Time to play Review Catch Up! It's a (hopefully) fun game for you and a memory exercise for me. This edition includes reviews of Conform, The Mating Game, Original Sinner and Wicked Believer, Zomromcom, and Shield of Sparrows.
Ratings are based on whether or not I recommend them to fellow readers - DNF (Did Not Finish), Pass, YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary), Read It, Read It Soon.
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Conform (The Reform Series, #1), by Ariel Sullivan
My Verdict: Read It
Conform is one of those books books that isn't well written and yet nearly impossible to put down. The prose is clunky and repetitive on a sentence level, the characters are archetypes we recognize from YA dystopian love triangle series like The Selection, and the twists were predictable. (All my opinions, obviously.) But... I kept reading it. I have no explanation, except that there's something comforting about revisiting familiar, old themes (with more sexytimes) and turning off the critical brain for a bit. This will work well for readers who enjoyed Silver Elite or Dire Bound. I'll definitely be reading the prequel when it comes out on March 24.
I received temporary access to this audiobook courtesy of the publisher.
The Mating Game, by Lana Ferguson
My Verdict: Read It Soon
If you read The Fake Mate, you're familiar with the author's take on the alpha/omega shifter premise. If not, you'll pick it up easily. The Mating Game is set in the same world and there are a couple of scenes with them, such as when late bloomer Tess is seeking medical help and gets the rundown on being an omega from Mackenzie. The vast majority of this novel, however, is a contrived Only One Cabin setup, in which Tess arrives earlier than her crew to fix up Hunter's family's business/lodge and snow happens. And then an off-and-on first heat, because, of course it does. This one struck me as less steamy than the first, or at least the steam comes in a bit later in the story. Not at all a slow burn like Ali Hazelwood's latest, Mate, though. I liked the secondary characters, liked that the barriers to their relationship were reasonable but not overly dramatic, and liked the banter between the two of them. I also liked that Hunter doesn't spend the entire novel telling Tess, the contractor, how to do her job. A genuinely good time.
I received temporary access to this audiobook courtesy of the publisher.
Original Sinner and Wicked Believer (Original Sinners #1 and #2), by Kait Ballenger
My Verdict: YMMV
In 2025, I read a string of books that felt like authors were communally processing religious trauma and and unpacking purity culture. Like every other book I picked up was something on the theme. This was my first experience reading Kait Ballenger, so I don't know if her paranormal romances featured BDSM, but I'm very mixed on how it's presented here. In a world built on the seven deadly sins mythos, the FMC gets into a questionable relationship with the literal devil, Lucifer (Pride). He's her boss, then her fake fiance and boss, then her Daddy, etc. The kink here is reliant on the idea of liberation through submission, which was sometimes hard for me to buy as I didn't think Charlotte was ever processing the shame she felt growing up. During sex, Lucifer removes the burden of choice from her, but to the point where I was questioning if she was even making the choice outside of those moments. This is a trilogy, meaning the bigger plot isn't complete even after the second book, and I tired of the whole dynamic. Remember Fifty Shades? This felt like that, but with The Devil and a much better external plot. I won't be finishing the series, which is a bummer because I gave the first book 4 stars. Second was more like 2.5. If the author/publisher had instead tightened things up and given us a single book for this first couple, then books with other brothers/sins to wrap up the bigger plot, I'd probably still be on board.
One last thing - I would go into this expecting dark erotic romance, not "romantasy." If you want a "shadow daddy," here you go.
I received access to these books via NetGalley courtesy of the publisher for review.
ZomRomCom, by Olivia Dade
My Verdict: YMMV
This book is an original, that's for sure. An everywoman and a hot French vampire team up to escape the zombies who have escaped in this zombie romcom. Exactly what it says on the tin. Before I give my thoughts, let's start with the fact that I love Olivia Dade's books and I hate zombie books. I was very much on the fence from the start. My conclusion is that the zany humor works if you're in the mood. If you pick it up and aren't vibing with it in the first couple of chapters, put it down. It will not suddenly become a non-absurd book. There are some heavier moments, such as when the characters reflect on how lonely they've become, but there are also Dora the Explorer jokes and a raunchy rendition of the Gaston song from Beauty and the Beast. The characters find time to bang during the zombie apocalypse, they miraculously don't die several times when they should have, and a local Girl Scout troop saves their butts a time or two... Zany, indeed. I had fun, but I also set it aside the first time I tried to read it. My partner was giggling half the time he was reading. In conclusion, your mileage may vary.
I received copy of this book for review and purchased a copy for myself.
Shield of Sparrows (Shield of Sparrows #1), by Devney Perry
My Verdict: Read It
If you haven't read 100 romantasy novels in the last two years, this will likely hit better than it did for me. It's a solid entry, but it seems to have blown most people away. I thought it was good, but I remember hardly anything about it and it didn't wow me initially, either. Go to the Amazon listing, however, and you'll see the long list of Best Of's and the fact that it's in film development already.
My take: If you read From Blood and Ash, you've read this. Remember the near constant references to how the FMC is always asking questions? (As if that's a bad thing, or unexpected when thrown into an entirely new world...) Those really grated on me here. It's an easy device to build out the world for readers, but it sounded exactly the same. If you haven't read much romantasy or if you've simply grown tired of the glut of mediocre entries, pick this up. It really is a good one, it's just not particularly original and didn't live up to the immense hype for me.
I received an ebook copy of this book for review from the publisher.
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