Reborn in Flames

Surprise surprise, a reverse harem I didn't enjoy.<br /><br />I think I've already read this book before. Hmm, let me think. Oh yes I have. <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/49324229.Hunted__Feral_Souls_Trilogy___1_" title="Hunted (Feral Souls Trilogy, #1) by Erica Woods" rel="noopener">Hunted</a>.<br /><br />The heroine has been sheltered her entire life because her cultish "parents" think she has a devil in her.<br /><br />The heroine's father dies and her mother takes her somewhere else. Her mother beats her all the time to get the devil out. <br /><br />The heroine runs into someone and is inhaling deep.<br /><br />The hero being run into is also inhaling deep as he growls at her mother's boyfriend who's chastising her.<br /><br />The heroine goes to school and runs into some more guys who are inhaling deeply and growling at anyone that comes close.<br /><br />The heroine finds out that the guys are "brother" and they are not entirely human.<br /><br />The heroes are shocked that she's their mate after all the inhaling but they don't know how that can be since she's just a human.<br /><br />The heroi.....I give up. Nothing happens, just more growling and then some twist in the end which wasn't really a twist. I am not reading the second one but I can already see the "specialness" our heroine is about to have.

There is a glitch in the matrix<br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1578742129ra/28757596.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><i>I’ve read this before</i><br><br>If you take this book <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/49324229.Hunted__Feral_Souls_Trilogy___1_" title="Hunted (Feral Souls Trilogy, #1) by Erica Woods" rel="noopener">Hunted</a> and this series <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/30197319.Finding_My_Pack__My_Pack___1_" title="Finding My Pack (My Pack, #1) by Lane Whitt" rel="noopener">Finding My Pack</a> and this one <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/38319561.Born_of_Embers__Phoenix_Rising__1_" title="Born of Embers (Phoenix Rising #1) by Quinn Arthurs" rel="noopener">Born of Embers</a> oh and this one <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/40712140.Bound_Spirit__The_Bound_Spirit___1_" title="Bound Spirit (The Bound Spirit, #1) by H.A. Wills" rel="noopener">Bound Spirit</a>...and probably 20 others I've forgotten...<br>Roll them all up in 292 pages <b>hello Reborn in Flames</b><br><br>I got so tired of this coming up in my amazon recs and I’ve read Sinclair before and know she’s pretty good- I just gave in and tired it already.<br>To be honest I’m a total sucker for this kind of story-line but I do think we might all need counselling. The reasons why I dig this - even though all my common sense says I shouldn’t-  could probably be the study of a PhD student in psychology.<br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1578743339ra/28757838.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>It’s got literally everything that’s become a staple in the RH genre<br>✅ Girl raised in captivity<br>✅ Girl abused severally all her life by family because of healing powers<br>✅ Girl is therefore the most naive and innocent girl ever with severe self esteem issues.<br>✅ Mate bonds<br>✅ Over protective shifters<br>✅ Every Male who is not her mate also wants her<br>✅ Every other girl is a bitch and an ex of one of her mates<br><br>It has the overprotective dragon shifters <b>in abundance</b>. But disappointingly there’s no real shifting or dragon activity going on. There’s nothing to distinguish them as dragons, they could be lions or bears just as easily. Some dragon behaviour would be nice and more magic and shifting. The added 7th member to the harem <b>was so unnecessary </b>. It added nothing and felt like it was thrown in there without any build up.<br>Another major theme is that Maya is barely 18 and these men are ... well men. Her mental age is 12, <br><br><i>"So that was what the equivalent of physically hitting on me looked like without clothes? I sort of really liked that. Was it bad I wanted to touch it? I didn’t know if that was a thing. See? I really needed to talk to Jordan more"</i><br><br>It’s a little weird how they seem to love her naivety? Almost like they want a child instead of a woman. I found myself in more than one place thinking <i>is this ok?</i>. <br><b>It toes the line</b> and depends how strongly you feel on the older guy/young girl thing.<br><br>I actually thought when I started this that is was a stand-alone and that made sense to me as I was reading <b> why it was moving so fast</b>. Then I come to 89% and I realise it can’t be because they haven’t all marked each other... I’m now a little peeved.<br><br>So why oh why <b>do I want to read the next one?</b><br><br>I need locked up for enjoying this I know I do.<br><br><img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1578743062i/28757814.jpg" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>Why do books with this same storyline keep being written....<b>because we eat them up</b>. Authors are literally giving us what we want so I don’t blame them.<br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1578743062ra/28757815.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>It’s a little unfair I’m picking on this book review when, as listed above, so many others are guilty of the same. If you enjoyed any of them - as I did #guiltypleasure - then you’ll probably like this too!<br>I could say so much more but let’s leave it at... It’s not the best of this kind I’ve read but not the worst either. <br><br>Marcos - Alpha<br>Henry - Beta the geek with a dominant streak<br>Atlas - my fav, the big guy with the soft centre<br>Ledger and Anani - they’re twins enough said<br>Sai - got a bit left out, he’s forgettable right now<br>Mystery 7th - ughhhh why

Loved it! An easy 5-star book!

