If I could give this 10:5 chilly peppers for spice… I would. I know stranger to shifter/monster romance novels so when I saw this a basilisk, I was intrigued. I knew going into this. This was going to be spicy, however, I don’t think until you read it you can truly be prepared. The spice is the story, so there is some plot, but lots of peppers. We also have a love triangle to content with and a girl learning how to please. For me personally, this would’ve been a five star if the plot was a little bit heavier on things outside of the bedroom. But I do understand why the author wrote it the way she did. And I enjoyed it and would recommend if you’re looking for something way out of your norm.

This was INTENSE and unhinged. I don't know if I could have prepared myself for reading this based solely off the description alone, but what a wild ride. Honestly don't think Monster romances are my speed, but if they are yours, you are in for a SPICYYYYY ride. Fast paced, smutty, with a unique plot. Make sure that you read the content warning for this book, there is so much spice of alllll different kinds for 500+ pages. Magic and world building were interesting, but that didn't seem like the point of this book to me honestly. I would recommend this book for very specific audience.

Thank you Netgalley and Bloom for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I went into this book not entirely sure what to expect, as I’ve never read a shifter romance before, but wow, did it blow me away! This was an easy five-star read. The chemistry between the main characters was electrifying, with just the right amount of push and pull to keep me hooked. The steamy scenes were intense, but they never overshadowed the story itself. Instead, the plot was rich, well-paced, and full of depth, making for the perfect balance of romance, tension, and intrigue. I was completely captivated from start to finish, and I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a compelling and passionate read!

Thanks to Bloom Books for this ARC. All opinions are my own

I'd like to start by saying what the hell?

For context, Tem is a chicken farmer, who is among a bunch of several other 20-year-old village girls vying for the hand of a prince in the Bachelor- non-descript village edition. But first they must all train in the art of sex, and no one in the village is more qualified for that role than the Basilisks who live in caves at the edge of the forest.

That's all you need to know going in because the rest of the plot is just smut OD'ing on Adderall.
Caspen is Tem's Basilisk teacher and he's got a six pack and a personality disorder. They're engaged by their second meeting (unbeknownst to Tem) when he gives her a claw dildo because such is the Basilisk way.
Without completely assassinating Tem's character, the world revolved around her for no reason. We know nothing about her except she hates her chicken farm

The world-building was as elaborate as the set of an elementary school play. The women here have no backstory, no agency, and absolutely no influence on the plot. Vera was a two dimensional cut out of Taylor Vaughan, none of the mothers had any role or history. Daphne was a robot, and Leos and Caspen's mothers didn't exist. The fathers were villains because what else would they be?

I wasn't expecting an epic for the ages (though I would have liked some forewarning of pelvises breaking), but everyone was terrible and the plot was a house of feathers in a hurricane. I will say that even though my brain screamed to DNF at every chapter, the twists were a dopamine hit, and everything here was a twist.

I truly had no clue what I was getting into with this book, but it was unhinged in an impossible to put down kind of way. I agree with the intro to the book that it is best to go in as blind as possible so I will avoid any spoilers. I will say, while I found myself frequently frustrated with ALL of the characters, I still enjoyed the book for exactly what it is - a smutty good time.

This was a fun read for me. Haha. Not a single dull moment.
Tons of spice with a fun plot. If monster romance is your thing, this one is for you this way my first monster/creature romance and it was very interesting to say the least.

So this is how I learned monster romances are not for me. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc ebook in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Omg this book is addictive! I read it back when the author had it on her website and I’m so glad she got a publishing deal because she deserves it. This book has all the spice and romance you could want.

This book was something else! Unlike anything I’ve ever read before. It will stick with me for a lifetime!!!! Read this if you like romance, monster or creature romance, thought provoking books, and you are out for a surprising good time!

THE SPICE!!!! Absolutely loved it. If you can't handle the heat, do not read this book, go back to YA books because this is not for you.

