I picked Honeysuckles by January Rayne based off of BookTok and Amazon. To see it listed as four stars on Amazon with it listed as #2 in Vampire Thrillers, #2 in Vampire Suspense, and #3 in Werewolf & Shifter Thrillers, I thought this has to be good. I love vampires. I love shifters. I love romance. What a mistake and bamboozle!
One star because I finished it. Second star because the spice was well written. Those are the positives.
Before I begin into the negatives, please be warned for content warnings for sexual assault. First, there was no romance. Not even instalove. It just didn’t exist. I understand fated mates. There still should be something there. Any kind of underlying attraction or I would take even conversation. None of that happens here. I mean there is barely a paragraph of dialogue between Creed and Demi but they are in love and this is romance. That’s fine. I wanted to read a romance but I’ll take erotica. And as I mentioned, the sex was well written. However, most of it, including when the FMC lost her virginity, happens while she is unconscious/drugged. Out of all the encounters, only one or two were actually consensual. This wasn’t even dubcon. Plus, because they were mates and she orgasmed, it was apparently okay.
I absolutely cannot recommend Honeysuckles by January Rayne unless you are looking for erotica with no romance and sexual assault. If you are, you’ll love this. If you’re looking for vampire or shifter romance? Big ole skip!