This book was okay...and that’s fairly underwhelming as I was prepared to get blown away for what ever reason. My fault. This is gonna be a long one, so grab your popcorn.<br /><br />I’ll start with the characters as they are always one of the most important part of the book to me.<br /><br />Maya: She’s our heroine and has grown up in a basement of a church, getting abused by her father, the Pastor and her mother. Neither are her actual parents though. <br /> Maya is a very naive heroine to say the least and I didn’t dislike her...but I didn’t actively like her. She was pretty much Sand from the Ghostbird books but more blunt and naive. I did like her bluntness, she really wasn’t going to let the guys walk all over her. But, to me, she was just too immature. I can’t really explain her immaturity but it was like being in the mind of a child...with graphic sex...Um, no thank you. <br /> She has only ever known three people yet can easily function in public. I get it’s supposed to be because she’s a quick learner and all, but it’s just unrealistic. Also, she just found out dragons exist and doesn’t really care. Isn’t blown away. <br /> She was bubbly which I liked and some of her thoughts were quite funny.<br /> She’s amazing at painting, has never painted before, but in half an hour made a masterpiece. Because that’s how it works. <br /> And her favourite colours are, and I quote “Pink...Oh, And glitter!”<br /><br />Our guys...Here is where the problem lies. <br />Major let down.<br />With RH books, they need, and I stress NEED to have different personalities. These did...but only kind of...Okay, not really. They seemed to blend together in a way. I liked them, but it was such a short book that I dont know them at all, especially considering there are seven of them. <br />We all know RH guys have stereotypes and I love when these are challenged and that seems to be what M Sinclair has tried doing, but I just feel like they’re just lesser versions of the stereotypes, making it way harder to learn about them. I’d rather know that one is the short tempered, grumpy, intense one, instead of having one who’s short tempered, along with a few others who are short tempered, and we are told he’s grumpy, but of course not to our heroine...so we are never shown the grumpy side. I just finished reading this and I don’t remember all of their names, but I’ll do my best.<br />Also, we hardly know anything about their pasts.<br /><br />* next to the ones I remember most.<br /><br />Marco: Alpha dragon shifter. First to meet Maya. I guess he’s kind of serious but also very affectionate to Maya. Kind of. *<br /><br />Henry: Beta dragon shifter. Shortest. I’m pretty sure he’s the smart one (of course they’re all smart, but I think that’s where his character is heading, though we weren’t really shown) He has a medical degree, but his true passion lies somewhere else, just can’t remember where. Probably my favourite. Fair dirty talk. *<br /><br />Ledger (Twin 1): Um...I think he has indigo coloured eyes...but other than that he doesn’t really have much of a personality...That’s kind of awkward. <br /><br />Anani (Twin 2): I had to go back to check his name. Don't remember what he looked like or what his personality was.<br /><br />So, she hasn’t done the ‘One grumpy twin, one happy go lucky, jokester twin’ so congrats. But neither had personalities to me. It felt like they were there for the dialogue. Also, they’re in a famous band...Of course they are.<br /><br />Cloy: Southern accent, honey blond hair, absolutely massive. He’s a wolf shifter and possessive...but then again they all are. <br /><br />Atlas: Protective and also huge also Very gentle with our heroine...but they all are. Do you see the problem here? *<br /><br />Sai: Forgot He was a character. <br /><br />I feel like the author just threw more guys into the mix because why the hell not...but none, and I mean none were memorable at all. I hardly even remembered their names, forget what they looked like. At times they seemed like they were going to be given more of a distinctive personality, and I had faith in Henry, but they all fell short. Hey we’re all protective, all gentle with our heroine, all utterly obsessed with our heroine, all short tempered when it came to our heroine...they just BLENDED. They all could be merged into one character and he just wouldn’t have had a distinctive personality either.<br />They’re also famous. Why? Not really sure. <br />They also have four spare phone lying around the house in different colours. Coincidence, I think not. Because our dear Maya went through her life without a phone.<br /><br />The plot...was just her and the guys going on holidays for the weekend and shopping...and chilling at the house. They were just waiting for her to turn 18 to get her out. <br /><br />The extra star, though, was because it did, somehow, hold my attention. I skimmed every now and again, but was entertained.<br /><br />This was my first book of M Sinclair's and I can’t say that I’m in love, but I will give another book of her’s a go.

