Category: Check Content Warning/Triggers

Guardian Demon by Aurora Ascher

On By TracyIn Check Content Warning/Triggers, Contemporary, Paranormal / Fantasy, Part of a Series, Re-Release / Updated Edition, Romantasy, Top Pick - Highly Recommended, Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

Guardian Demon by Aurora Ascher

Tracy’s Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: Hell Bent #4

Release Date: September 30, 2025

After being demoted to a guardian angel, Sunshine has been waiting centuries for redemption. So, when she is summoned by her angelic mentor and given a mission to locate and return as stolen grimoire, a task that once completed will see her reinstated to her former rank, she jumps at the chance. But when she learns that she will have to go to hell to retrieve the grimoire, Sunshine decides she will need help and knows the perfect demon for the job! She knows that Raum will never help her voluntarily, so a bit of blackmail will be needed. She should feel bad about that, but she thinks Raum is just a means to an end. She never expected to like him or be attracted to him or heaven forbid (literally) to fall in love with him and question everything she ever believed.

Centuries ago, the demon Raum, an Earl of Hell, did something so vile, that heaven wiped his memory for the previous three centuries and leaving him feeling empty and numb. Now he and his “brothers” have left hell and live as fugitives in Canada, hunted by both heaven and hell. Raum has no memory of his lost time but knows he is not the same demon he used to be, and now he only true vice is stealing, not for personal gain, but for the small thrill it gives him. One by one his brothers have found love and Raum is feeling more numb than ever, so when he sees Sunshine for the first time, he is stunned to feel something for her, but before he can figure out the feeling, she is gone. Days later she turns up at a nightclub and they dance, which leads to the promise of more, yet ends up with Raum being held prisoner by Sunshine until he agrees to help her steal the grimoire from the Necromancer in hell. Raum agrees to help her to save his family but can’t shake the feeling that there is something between them. But how could that be as he is a demon and she is an angel?

I am freaking OBSESSED with this series! I freely admit that I had my doubts about this book, but I think it might end up being my favorite of the series. I loved Sunshine and Raum, they are both amazing characters and the chemistry between them is scorching hot. This book has lies, secrets, betrayal, torture, smoking hot love scenes, a bit of Dom/Sub action, an anti-hero who will burn worlds for her, laugh out loud brother moments, rescue dogs, shocking revelations, and a mind-blowing ending that still has me stunned! OMG – I just loved this book so much and can’t wait to read the next installment! If you like morally gray characters, steamy love scenes, lots of action and snarky banter – you need to read this book. This is the fourth book in the series, and while it could be read as a standalone title, I would recommend reading the series in order for the best reader experience.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher/author. All opinions in this review are my own. *

Rake in Disguise by Jane Charles

On By TracyIn Check Content Warning/Triggers, Georgian Era (1714-1837), Part of a Series, Regency Era (1811-1820), Series Crossover, Top Pick - Highly Recommended, Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

Rake in Disguise (Wicked Widows' League)Rake in Disguise by Jane Charles

Tracy’s Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: Wicked Widows League #33 & Observations of a Wallflower #6

Release Date: September 16, 2025

Lady Blythe Clay nee Claxton has endured a lot since marrying Lieutenant John Clay, a man her father the Duke of Arscott did not approve of, but she believed they loved each other and eventually her father would come around. When the war started, Blythe followed John to France and has been done her best to be a good wife, but now after four years of marriage, John has realized that her father is never going to support them and has decided that he is done with Blythe and sells her in a public wife auction! Blythe is beyond mortified by the auction and isn’t sure what to expect when Dr. Orlando Valentine buys her. She has seen him before associating with the camp followers and thinks he is a rake. But she is surprised when he rents her a room at a local inn and treats her with respect. They become friends and soon deeper feelings develop, but Orlando will not dishonor her by committing adultery. After the battle of Waterloo, Blythe goes looking for Orlando and learns that her husband was killed. She is overwhelmed by the news and when she sees Orlando treating the injured, she knows she is not good enough for him and that is it time for her to return home. She leaves him a letter and hopes he will seek her out in England. But it will be almost three years before they meet again, can they rekindle the feelings they once had, or has too much time passed for a second chance?

Dr. Orlando Valentine fell in love with Blythe before he ever met her but kept his distance when he learned she was married. When he sees her being auctioned, he steps in and saves her. He takes her to the tent he shares with his sister Isabella but quickly realizes that she can’t stay there. He finds a room at an inn for her and visits her each night, so the innkeeper thinks they are married. Their friendship grows and he falls fast and hard for her and believes she cares for him too, but when she disappears without a word after Waterloo and he learns she is now a widow, he thinks she realized that she was too good for him and left. He doesn’t try to find her, thinking she wants nothing to do with him, but when their paths cross years later, Orlando decides he wants answers and won’t let her walk away again.

What a sweet, second chance romance this was! Blythe and Orlando are both characters that I knew and liked from previous Jane Charles books, and I was so happy to learn that this would be their love story! The book is basically written in two parts, before Waterloo and then three years later in England, and finally gives readers who have been following both families, some long awaited answers about Orlando’s love life! The story is packed with emotion, secrets, betrayal, hope, friendship, insecurities, warm love scenes, acceptance and finally a long-awaited HEA complete with a very sweet epilogue! I loved this book and would highly recommend it to my fellow HR readers, especially those who have been following the Valentine and Claxton family sagas!

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher/author. All opinions in this review are my own. *