Luxuria: A Monster Romance (Shades of Sin Book 1)

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Since this is a romance, the focus is mainly on the characters and their relationship, but there’s also an intriguing plot and fascinating world-building!! I never read a story quite like this - with Shades and Hunters - but I’m hooked! I seriously cannot wait for the next book! Y'all should've seen em when they reunited and started all their snivelling. Annoying little twats. This book made me feel giddy and giggly. I wasn’t expecting to like it as much as I did, and nothing makes a good book better than no/low expectations.

Steam level:4/5 Pretty hot scenes, although a bit repetitive. I liked the rawness of their desires.

😈 LUXURIA BLURB 😈

Their relationship was really intense right from the start, they had a nice chemistry and the tension was there. The miscommunication really bugged me the most, it's a trope that I always find annoying as hell. Their separation felt a bit forced and unnecessary, overly dramatic even. It was weird how things unfolded. I didn't like the antagonist(s)' motives, I thought they were lame and stupid villains, and the last five chapters is what considerably dropped the rating for me. Their reasoning didn't make any sense at all. The beginning of the story was fun and engaging, the middle was a bit slow paced and the ending was rushed and unsubstantial. I loved Ophelia (FMC) the most, and in my opinion she carried this mountain in her smol hands almost single-handedly. I loved how humorous she was, and that she used it as a coping mechanism was seamlessly implied. Kudos to the writer for making me sense (all show no tell 👌) her raw vulnerability and her insecurities underneath all that humor. Really good balanced writing - what could have been rife with overtures was instead presented in a tempered way with regards to her POV. I also LOVE how much she owns what she wants. The plot IS their relationship, with some focus on the politics and the conflict between Hunters and Shades. Bit of a slow burn for about half the book, but once they bang, they go bangbangbangbang. 👍

Other thoughts while reading. These are elite Hunters yet we have zero info on how they train, or why they need so much training for a creature that's basically helpless in the human world. How do you stab a shadow? The silver knife just makes them dissolve? Where do they go? Do they believe in the afterlife? Am I asking too many philosophical questions for a simple monster romance? The heroine was cute. Her character almost felt like a real life romance reader had been transported into a book, so she made the best of it. I love the way he also did not give a single shit if Ophelia was truly scared, he just didn't like the smell. These people physically GAGGED around her sometimes😭Ophelia was such a refreshing heroine. She was sweet, sassy, and very in harmony with her sexuality. I mean, this woman was so horny all the time, fantasizing about monster porn, drawing it even. I personally found her fun and entertaining to follow. She had a smart mouth, wasn't scared of the King of Shades and his grumpiness. My only real issue with her was that, I feel like she gained the respect the Shades way too easily, without really working toward it or deserving it. She didn't really put in the work to meet with the civilians, connect with them, prove that she was a worthy Queen. I really wish she'd been shown putting in the effort to be liked rather than wandering in the gardens without purpose. She also kept quiet when something bothered her, didn't really communicate with her husband.