Minor spoilers that I'm sure most won't be surprised by....<br /><br />This will definitely check the boxes for readers who love a few different tropes: <br /> ✔ FMC who has been super sheltered her whole life due to an abusive situation<br /> ✔ FMC is something super special that hasn't existed <br /> ✔ Because of sheltered life, FMC is very naive (think, IMO, more than Sang from Ghostbird)<br /> ✔ Fated mates<br />Maya is innocent and has next to no applicable knowledge of the world; in fact, she barely even understands the purpose of cell phone (hence my earlier comparison to Sang). She's out of her depth when it comes to the world around her, to understanding men, to her shifter magic and other persona. Although she does show some protective tendencies and some unexpected fierceness, be prepared for her to need to be rescued for a bit.<br /><br />The guys are interesting. They're dragons, which is a shifter type I've always loved but definitely get to see very often. We don't get to learn too much about them in this first book, but I think, with some events that happen towards the end of book one, shifter abilities and shifter politics are going to become much more of the spotlight topic in book two. <br /><br />Aside from that, there's a few different personalities, but we don't get to know the guys too well yet. A lot of the plot is focused on the drama of Maya and getting her away from her parents. I'm looking forward to learning more about them- but, just for a taste- we have the bad boy, twin brothers, the super smart one, the authoritative leader, the outlier. So, we do have something for everyone!<br /><br />Overall, I was entertained by Reborn in Flames. It wasn't knock my socks off amazing, but I don't have any big complaints that make me regret digging into it, and I'll be checking out book two! <br />

I dug this.<br />It��s pretty good has a bit of the virgin trope, but that’s to be understandable if she’s been locked up. The story was a bit more tame than I expected but I still enjoyed the story. It also didn’t allude to it centering around going to school, and it doesn’t, but there are a lot of school scenes. The story isn’t fully done yet, so I don’t feel like it’s fully developed enough for me to figure out what these outside school characters are for. Jordan a girl from school, Seth, and Malloy, I have no idea if they are supposed to be friends, or what we see them rarely that we don’t know much about them.<br /><br />Overall I like the book, but it could use a bit of direction. There’s a lot of nothing going on and a lot of alluding but nothing much happens per se until the back end of the book. However I’m still with it and intrigued enough to want to go onto the next story.

Meh. I’ve read this before.<br /><br />Maya is a virginal Mary Sue of all the special who doesn’t know what a “date” is but somehow knows what a clit is. And she has insta-organisms in spite of a lifetime of abuse both physical and emotional and—- dammit authors who write this bull shit—have you ever researched how abused people act and feel and are actually f-cking traumatized? I know this is fiction but give me a break, at least TRY to ground your characters in real emotion. If you give them trauma, they have to work past it. They can’t have MAGIC TINGLES take away the bad.<br /><br />And...Maya innocently “Oops I touched your penis!!” Then—“Oh my, what a big shlong you have! That must mean you like me!” Too many times. All the eye rolls.<br /><br />Sorry. I’m just done.

