Tag: Arranged/Forced Marriage

The Dark Lord’s Guide to Dating (And Other War Crimes) | Tiffany Hunt

Posted 08/29/2025 by Hilarye in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

The Dark Lord’s Guide to Dating (And Other War Crimes) | Tiffany HuntThe Dark Lord's Guide to Dating (And Other War Crimes) by Tiffany Hunt
Star Rating: 4 Stars
Spice Level: 4 Flames
Series: Guides to Villainy and Love #1
Published by Independent Publisher on 05/24/2025
Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Romance, Romantasy
Format: Kindle (534 Pages) đź“– Purchased
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“What’s mine, stays mine.”

Step One: Kidnap someone cute.

Step Two: Force her into marriage.

Step Three: Try not to get feelings.

When Dark Lord Kazimir Blackrose kidnaps Lady Arabella for a forced marriage, he expects an obedient, trembling bride. What he gets is a knife to the throat and a furious woman with her own terms. He may need her heroic bloodline to achieve ultimate dominion, but she's not about to make this easy for him.

Arabella has already survived her father's tower prison and a lifetime of being treated like property. Being abducted by the realm's most notorious villain is just another Tuesday. If she must be married to the infuriating (and infuriatingly attractive) Dark Lord, she'll do it on her terms: freedom within his fortress, hands strictly to himself, and complete honesty about his plans.

But when his plans go awry, Kazimir faces his most terrifying challenge yet. He must actually date his own wife. Between magical training sessions, playing golf with the eyeballs of his enemies, and aphrodisiac dinners gone spectacularly wrong, his villainous seduction plans are failing at every turn.

As they navigate magical explosions and jealous exes, they discover a far more terrifying prospect than war or magical catastrophe:

They might actually be falling for each other.



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Kiss of the Basilisk | Lindsay Straube

Posted 07/11/2025 by Hilarye in Book Reviews / 0 Comments
Kiss of the Basilisk | Lindsay Straube
Star Rating: 2.5 Stars
Spice Level: 5 Flames
Series: Split or Swallow #1
Published by Bloom Books on 02/25/2025
Format: Kindle (525 Pages) đź“– Purchased
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About fifteen years ago, a friend of mine showed up at my house with a DVD in hand. (Stay with me—I promise this story relates to this utterly unhinged book filled with basilisk banging.) The movie in question: Gentlemen Broncos. And if you’ve seen this cinematic fever dream, you probably know where I’m going with this. If you haven’t—add it to your watch list—you can thank me later. For the record, I watched all 90 Yeast-Lord-filled minutes of Gentlemen Broncos. I didn’t fall asleep. I didn’t pause to pee. I’m not entirely sure I blinked—or breathed. I was utterly […]

Bride | Ali Hazelwood

Posted 03/15/2024 by Hilarye in Book Reviews / 0 Comments
Bride | Ali Hazelwood
Star Rating: 4 Stars
Spice Level: 4 Flames
Series: Bride #1
Published by Berkley on 02/06/2024
Format: Kindle (410 Pages) đź“– Purchased
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All of Ali Hazelwood’s books follow pretty much the same formula. A smart, sassy, accomplished woman with some much-deserved baggage is forced to spend time with an equally smart, slightly grumpy, golden retriever of a man with baggage of his own. They are both, naturally, very easy on the eyes. Mix together a hefty helping of witty banter, some complicated feelings, a dash of angsty longing, and lots of sexual tension until you get a couple that finally realizes they are in love. Sexy time ensues. Introduce a small conflict or misunderstanding, have a brief yet terrible third-act […]

Caraval | Stephanie Garber

Posted 02/09/2024 by Hilarye in Book Reviews / 0 Comments
Caraval | Stephanie Garber
Star Rating: 5 Stars
Spice Level: 1 Flames
All-Time Favorite
Series: Caraval #1
Published by Flatiron Books on 01/31/2017
Format: Kindle (407 Pages) đź“– Purchased
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This was a “stay up until 4am because I couldn’t put it down” book. I absolutely loved it! Think Cirque du Soleil meets “The Night Circus” with a splash of “Alice in Wonderland”; but make it dark & a little twisted. UGH!!! So, so, so, so good! I didn’t know this series was a prequel to the “Once Upon a Broken Heart” series. I started to tuck into OUABH, and something made me stop 2 pages in & look online to see if I should read Caraval first. Everything I could find (while avoiding spoilers) said yes, read […]