From New York Times bestselling author Skye Jordan comes a bold new morally gray romance—dark, seductive, and unlike anything she’s written before.
For twenty years, I’ve hunted one man—the monster who destroyed my childhood and disappeared behind a fortress of wealth and power. I’ve come for blood—and I won’t stop until I deliver him to hell myself.
When I infiltrate his inner circle, posing as a potential partner, I discover his greatest secret: a daughter. Hidden. Sheltered. Promised to his equally depraved business partner as a trophy bride—and a payoff for years of loyalty.
At first, she’s nothing but a tool—another pawn I can use to bring her father to his knees. So, when he complains that she’s too pure to satisfy him, I offer to educate her. My ticket deeper into the empire, I intend to burn to the ground.
She was supposed to be leverage.
Instead, she’s the only thing I’ll kill to protect—and die to keep.
MY THOUGHTS
Gilded is a fast-paced, intriguing, and authentic-feeling story featuring the most remarkable heroine in Malia. She's had a horrifically sheltered existence full of neglect and abuse, but has an innate sense of decency and strength. I must mention that the graphic abuse she suffers, particularly in the beginning of the book, is difficult to read. With the addition of our morally gray hero, Luka, I felt instant relief for Malia. However, that relief faltered numerous times when his words and actions belied his status as a potential savior. Although their relationship begins with a very unpleasant agreement, it progresses uncomfortably before Luka is enlightened to Malia's actual innocence.
This dual point-of-view story wraps up in the best possible way. For Malia. For Luka, and their life together!
Undoubtedly, Gilded will be a favorite book this year. I'm thankful to Skye Jordan for another exceptional read!
Tropes: morally gray hero, revenge romance, mafia romance, enemies to lovers, touch her and die, captivity
HIGHLIGHTS
The Dedication: For the readers who like their heroes lethal, their heroines defiant, and their romance dirty. You know who you are.
I’m stunned. Again. I’ve never been hit before. Not by my father, not by any nanny or guard. Now, I’ve been hit twice in a matter of hours, and I don’t know how to adapt. I’ve been ignored, disregarded, belittled, scoffed at, and now, hated, but I’ve never been hit.
“She’s a ghost.” Typical of Jairo to just talk, regardless of whether or not I want to listen. But these men are my family. My brothers. I would never dismiss their ideas, the same way they would never dismiss mine. “I can’t locate her birth certificate or her Social Security number,” he says. “Not as Malia Eros or Malia Tarik, and there is no record of Tarik’s wife ever giving birth. I’ve scoured the backgrounds of his known whores—still nothing.”
“I’m wondering if there’s any way I could marry you instead of Soren.” I meet his gaze, the idea cementing as I speak. “I’ll still do the charity work and give the money to Soren. I can do even more and give that income to you. I swear I’d be a good wife. I’d leave you alone so you could work. I wouldn’t care if you’re gone or even had other women in your life. I’d do whatever you want in the bedroom, and I’d learn to cook for you. I—”
“This just keeps getting darker.” “You haven’t heard the darkest part yet.” I rub my eyes. “Christ.” “Those stipulations I mentioned—her grandparents require proof of life every birthday. If they don’t get it, they revoke the trust.”
He grips my face and kisses me, a fierce, hard, passionate kiss that leaves me aching and dizzy. “You may be marrying him tomorrow, Malia, but you belong to me. You’ll always belong to me.” He slips out of the room, and it’s over. It’s over as abruptly as it began. I cover my face with both hands, press my back to the door, and slide to the floor, my heart shattering.
That was the opening line of my book review for Kylie Scott's novel Lick in 2013. I rated the book 10 stars then, and 11 years later, this movie is my first to receive a 10-star rating. I have read and listened to the novel many times through the years, and the movie is so authentically done that I watched it 20 times in the first 13 days.
