"The Serpent's Touch" by Marina Simcoe

 I felt like I really took a risk when I picked up "Serpent's Touch" by Marina Simcoe. While the cover was beautiful, I was so afraid this was going to turn into some kind of cringy monster erotica.

I have never been so glad to be proved wrong!

4.5/5 stars

This is honestly one of the sweetest romances I have read in a long time. There is definitely some spice in books one and two, but the real prize is the slowly built romance between human girl, Amira, and the captured Gorgonian, Kyllen. This is a reluctant allies/friends to lovers romance that has all the feels. 5 stars for the romance alone!

The story starts with Amira, a 24/25 year old woman who works for a magical menagerie featuring magical beings from another realm. She was found by a member of the menagerie when she as a child and all of her family had all been killed. They took her in and gave her food and a pile of rags to sleep on in exchange for her working at the menagerie taking care of the animals, taking tickets for shows, and catering to Madam, the owner and leader of the menagerie. Despite the wonder and people around her, it is a sad and lonely life for Amira.

Then, Amira discovers a large wooden crate with Madam's new, reluctant, star exhibit. But Amira discovers the "exhibit" inside sounds like an intelligent, compassionate person, not a magical beast like so many other beings in the menagerie. She begins speaking to the man in the crate, a medusa like male named Kyllen who claims to be a Gorgonian. They begin sharing stories about their lives and about their worlds, and a tentative friendship forms. Amira feels like for the first time she has found a friend, and Kyllen believes Amira is his only hope of escaping his crate and returning to his own world. 

When Kyllen finally asks Amria for her help, she has to decide if she has the courage to defy the Madame and help free Kyllen, or if she will stay in her safe, if lonely, life with the menagerie. 

Obviously, we all know what she picks or it wouldn't be much of a story. 😉

The characters were wonderful, imaginative, and very likable. As much as I love the enemies to lovers trope, this was a refreshing change. The romance in the story started out soft and sweet and then morphed into something deeper and infinitely more precious. I loved how protective Kyllen was of Amira, and Amira's selfless and kind nature made her an enjoyable narrator.

The only reason I gave this review a 4.5/5 stars is because I expected a bit more action in the climax of the story. Instead of a showdown with high stakes to claim their freedom, it was more a bump in the road on their way to freedom. I can't say more without getting into spoilers. 😇

I will definitely be reading more books by Marnia Simcoe and definitely more books set in this world.

The audiobook was AMAZING. My only complaint is that I had to increase the speed when the male narrator was reading the chapters as he spoke significantly slower that the female narrator. This was a bit inconvenient when I was listening in my car and I had to change the narration speed back and forth between the narrators. Other than that, it was wonderful. 💗

Begin Again by Emma Lord

 

Need a cute, sweet college romance?

Then, look no further than "Begin Again" by Emma Lord. 

"Begin Again" is Emma Lord's 4th book and is a cute romantic comedy about what happens next when all of your carefully made plans go awry. 

Andie Rose has dreamed all her life of attending Blue Ridge State University and following in her mother's footsteps. She's going to go to Blue Ridge State with her High school sweetheart Connor, major in Psychology, compete in the ribbon hunt so she can join a secret society, graduate, start a radio show, become a TV personality, marry Connor, and write a memoir about her amazing life.  It's the perfect life, mapped out in detail. 

What could go wrong?

The answer is...a lot. 

Andie doesn't get accepted into Blue Ridge State after high school. Despite being very bright, Andie's grades suffered after she devoted too much time and energy ensuring that her boyfriend, Connor, got the grades he needed to get accepted in Blue Ridge State with her. Ironically, Connor heads off to Blue Ridge State and Andie goes to a local community college after high school. 

But Andie always has a plan. 

She will go to the community college for a semester, raise her grades, get accepted as a transfer to Blue Ridge State at semester, and everything will be back on track. She will be attending her dream school, following in her mother's footsteps, and she will be with Connor.

This is where the story begins. 

Andie has been accepted into Blue Ridge State as a transfer student, which is almost unheard of . Her life is finally back on track.

Now, she is going to surprise Connor at his apartment tell him the good news. 

Only, Connor isn't there.

After finding a stranger living in Connor's apartment, Andie calls her boyfriend, excited to begin their life at Blue Ridge together, only to find out that Connor has transferred to the local community college. To be with her.

With her carefully laid out plans once again starting to fall apart, Andie has to make some tough decisions about her future, and how she is going to "fix" this mess.

But despite the chaos going on in her personal life, Blue Ridge State is everything Andie hoped it would be and more. 

An amazing roommate, an underground radio show, and a potential new love interest cause Andie to take a closer look at her life and force her reevaluate all of her carefully laid out plans. Because sometimes when everything seems to fall apart, the only thing you can do is "Begin Again".

This sweet romance, despite it mostly lighthearted tone, had a lot of depth to it and addressed issues such a parent death, grief, dysfunctional families, guilt and much more. 

Andie was a sweet, endearing character who found a place in my heart simply through how much she cared about the people around her. Her friendship with Shay and Valeria is what every new college student dreams of. 

At times, I did find the pace of the story a little slow, but the witty banter between Andie, Shay, Valeria, and their RA Miles kept me engaged. I even laughed out loud a few times.

So if you are looking for a story to warm your heart and put a smile on your face, then get your copy of "Begin Again" today.