I love a good monster romance, so I was excited to read this (what can I say, I'm a little bit of a perv). I devoured this book in less than a day it was so good. It has everything you could want when it comes to a book in this genre, and then some. Very much recommend a read to those who enjoy spicy monster books.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

Full disclosure, I walked into this book expecting it to be kind of a silly, frivolous read that I didn't take very seriously. I wanted to read it because the plot sounded wildly unhinged (a la Lindsay's mom's review of it), and thought it would just be fun. Was it unhinged? Yes. Was it super fun? Absolutely. Did I expect to be totally and completely invested in and absorbed by the plot and basilisk politics? Never would have guessed. If you couldn't tell, I REALLY loved this book, and honestly I still think about it everyday.

The premise of the book is that our FMC, Tem, has never been kissed. She lives in a world where basilisk shifters "train" the young women in her town on the art of seduction, so they can win the Prince's hand in marriage. Long story short, there are a lot of deliciously steamy scenes that made this savant of smut swoon. I usually don't like books where the plot is secondary to the plot, or happens just to happen/for fan service, but Lindsay truthfully did a fantastic job making sure we got plenty of spice without making it feel oversaturated or boring. And the spice was so essentially to the plot in a way I've never seen before. I also loved that this book was totally unpredictable. I read a lot, so I tend to notice patterns and can pretty quickly predict what is about to happen. That did not happen with this book and I found myself saying, "what...?" multiple times (in the best of ways).

I came out of this book low key having a thing for basilisks and I don't know how to feel about that, and I think that's quite a testament to the world Lindsay was able to build.

Please read this book!

Oh boy did I enjoy this book. There was never a moment to feel bored, because it was fast paced… even with how long it is. This book is top of the scales (get it?) spicy, but it plays to the plot. It’s not spicy for no reason, the sex is all interlaced with the plot. Which makes it seem way less smutty, though, smutty it is. And in the best way. I’ll be honest, I saw someone give a bad review for this book and that’s what sold me on it 😂 you say cracked pelvis and give it a one star? I say absolutely yes and throw 5 stars at it 😂 you say there’s smut on every page and there’s no plot? I say “mom, let’s read this book.” This was just a fun read. I laughed, I teared up a couple times, I was shooketh and texting my mom at midnight at others. And I think the author is so funny, too!
Oh, and basilisks are my favorite shifter. 😇

Whooo! This book was a lot! I'm still processing it a week later. The writing is good. I enjoyed the world building and cared about the characters. It pushes the limits of the typical romance however. And there's so.much.sex. Be prepared and read the content warnings!

I recommend it. It's a book you won't forget and you'll want to talk to a friend about!

I genuinely thought I was going to love this, but I fear that was not the case. It started out strong - the concept was unique, Tem & her basilisk had me hooked, and I actually enjoyed the excessive spice. Unfortunately it all went downhill from there and Tem got more and more insufferable as it went on. I honestly couldn’t find a believable reason as to why these two men would be so obsessed with her. The way she flitted back and forth between them despite supposedly having this insane bond with one of them was just nonsensical.

I’m glad to have read this because I wanted to see what everyone was talking about, but I don’t think I’ll be reading the next one especially if it’s as long as this one.

Thank you to Bloom and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have such mixed feelings on this book, I’d heard a brief summary of what the book was about before reading so I already knew I was in for some weird reading but I’ll always try anything once to see if it works out for me or not 😂

My general consensus is that I did actually enjoy reading this book, but there are a lot of contradicting factors to the characters which is why I’m going with an in the middle three star rating.

So what did I like first.. I did like the love interest.. both of them (we have a love triangle situation which brings an interesting dynamic to the book based upon how the competing characters respond to this). I was a big fan of Caspen at first he seems to have a calm logical personality which drew me to him, however I did find towards the end of the book there were certain things he was okay with our FMC Tem doing that kind of put me off him. I was also a big fan of Leo’s character, despite his entry to the book as a smug arrogant prince I could definitely sense something beyond his surface level mask, and I enjoyed getting to go deeper and see his true nature come out, especially in the last chapter of the book that was from his POV I think this was maybe my favourite chapter of the entire book, I loved hearing his thoughts first hand.