The stars have "literally" aligned because this Passionflix movie (movie trailer) is undeniably an accurate adaptation of the book, but with an outstanding Stage Dive original music soundtrack to liven everything up. Almost all of the book's key scenes are represented comparably in the movie. They are insightfully portrayed by Travis Burns as David Ferris, Brooke Lee as Evelyn Thomas, and Joseph McNabb as Malcolm "Mal" Ericson. The roles of Lauren and Sam are portrayed with genuineness by Amanda Tavarez and Aaron Quick Nelson, respectively. Eric Brody, as Jimmy Ferris, and Zack Mines, as Ben Nicholson, don't have enough screen time to fully convey their abilities, but they demonstrate definite intensity in their limited time on screen. With each viewing, I'm further surprised by Travis's remarkable performance. His screen presence, the natural way he delivers his lines, his gestures, facial expressions, his sparkling smile, and the way he looks at Ev are all so nuanced and genuine-feeling. Crush-worthy Book David has been elevated to top infatuation status by Movie David. The absence of long hair, different eye colors, and nonidentical tattoos can't detract from Travis being the ideal choice for David. Brooke Lee's Ev is adorable, charming, and radiant. She is exactly the right kind of "different" for David, who notices her inherent goodness from the start. Joseph McNabb was born to play Mal, who is the most endearing and entertaining of all the characters.
The movie arc makes for a fulfilling story, even though necessary steps had to be taken to condense a 300+ page book into an hour and forty-one minutes. (The movie is fast-paced with rapid dialogue and so many noteworthy scenes that I can't pick one favorite.) From the opening scene to the superb, swoon-worthy musical conclusion, Lick is a wholly rewarding romantic movie experience. Hopefully, the powers that be have determined that, given Lick's success, the other three novels need to be optioned and produced with the same level of detail, featuring the same cast, crew, and perfect casting of the new female leads.
Ten shiny (rock) stars for this faithful adaptation!
LICK is amazing! For me, it is the most perfect contemporary romance that checks all of my boxes. Although there are slight flaws, they are completely inconsequential and counterbalanced by other aspects that are remarkable. I will watch it again and again without ever losing my appreciation for it. A 10-star rating is not given lightly.
*Content advisory: partial nudity, tasteful sex scenes, language (lots of f-bombs!). These are rock stars, people. 😉
I was curious exactly how much of LICK (the book) ended up in LICK (the movie). See all of those pink tabs? They represent either the exact dialogue or only a slight variation between the book and the movie. All the blue tabs represent scenes from the book that were included in the movie, with some modifications. The light green tabs represent dialogue and scenes in the book that didn’t make it into the movie. For those of us who have watched it many times, we know how closely the movie adheres to the book. For those devoted readers who are unsure about watching the movie, perhaps seeing proof of how closely adapted it is will help.
“Books are a uniquely portable magic.” - Stephen King
The year 2024 was a doozy and because of some rather momentous events, I only just reached my reading goal of 200+ books for the first time since 2012. And because I felt I needed the reassurance of the familiar, most of my reading this year was revisiting many of my comfort titles. By setting such an astronomical goal each year, I have added unhealthful pressure to the activity I enjoy the most—reading. So, beginning in 2025, I will reduce my previous goal of 200 by 25% to take the pressure off and allow time to see to my own well-being.
This month brought me my single most significant source of joy for the year—the Passionflix movie, LICK, from the novel by Kylie Scott. Lick (Stage Dive #1) was a favorite book in 2013 (my review), and its main male character, David Ferris, has been a major crush since. The movie has surpassed all other romances for me and with it being utterly unique, I predict it will remain that way indefinitely. You can check out my review of the movie here. 😍
Travis Burns as David Ferris in LICK
2024 was also the year I discovered Abby Jimenez books. Since I seem to have difficulty keeping up with my existing authors, adding new authors to my reading mix isn't something I strive to do. However, deciding to read her book, Yours Truly, last April influenced my intention to read all of her existing works this year. Six novels and two short stories later I feel that I've found my ideal style of writing. I experience all of the emotions I hope for in her books. Her character interactions are genuinely meaningful, whether clever and witty or sincere and loving. Her books are marketed as rom-coms, but each one also features a theme dealing with tragedy that's induced epic crying. And because her books are all categorized as romance they all end happily. The joy I have gotten from these books cannot be qualified.
As I haven't discovered a better way of expressing the following, I shall repeat what I said in previous years...
To
all the authors whose stories entertained me this year, and especially
those who wrote my favorites below, you've earned my highest esteem,
gratitude, and adoration. Thank you!
