Series: Standalone Anthology
Authors: See Below
Stars: 4 out of 5 (overall)
Book Blurb:
Indulge in 10 all-new reverse harem stories from New York Times, USA Today, and bestselling authors, as well as up-and-coming indie authors. This collection of modern, paranormal, and sci-fi romances is sure to satisfy every palate. Whether you love to turn up the heat with a spicy romance, or savor a sweet love story, Falling for Them has it all. On sale for a limited time, all proceeds will go to charity. Help us make a difference for the new year by doing what you love…meeting our guys.
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Special Note: On February 16th, Falling for Them will no longer be available for purchase. The royalties will be tallied, and the authors will send their donation to St Jude Children's Hospital. Many of the authors will be releasing their stories as standalone books, so the stories will still be available, just not as a collection. So, if you want to get all of these stories in one book, hurry and order your copy of Falling for Them now!
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Falling for Them is an anthology featuring 10 reverse harem original stories and 2 reverse harem novel samples. The stories are NA so the romance and sex scenes can get pretty explicit. I found some of the works included in the anthology more enjoyable than others, but overall this was a very entertaining anthology and it's great that the proceeds go to charity. It's difficult to review this book as a whole, so I've written mini reviews for each story instead below in the order that they appear in the book.
4.5 stars: Raising the Stakes - Autumn Reed & Julia Clarke
I really liked Emma, the main character, whose journalism background came in handy as she investigated the three swoon-worthy love interests who suspiciously all start pursuing her the same night when she meets them at a trendy club in Vegas. The story is well-written and well-paced. It was instant attraction between Emma and the guys, but the relationships took more work, which I appreciated. I also appreciated that, while this story was short, it was complete; no cliff hanger ending here! But I wouldn't mind seeing more of Emma, Cole, Nicholas, and Shane should the authors choose to write another story! ;)
3.5 stars: Meeting Them - Rebecca Royce
This story is set in the Wings of Artemis world but you don't need to have read any of the other books to understand this story (I should know...I haven't read any of the other Wings of Artemis books but I'm thinking I will now!). Paloma has had a pretty rough life - she was sent to a convent as a teen where she faced endless abuse - but it hasn't broken her. One day, Clay McQueen comes to warn the Sisters that they are in danger, but they send him away and as he's leaving he is almost killed by a falling rock, but Paloma saves him. Soon after, the worst happens and the convent is blown up but Paloma escapes and finds refuge with Clay and his brothers, Thomas, Quinn, and Keith. But the McQueen brothers are hiding a dangerous secret. This was another complete story, but set up for a sequel. One thing I found disappointing was that while Paloma was strong in that she never let circumstances keep her down, she was too passive and the guys were always riding in to save the day.
2.5 stars: Finding Nora - Ripley Proserpina
Nora is another unlucky character with a difficult life. This story has a very interesting premise. Nora was substitute teaching when one of her past foster brothers comes to the school and starts shooting, then kills himself. Nora saves her students but is injured and then becomes a major suspect. Though she was eventually cleared, she was vilified and now can't find anyone willing to hire her and many people are scared or suspicious of her though she was a victim. Luckily, she's got a great group of supportive guys in her life and it was great seeing the group's dynamics. I was frustrated though, because I felt like I was starting the story halfway in. Turns out, there is a first book where we see the shooting happen and how the guys come into her life, so maybe it's better to read that first. Nora was also in a really sketchy study and everything about it gave me bad vibes but Nora didn't seem as cautious or skeeved out as she should be. This story also didn't feel complete; I felt left hanging at the end which was disappointing.
4.5 Stars: The Four Clever Brothers - Amy Sumida
This was a fun story written in the style of a fairy tale. Adelysia is a princess of a small kingdom kidnapped by a dragon prince. I was frustrated at first because she doesn't put up a fight at all in the beginning, instead she figures she would have been married off to someone eventually with no choice so why put up a fight against this guy even though he repulses her? She does redeem herself and grow more of a backbone thank goodness, but after the four clever brothers use their magical mermaid gifts to save her from the dragons. The relationships between Adelysia and the brothers is great, but I also really liked the relationship between her and her parents. This was also a cliff-hanger free, complete story.
