood.

The romacne in Scoring the Player’s Baby was sweet and hot at the same time. Both Kim and Roini both have their issues and together they can break down each other’s walls and see beyond that. There are many ups and downs between these two. But the reader can see that do they care and love one another. It just takes a little bit more to break down Kim’s walls.

Overall I think this is my favourite of the WAGS series. The romance was fantastic, the plot was engaging and I wanted to read more and more. I do wish we were able to see a little bit more of Kim and Ronin after the ending, but hopefully, there will be more books and we get to see more of them and the baby.

Photo by Ömürden Cengiz on Unsplash

Overall I had a blast reading the WAGS series by Naima Simone. While each book was different, they still all connected and made sense. I liked all the romances and the couples. Again each one different and unique from each other. Scoring the Player’s Baby is my favourite so far, but I enjoyed everyone that I did read. I can’t wait to read more from Naima Simone for sure. Just need to work out what to pick up next.

Have you read the WAG’s series by Naima Simone? What did you think of it? Are you planning on reading it? What are some of your favourite sports romacnes series. You can check some of mine out. Let’s Chat!

Series Review: The Fallen Men by Giana Darling

Jul 13, 2020

I’ve talked about this series briefly over the last couple of months. But I thought it was time for me to write a full series review of the books that are currently out. Book five Inked in Lies is due to release later this month and I’m so excited. But today I’m sharing my thoughts of the first four books in the series.

Trigger Warnings: Abuse, Abduction, Neglect, Torture, Death, Cancer. These are MC and age gap romances, therefore, some things happen throughout the series that is questionable at times. But that does come along with the MC romance genre.

At the moment this series is in the middle of being dark – but I feel that it will go there for sure as the series goes on. It’s on the tamer side of some of the MC romances I’ve read with the Hades Hangman series being one of the darkest. So The Fallen Men series is in the middle at the moment for sure. Enough of this let’s get into it.

Lessons in Corruption: Book one in the series starts with a bang. This is a slight student/teacher romance. This is one of the most taboo books of the series, and I was very hesitant to pick it up. However, it wasn’t as bad as I first thought it was going to be. This series had been on my radar for a while, but I didn’t know how I would go with the romance. But I liked how Giana Darling explored the relationship. Cress is trying to put her life back together after leaving her loveless marriage and then she runs into King.

They have an instant connection, but that gets turned on its head when he turns out to be her student. This part of the romance was hard for me. I wanted to fall in love with these characters because they were great, but this did make me pull away from the story. However, as the novel did go on and because of certain events, I did enjoy Cress and King together.

King was a really interesting male protagonist. I enjoy the vibe that he had. He was this bad boy, but also loved reading and gosh I loved that. There was this small alpha male trope going on – but it wasn’t really heavy on that. So I didn’t mind too much.

While Lessons in Corruption didn’t have a lot of the traditional MC tropes or events until the last 30% or so and I enjoyed that as well. One of the things that I also loved was the relationship between Cress and the men of the MC. I just loved it. The banter, the respect and the love that they have. It was a great introduction to The Fallen Men world.

Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash

Welcome to the Dark Side: This one follows King’s father Zeus and his romance with Lou. This is the most taboo of all the books and one I did struggle with a little. But I also really liked how the relationship between Zeus and Lou built throughout the book. Lou has known Zeus most of her life, in fact, he saved her. And this is what started their friendship. After Zeus is realised from prison he tries to distance himself from Lou, until she takes matters in her own hands.

I also want to make a quick note that I am not condoning a lot that happens throughout this book if it would happen in real life. This is a work of fiction for me. Okay, let’s go back into the review.

Things get a lot darker in a sense of the MC world in this book. Things are starting to heat up for Zeus and his Fallen Men. And I loved getting to look more into this. As I mentioned, I enjoy reading MC romance and the reader can start seeing more of it here.

Lou was such a lovely protagonist. I loved getting to know her. I loved that she was girly, but then she was this tough ass and ah yes! The reader gets to see these two sides of her. But then the reader can see the side of her that even Lou doesn’t want to expose. This book was quite heartbreaking at times and gosh did I just want to get Lou a massive hug.

As I said things are starting to heat up in this The Fallen Men book, in regards to the MC and things, are getting much more intense. I like a lot about this one

Good Gone Bad: This is probably my less favourite book from The Fallen Men series, but I didn’t hate it at all. I just wasn’t able to connect with the characters as much compared to the other books. I liked the start and the end, but the middle was just a little eh to me.

Good Gone Bad follows characters the reader already knows very well. First, we have Harleigh Rose, daughter of Zeus and brother to King. I loved that we got a book from her perspective. She was such an interesting character to see from the sidelines. But then being in her head. I loved it. She is a true biker’s daughter. In saying that there were times where I wanted to shake her up. I wanted her to talk with her family. They would do anything for her, and then to see her distance herself.

Then we have Danner. He was such an interesting character and the perfect romance interest for Harleigh Rose. I loved that he had this good and bad side. He would do anything to protect those that he loves, especially Harleigh Rose.

The romance in this one was really interesting. I loved the banter between the two. They fit each other perfectly without changing them. They were both able to be the best of themselves and the other brought it out so well. I loved that we got to see more of both Danner and Harleigh Rose when they were younger the dynamic that they had then and how it grew throughout both of their lives. It was really interesting. Darling can create such fantastic romantic tension and it works brilliantly here.

Like I said I didn’t love the middle of this one. It just felt as if things were being dragged along. I felt like I didn’t care what was happening – and that was a shame.

Overall, I did enjoy getting to know Harleigh Rose and Danner more and I can’t wait to see more of them as the series goes on.

Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash

After The Fall: This book tore me to part. I did not survive this book. Seriously I was a sobbing mess for most of this week. If you want a book that won’t make you cry, then this one is not for you. While the series isn’t over this felt like it was an ending to one story and the beginning of another.

After the Fall follows Cress and King as things are starting to heat up for the MC. Things are starting to get much darker and more heartbreaking. I think all the books that do follow won’t be suns and daisy, The Fallen Men are going to be in for a ride.

I loved getting to see more of Cress and King and not just through other characters eyes. The reader gets to see where their relationship is and how far they have come. I did love them together much more in this one then their first book. Everything felt more fleshed out and clicked more when reading.

Another that I loved about After the Fall was the reader can see everyone else as well. It’s not just Cress and Kings’ book, but it’s a Fallen Men book. And that was fantastic.

There are so many things that happen in this book that tore my heart out. The last maybe 50 pages or so I was crying so much. It hurt. It hurt. But it was also so beautifully done. It hurt, but it hurt good.

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And that is it for this series review! Have you read The Fallen Men series? What did you think of it? Are you planning on reading it? Let’s Chat!