I also liked the general plot even though it is definitely unusual, but that’s what makes it appealing to me as it isn’t similar to anything I’ve read before. I enjoyed seeing Tem get some form of payback against the mean girls and the way the village has shunned her. I also enjoyed how she was the master of her own life and the men in her life didn’t try to sway her or take away her choices.

What I didn’t like:

There was a lot of character traits between Tem and Caspen that were wishy washy where they ended up contradicting themselves. For one, Tem is supposed to be this naive innocent inexperienced girl who is wholly insecure due to years of insults and bullying, and sometimes she acted accordingly and then in the next scene she would have this unfounded confidence where she would be making demands from the serpent king or telling the human prince she knew she was beautiful and didn’t care about his compliments. This kept happening repeatedly and I was honestly getting whiplash from her 180 in confidence and perspective.

As for Caspen I touched on this before but he would go from scene to scene saying how much he loved her and didn’t want to harm her and then the next scene he would be totally happy for her to do these outrageous things that could cause her harm or emotional pain. I just couldn’t find any consistency between these two characters thoughts and actions and it threw me off.

Overall thoughts.. will I read the next book? Yes I need to hear more from Leo 😂

Thank you to Sourcebooks Bloom Books and Lindsa Straube for a gifted copy!

Truly living in serpent summer. KOTB/SOS has been an absolutely wild ride and easily one of my favorite recent reads. Enthralled by Tem's journey and the world Lindsay created. A captivating, sexy read--definitely NSFW. Team Leo forever.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy of the Deluxe Edition. The bonus Leo chapter is everything. Can’t wait for book two!

From the very first page, I was hooked. The passion and plot kept me fully engaged, and the chemistry between the characters was irresistible. It’s the most fun I’ve had reading a romantasy, with unexpected emotional depth in some of the intimate scenes. While the spice got a bit repetitive, I didn’t mind—it was still a fantastic ride. The ending could’ve used some refinement, but it didn’t take away from the experience. Definitely go into this one blind, as it’s a journey worth taking.

Now I'm all for spice, but there's a time and a place for it. This story was always going to have more than the average. I mean, the entire premise is a girl training to seduce the prince and being taught how to f*** by sexy snakes. But even with that being said, I feel like it was too much. Every other chapter had spice... for 500+ pages. Maybe I'd feel differently if it was different each time and had the FMC exploring different elements of her sexuality, but it was the same thing literally over and over and over again.

That being said, the 10% that was plot was interesting and gripping enough to keep me going. Actually, it was better than that. The plot kept me from putting the book down, and is the reason I was able to get through this so quickly. In summary, you have these two factions, the Basilisks and the Humans. The Basilisks lost a war hundreds of years prior and as part of a peace treaty, agree to train the Prince's marriage prospects in the ways of the basilisks (because sex is power and super normalized in snake society). To be a prospect, you have to be born in the same year as the prince. Now enter our FMC Temperance (Tem), who is the daughter of a chicken farmer and a social parriah in her village. She happens to be trained by the Serpent King (Caspen), who is known for teaching the most women that have ended up as past Prince's selections. While training, Caspen and Tem can't fight this connection they feel towards each other. But at the same time, Tem is growing closer to the Prince.

The magic system and worldbuilding in this were really fascinating. The cresting, other basilisk abilities, and the significance of gold (iykyk)... it was just enough to sustain me and hold my interest. Could this also have been done better, absolutely. But as it was, the book was an entertaining read that I'd recommend to a VERY specific audience. Think Ice Planet Barbarians.

Tropes:
✨Monster Romance
✨Love Triangle
✨Competition/Trials
✨Forbidden Romance
✨Fish Out of Water

This book actually had me contemplating if there was such a thing as "too much smut"? 😅
But for real, I loved this book! The plot thickened multiple times (So did the men. 😏), and I was just dying to know how this story would end. I felt a strong connection to the FMC and loved watching her progress and come into her own and it didn't hurt that the men here are absolutely swoon-worthy! 😍
"A wild ride." to be sure!