4 Stars: House of Glass - Lyn Forester
This was an interesting, futuristic story featuring Caitlyn Lonette, aka Sparks, who races disc-bikes against the wishes of her Councilman father. He sends her to the Academia for Planetary Alliance to follow in his footsteps, and the day she arrives at the school, she meets Blaze, Vice, and Rush, who turn out to be her biggest competitors from the disc-bike races. The guys' dynamics is great and Sparks fits in well, and quickly. The world is intriguing and though their is enough world-building for readers to understand the story and what's going on, I am curious to know more. While this is a complete story, the ending wasn't entirely satisfying for me and even though Sparks knew the guys before they interact at school, they were competitors that she didn't interact with outside of the races so I'm not entirely sold by how quickly the romance develops between them all at the school. Still, I was very entertained by the story and I look forward to reading the next Poisoned Houses story.
3.5 Stars: Another Move - RM Walker
This book started out great, but ended on a cliff-hanger, which is a big pet peeve of mine. Lily's mom is an artist so they are constantly moving so her mom can find new inspiration and complete commissions. Also complicating matters is that Lily has seizures. This time, Lily's mom has a long-term painting project so Lily has a chance to put down some roots and make friends. Lily quickly captures the attention of Joshua, Jacob, Matt, and Nate and they pull her into their tight-knit group. There is plenty of intrigue as the guys have a secret, Lily's seizures may be more than they seem, and a mysterious man has sinister intentions towards Lily. All of this exciting stuff is revealed, however, near the very end and the resolution doesn't come until the next story. I've got a lot of questions about some of the information revealed that I feel could have been explained better or more in depth, but hopefully I will get some answers when the next installment is released.
2.5 stars: Precursor - AJ Anders
This story had a lot of promise but failed in the execution. There were many editing errors and I found the world-building lacking. The story is set in the United States and Evie lives in an anti-Surmata (the Surmata are some kind of paranormal beings) resistance camp, which her cruel father leads. Evie hates the camp and doesn't believe in the resistance and is biding her time until she turns 18 and can escape. Her best friend, Max, is a half-Surmata spying on the camp. Through Max, she meets other Surmata but an encounter with a demon planned by her father and Dominic, a leader in the camp who wants her, causes her to lose all memory of her Surmata friends. The story ends with a disappointing cliff-hanger. I was really interested in the story, but was distracted by errors in the writing and found myself with too many questions.
2.5 Stars: Ellie's Bears - G.E. Kelly
This story features Ellie and the three shape-shifting bears she befriended as a toddler and comes to love as men. While the premise was very interesting, this was another story that didn't meet the mark for me. The writing and dialogue didn't always flow well and I found Ellie annoying at times. One good note is that the story is complete and doesn't have a cliff-hanger!
3 Stars: One Greedy Fool - AS Oren
This story also features the paranormal, which I enjoyed. Sincerity, or Hope as she prefers, is another strong character making the best of some tough circumstances. At the beginning of the story we learn that she is homeless and interning for a P.I. because she'd like to become a P.I. herself and find her parents. Soon she gets a night shift working at a prison guarding none other than the seven deadly sins. Talk about interesting! I appreciate how strong Hope is and how she doesn't mope around and feel sorry for herself and act passively, instead she works to change things. The story is also really original. Still, I had a lot of questions revolving around this world that the author created and was confused about many things. There were also some editing/formatting issues that I found distracting.
4 Stars: Favored - C.L. Stone
This story seems to be set in an Asian alternate world with magical elements. The old emperor died and there is a big selection process being held in the Immortal City to pick who will be advisers to the new emperor. Mizuki, the main character, is eligible to go and try for the position. With the help of Ryuu, an old classmate and another candidate, Mrs. Satsu, her sponsor, and Sota, her escort, Mizuki travels to the Immortal City and prepares for the selection process. I liked the characters, the world, and the elements of intrigue. This story, of all of the stories in the anthology, is the lightest on romance. This story is complete and ends with the conclusion of the selection process, but is set up for another story. I personally would like to know what happens next!
Love is Not Lost by ikki Bolvair and Charcoal Tears by Jane Washington are sample chapters from already published books. Because they are only samples and not full stories, I am not reviewing them in this post.
Full disclosure: I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review
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