The
books I select as my favorites each year are those that: I get lost in;
the ones that while reading, I lose all track of time; the ones that
evoke the strongest emotions; the ones that make me laugh, cry, blush,
gasp, and sigh. Yeah, those books!
Each year I meticulously
review my database and online shelves to select my favorites. Even
though I arbitrarily decide upon the categories, I am careful in
considering which books deserve each designation.
Sadly, no
matter how much I love a book, I am unable to recall details. In other
words, although my devotion is clear, my memory is not. I would, indeed,
like to attempt to explain my choices to anyone who may be interested.
There are several
books that were published this year that I wanted to read but was unable
to, some of which were published late in the year. I may have to make
an exception for some of them and include them in a future list, just as
I made an exception this year for one "Special Mention" book* that was
first published in 2020 and one book* from a favorite series that was published in 2023.
I'll be starting out 2025 with about 200 books
on my to-be-read shelves—Kindle and Audible—and the 35 or so books on my
library wish list. I will set my StoryGraph Reading Challenge goal at 150
books. Even though I mostly read library and Kindle Unlimited books on my Kindle Paperwhite, 2024 was the first year I purchased eBooks and audiobooks directly from several different authors' online stores.
My 2024 Stats
My StoryGraph Challenge total was 201 (first reads and rereads of single titles) - My 2024 StoryGraph Wrap-Up My database total was 149 (first readsof individual formats only) (Note:
I receive no monetary compensation. I only wish to show my
appreciation. The book links below open up to the corresponding Webpages
on Amazon.com or Audible.com.)
My Favorites Published in 2024
(alphabetical by author)
Single Titles
The Waiting (Ballard and Bosch #6) by Michael Connelly
Most Surprising Plot Twist - The Unraveling by Vi Keeland Most Devastating Blow Delivered - Eruption by Michael Crichton and James Patterson Most Pleasant Surprise -*Yours Truly (Part of Your World #2) by Abby Jimenez
Since
my book database counts a multi-book bundle as a single book, the
following is a list of the individual books from within the book bundles I
read this year. The remainder of my 2024 database total reads follows.
Individual First Time Reads of 2024 (The
(a) following a book's title designates an audiobook, a (p) denotes
the paperback or signed paperback (*p) of a book that I previously read
via Kindle, and the (h) denotes the hardcover version. The table is best viewed in landscape mode on mobile
devices.)
This pancake recipe came about gradually over the course of several years. It can't be compared to fluffy white flour, buttermilk, or other restaurant-style flap jacks. The resultant pancakes are dense in fiber, enriched with protein, and packed with whole food nutrients. I stopped using any buttery spreads and limit the maple syrup to keep added fats and sugars reasonable; but those can be added or increased, respectively. I used to top with banana slices, but now choose to get my fruit elsewhere because these are so filling. Sunday mornings are my designated pancake-for-breakfast day. Yum, what a treat!
According to the Bob's Red Mill pancake mix package, one serving consists of 1/4 cup of the mix. That makes for one (rather slight) medium pancake, so I made this recipe into one large pancake to tide me over until a late lunch and light dinner.
INGREDIENTS(I use organic ingredients whenever possible. Only the pea protein and walnuts are not organic.)
Preheat a non-stick skillet or griddle over medium-high heat. (Until water from a flick of your fingers sizzles and skips over the surface.)
Add flax meal to warm water and set aside.
Combine and mix the first four ingredients into a deep container (Preferably with a curved spout.)
Add soy milk and mix (I prefer using a fork to mix against the side) only until blended.
Add the flax meal water and stir only to mix.
Add the chia seeds and stir only to mix.
Add the vanilla and stir only to mix.
Add the walnuts and stir only to mix.
Add soy milk by tiny increments and lightly mix only if needed to make it pourable into round shape.
Lightly spray the skillet/griddle with oil.
Pour into one large or two medium pancakes.
Flip only when there are tiny bubbles evenly distributed over the surface of the pancake(s).
Flip and continue cooking for about 2 to 3 minutes or when lightly browned.
Score the top of the pancake with about 5 lines to allow maple syrup to reach the inside of the pancake.
This recipe may be doubled, tripled, etc.
The nutrition information below is approximated to account for this as a meal for one. (Of course, changing any of the ingredients will affect the following nutritional values.)
