Review // Crow, Wrong, and My Time in the Affair

One of the things I love about the bookish world is that one book can evoke different feelings in all sorts of readers. One book can be a five-star read for me and a DNF for someone else. We all see something different because we're all different and I love exploring those differences by reading reviews.

Full disclosure: I read these books years ago, but I do remember enjoying them. Have you read them? Are you interested?

Crow by A. Zavarelli

dual POV, contemporary romance with suspense

When I walked into his club looking for a job, I had no intention of capturing the attention of the notorious Lachlan Crow.
His reputation has been known to send a shiver down most spines.
Now the Irish mafia overlord is my new boss.
He doesn’t trust me, and I don’t trust him.
But it doesn’t matter because I have a job to do.
I can’t let him distract me.
Even if he burns hotter than the sun.
And all those growly commands and dark looks he tosses around?
I won’t let them get to me.
Not. At. All.
He’s used to everyone falling in line, obeying his every command.
But I’m not one of his soldiers.
And he doesn’t know why I really needed this job.
Lying to him was supposed to be easy.
But the longer I’m near him, the harder it gets.
It doesn’t feel like a game anymore because now my heart’s on the line.
And when the web I’ve spun begins to unravel, it could destroy us both.
Now Lachlan has a choice to make.
Let me go forever…
Or burn his world to save me.

Rating - ★★★★

This was a great start to what I can imagine will be an incredible series.

I was hooked from the first page. Although there were parts of Mack's personality I didn't like, she had many characteristics that I admire, such as strength (physically not so much emotionally), loyalty, sass, etc. Her devotion to her friend Talia and what she was willing to do to help her were true testaments of what friendship is all about.

There was just enough action and intrigue to keep things lively. Shoot, it even had betrayal coming out the ying yang.

Lachlan was freaking hot. No denying that. Dude made bad look so freaking good!! My only disappointment was not getting more of his POV.

I'm excited to read book 2 because Ronan seems like such a badass. I know under that cold exterior is a man of many layers and I can't wait to discover each and every one of them.

Wrong by Jana Aston

Contemporary romance

I have a history of picking the wrong guy. Gay? Player? Momma’s boy? Check, check and check.

Now I can’t stop fantasizing about one of the customers at the coffee shop I work at between classes. It’s just a harmless crush, right? It’s not like I ever see this guy outside of the coffee shop. It’s not like I’m going to see him while attempting to get birth control at the student clinic. While wearing a paper gown. While sitting on an exam table. Because he’s the doctor. Shoot. Me.

But what if, for once, the man I’ve had the dirtiest, most scandalous fantasies about turned out to be everything but wrong?

Rating - ★★★★

Luke and Sophie were adorable together. I love that despite their age difference, despite their different backgrounds, and their different goals, they still found common ground and love. I just wish Sophie trusted Luke a bit more during this story. It was slightly irritating. Given what he does for a living, in the end her doubts were unwarranted. I'm glad she figured that out.

There were some funny parts in this book. For example:

“There’s a wet spot on the paper. Is that normal? Am I supposed to clean up after myself? Why does no one prepare you for this before going to the gynecologist?" I must admit that I felt this exact same feeling when I went to the gynaecologist for the first time!

“What is it, Sophie?"
"Um." I bite my lip then blow out a breath. "Will it go back?"
Luke remains almost expressionless but cocks an eyebrow. How does he not know what I mean? "Will my asshole go back to normal?" I nod towards his dick. "You're really large. Will I, um, still poop normal after this?"
The room is dead silent then. A few seconds tick by like minutes and then Luke loses it laughing. He sits on the edge of the bed with his elbows on this knees, shaking. "Christ, Sophie.” I've always wondered why no other female MC I've read has voiced this same concern! WTG Sophie!!

I took away a star because I felt like I was missing a chunk of the story between the end and the epilogue. There was a disconnect there for me. Otherwise, this was a great read and I'm surprised that this is a first for Jana Aston. I'm guessing being an assistant to JA Huss allowed her to explore some serious literary skills.

My Time in the Affair by Stylo Fantôme

Contemporary romance

I made a conscious decision to cheat on my husband.

Now, before you judge me, hear my story. Hear how much I'm like you, how similar my thoughts are to your own. Yes, I'm a horrible person. Yes, I've done horrible things. Yes, I don't deserve forgiveness. Yes, bad things happened because of my actions.

But I'm willing to bet I've done things that maybe, just maybe, you have thought of doing.

Maybe, just maybe, you're not as innocent as you'd like to think.

Or maybe I'm not so guilty ...

Rating - ★★★★

This wasn't the worst cheating book I've read. I think it was easier to digest because although I knew Mischa was married to Mike, the story didn't put their marriage on the forefront. There was hardly any interaction between them and it was pretty obvious through the writing that their relationship lacked passion. This didn't make what she did ok, but it put her thoughts and consequent actions into perspective.

Now Tal Canaan was a freaking dream. I loved him. I didn't like that he pursued a married woman, however, with him already knowing how lackluster her marriage really was (he seemed more aware of it than she did), it took away most of my anger. I loved how he tried to boost her self esteem, how patient and protective he was of her, and above all, how he loved her.

Mike's twist blew my mind but I'm guessing it was a ploy of the author's to make the cheating more acceptable and get us to root for Mischa and Tal's HEA.

The ending was disappointing. I was annoyed and felt like it was unfinished. The whole "come find me" got pretty old pretty quick.