Lege et Lacrima

I’m not even sure on where to begin with this one other than saying how much I loved this book!

Lalah is a strong, independent woman who needs her space and security after experiencing multiple traumas throughout her life. She battles with the darkness daily and keeps herself mostly isolated while running her incredible company helping small businesses around the country.
When she settles in Lost Hope she experiences human connections like she’s never had before and has to learn to open herself up to them.

When Cole’s family goes through the unthinkable and makes their way to start a new life they cross paths with Lalah. Cole is the best big brother and is nothing but supportive and caring to those he loves.

The relationship between Cole’s family and Lalah is beautiful. His young sisters are adorable and have the best personalities and reading them interacting with Lalah is amazing. His younger Brother Blake is funny and kind throughout, him and Cole are the best brothers the girls could ask for.

Through challenges and trauma the new found family unit needs to learn how to adapt and take on whatever comes at them.

Alina’s writing is honest and I think incredibly relatable. I laughed and cried multiple times throughout this book and cannot wait till I read it again. This has very easily climbed to the top of my favourite books and I can’t wait for the next in the series to be available!

This book is heartbreaking and beautiful, it shattered me and stuck me back together again.

Lege et Lacrima:
(Read it and Weep)
This book.
Easily the best NON fantasy romance that I’ve read in a long time. The FMC reminds me of an alternate universe Abby. Literally from tiny things like where she lives (is where I was born) to how she keeps her hair, to the anxiety she has, to the way she loves to read. Her dream house, is MY dream house, her dream job, is MY dream job. If I won millions of dollars I would do exactly what she does.

The MMC is a 6 foot 4 ex marine with tattoos and a soft side. Sooo. Yeah. Did I mention he falls first? And it’s a kind of reverse grumpy sunshine situation. NO miscommunication trope.

Some slightly scary and intense parts that should come with some trigger warnings: cheating, Domestic Violence and mentions of child abuse, death of parents, car wreck, fire, overdose, drinks being drugged, Grape.

While this book did have some intense moments, I didn’t feel stressed the whole time I was reading it. I could just tell that the author wanted it to be a good story with a beautiful end. And I’m so glad because I feel refreshed. I loved the love that Lalah finds and I’m just still surprised how similar we are (even both of us having Emetophobia)

I also love how this author throws consent into every situation during the whole book. The MMC is being very dominant and still makes sure to ask for consent. I am proud of women authors for continuing to make consent normal, making it seamless, and effortless.It reminds women (and men) that we have a choice. It reminds us that it SHOULD always be normal to be asked.
I laughed, I cried, it was an incredible experience.
I believe we will get a story for Blake, and another for Tatum.

10/10 stars
Spice: 🌶️ 🌶️ 🌶️
Genre: modern romance
Sub genre: found family, strangers to lovers

“Emotionally, I know nothing. The darkness inside me keeps repeating how unloveable I am. How unworthy of attention and affection I am.”

“I’m as independent and feminist as they come, but I’m also smart enough not to deny myself small doses of happiness.”

“If you don’t know what to do, let me know, and I’ll show you what books to read.”

“If darkness is what you bring to the table, I’ll buy all the fucking candles in the world, do you hear me?”

“I’ll choose to love you, even when I can’t love myself.”
“I’ll love you hard enough for the both of us when it happens.”

This book and story was OUSTANDING for Alina’s debut. Anyone who knows me knows I rate by my emotions when I’m reading a book. And this book has me feeling all of them, and feeling them hard. So 5 stars was the only option!

The spice is delicious, if you don’t like spice and a sexy dominating man, I suggest you don’t read this book 😜

But even more than that, I fell in love with the characters. And I’m not just talking about Lalah and Cole, I’m talking about Tate, Elizah, Clara, Blake, Annalise, Mae.. I did not forget about a single one of them, I LOVED them and I’ll think about their characters for a long long time.

Lalahs character development was incredible. What she overcomes after so much trauma in her life and past relationship, and HOW it’s overcome with such sensitivity to readers triggers, is a testament to Alina’s writing. You nailed it.

I could say so much more, but just read it for yourself! You won’t regret it. I can’t wait for the next book!

Wow wow wow!!!

What a debut! I cannot believe this is the authors first book….amazing, absolutely amazing.

I was hooked from the first page and then I just couldn’t put it down. The connections and dialogue were just so well written. The emotions were raw and real, making me feel every joy and heartache right along with them.

I was in love with Lalah and Cole, their sizzling connection just jumped off the page. The other characters were all encompassing, I wanted to be their friend!!! This isn’t just a good book, you know it’s a great book when you want to jump inside the pages.

My new favourite author, I cannot wait for the next book in the series.

5 ⭐️ ARC REVIEW (If I could give more than 5 stars, I would… )

Let me start with… holy cow… what a rollercoaster this was.

Once I sat down with it properly, I couldn’t put it down. I devoured this book. 😁

From the beginning of the book Lalah’s story was very relatable and heartbreaking at points.
Lalah is a strong, brave and caring FC.
There were many situations where I thought “what a badass she is”.. and literally screamed, because of it…

She went through the worst possible things and yet she still managed to keep going and make things better.
Not just for herself, but for others too! She even adopts a dog 🤩🤩

Cole is a big, protective and loving alpha MC (with many surprises 👀) and you will instantly fall in love with him! His world turned upside down and he’s got things on his plate to deal with..

Luckily they are both surrounded by amazing people, which makes all their troubles seem easier to solve. And once they meet each other, it’s like puzzle pieces fitting perfectly…

Throughout this book you will want punch someone (or more people) and it will make you laugh, scream and cry (A LOT). This book gives it to you raw.. the good, the bad and even the worse! It’s also amazingly relatable to how messed up this world we live in is.

I will definitely be getting a physical copy and reading it again, so I can annotate everything I loved about this book.