My current reading tastes can be summed up with billionaires, mafia, and aliens. 

First up- I think this was my favorite audiobook of recent months. I LOVED The Casanova by TL Swan. I’ve enjoyed the entire series, but this one had it all and the performance was terrific. I heard the term “suit porn” said in an English accent and I am trying to find ways to use it daily. What’s this fun enemies to lovers trope about? Elliott Miles, third brother in the hot Miles brother pack who owns Miles Media, is a total player who runs the London office of their billion dollar company.  Kate is the buttoned-up head of IT who lives to annoy Elliott. They spar regularly and there’s no love lost. Except when Elliott spies on his in-house security system an attractive woman in the copy room dancing a bit and having fun. He’s stunned to realize it’s Kate. Elliott is an unexpectedly amazing character. He’s a dreamer who believes in fate. A lover of creativity and passionate about finding an extraordinary romance and life partner. Witty and sexy, smart and kind…he’s a wonderful, very smutty character. His dirty talk is on point. Kate is hilarious. I loved her sense of humor, her intelligence, the way she fought back, the banter, and her strength. If you remember the old Pina Colada song from Rupert Holmes, it has those kinds of vibes. Once you read it, and you should, you’ll get that reference.  :)

Next, TikTok made me read Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon.

This book took over TikTok for months and I finally gave in. I’m glad I did! It’s a sci-fi alien romance. The alien in this scenario is blue, horned, very large, with a tail and suede-like skin. The book was released in 2015 and there are now 22 books in the series. It’s fun to see books trending that has been out for a while and are now getting a new burst of readers. The story follows Georgie and her kidnapped by other aliens (not of the sexy variety…) group of women as their spaceship takes a detour and crash lands on a faraway planet. Georgie is the bravest of her girl gang and takes off on the snowy planet to find help. She runs into Vektal, who immediately recognizes her as his true mate. Their relationship progresses VERY quickly and in great detail. It’s a fun read! 

Then, I was in the mood for even more aliens. I really enjoyed the first books in Zoey Draven’s Horde Kings of Dakkar series, so I started on book four, Broken by the Horde King. I liked this even better than Ice Planet Barbarians. Kiran and Maeva grew up together. Kiran is the alien and Maeva is a human who was adopted by an alien family.  Maeva has always loved Kiran and he has always loved her. But, his love was more like a brother for many years. When Maeva very publicly announced her feelings for him, he turned his back on her, embarrassing her and effectively damaging their friendship. I felt the hot chemistry between Kiran and Maeva and his grovel was epic! The storyline is rich! There’s romance, adventure, action, politics, and a mysterious red mist threatening the planet. I’m in for the next book- can’t wait!

Finally, I’ve been meaning to try a Sophie Lark book for quite some time and picked up Brutal Prince. There are six books in the series. This first one is an enemy to lovers, arranged marriage, and dark mafia story, with our H, Callum an heir to the Irish mafia. And, Aida is the smart sassy h, and part of the Italian mafia family who are the Irish’s arch-rivals. Aida and her brothers decide to crash a party at Callum’s house. She starts a small fire. Oops. Callum sees her running off with her brothers. He finds her. They have an intense hatred for each other that is full of clever insults and some underlying sexual tension. Their families make amends for the fire by telling these two they must get married, thus putting all of the past enemy stuff to bed (quite literally) for everyone involved. Packed with humor, this opposites finally attract story had me up all night. I’m anxious to read the other five books.