<strong>Simultaneously loved and hated it</strong><br /><br />By love, I mostly mean the idea of it. Premise whise, I was so excited and held high hopes for this. I don't, as a personal rule leave reviews under three stars but I had to force myself to finish this and can't bring myself to give it more than two. The rest of the review contains potential spoilers as I don't think I can fully explain why I didn't like this without them. <br />I don't think it's that spoilery to mention Phoenixes, and I love them, they're one of my favorite supes, so I was so ready for a book with a Phoenix as the mc.<br />This didn't deliver. The main character is annoying and juvenile and while some of the naivete is understandable, other parts aren't. I actually don't mind weak heroines or damsel in distress tropes, and that's not the issue, her personality just didn't make sense to me. <br />How is she aware enough to know she's not normal and that the mistreatment isn't normal but not able to realize that she's not evil and deserves love and happiness? And that particular plot point seemingly disappears as soon as she turns 18, I guess because she finally realized she was lied to?<br />And her trauma is just not handled realistically at all. I'm not a psychologist but I have studied it. <br />I would imagine someone having survived that situation would potentially have one of two core personality traits maybe even both interlapping. <br />One, anger at everything they've been through, the people that mistreated them, the world, possibly even themselves, maybe even the mates for not rescuing them. Prone to lashing out and mistrustful because of it. <br />Or two, timid/scared. Easily frightened, wanting to run away, won't make eye contact, also mistrustful. Prone to being quiet, flinching, and hiding. <br />Happy go lucky, bright and cheery just doesn't fit, given her background. It's like she was created with the emotional capacity of a child. <br />Like I said, the naivete makes sense in some context, but since she was partially educated and had things to read, and was constantly abused, if anything it would make sense for her to be more logical/clinical than emotional and to analyze things more by facts and what's presented and possibly be socially awkward and not even fully aware of that awkwardness. And along with that clinicalness she would most likely be adverse to touching, given that all her physical interactions were violent. She was socially awkward, I'll give her that, but clearly realized it, and had barely any problems with cuddling and touching. She was naive about sex and social situations, the fact that she was told about sex and apparently had the threat of sexual abuse hanging over her, should've made her more aware of sexual situations. The naive to social interactions/cues make sense, but I stand with her open, honest, cheerfulness isn't realistic. <br />There's some implausible scenarios as well. Like Jed and the Mom sending her to a rich school that just happens to have a lot of shifters at it. If Jed supposedly has all this money, we find out later from clubs, then why does he live in a rundown trailer? How were they able to even get her in school when she apparently has no social, birth certificate, or any records at all? A lot of schools won't let students attend without having at least one round of vaccines, from my understanding, but that wasn't a problem? <br />How did she know when her birthday was? And of course it ended up being a day early, but how'd she even know. <br />How was Jed, supposedly a normal human, able to get into a guarded house with 6 dragons and drag off the mc and have her long enough for them to kill her? Like I know it's a fantasy book but if these dragons are so badass, shouldn't they have sensed something?<br />The council wanting her to meet other dragons doesn't fully make sense. If the mate thing is such a big deal and everyone knows how possessive and protective dragons are of their mates, why would that even be an issue, especially when she's confirmed it. It feels like that was added in to cause me drama. <br />The father at the end, he snidely remarks that she has no birth certificate to prove she's 18, yet if he has no paperwork to prove his connection to her, and it's clear they aren't biologically related than the human authorities would most likely never take any claim on her seriously and arrest him, especially if she reveals her mistreatment. Also how was he able to get away with hiding her for so long? <br />I'll give it that the mystery of the cult was interesting but that's about it. A lot of the characters are one dimensional tropes. The mc is unrealistic and the story is convoluted. Plus a few antagonists with unclear motives, or just deranged like the Mom and Becky. <br />I feel bad for giving this such a low rating but with all these things that just don't make sense plot whise, I can't recommend it. I know I probably won't finish this series, but hopefully it gets better for those that do.

Not very spicy but it was cute.<br /><br />Heroine is a virgin, and has never kissed anyone before. She also doesn’t know much about romance or dating because she was sheltered her whole life.<br /><br />Not sure if any of the H’s are virgins. I would assume not. The twins had their ex’s show up but they said they only dated the girls for about a month and it wasn’t love. Two other girls hit on other members of the harem but the guys told the heroine they weren’t interested and never fucked them.<br /><br />No sex has taken place yet hence the not very spicy part. <br /><br />A cute read, mostly forgettable and will probably not continue the series because I need to read more books on my tbr?

Who knew I'd love a book about a heroine who is naïve as all hell! I am normally one for a badass heroine. And Maya, she is definitely not that kind of heroine.<br /><br />Maya has had it tough her whole life. She's 17 and has been locked in the basement of her church where she lived with her mother and father. They beat her, said she had the devil inside her because she had supernatural healing abilities. Well one day her father dies and her mother moves Maya all the way across the US to get away from Maya's father's "cult".<br /><br />On the way she runs into her "mate". Without knowing it. Then ends up going to school with the rest of them and let me tell you! They are so sweet! Very "mine", "my mate" type of guys. But they're so sweet to her because of the way she's had it growing up.<br /><br />Maya grows a lot in this story. The one thing that bugged me was the fact that Maya in the first 17 years of her life never seen anyone but her mother, father, and then her mothers boyfriend. She literally knew no one else. And all of a sudden she's got all these "friends" and she just didn't question anything. But it was still super cute. And I'm on to the next one! :D