Warmer, Colder: Haunted Hearts

I am genuinely not joking when I say this is my top book of 2024, and considering this was my 170th book of the year says something 🔥🔥🔥 I'm obsessed like Stasi, hehe 😉 okay, anyways, this book was perfect in every single way. If you're like me and love all the emotions, this book is for you! It was hauntingly and devastatingly beautiful. Both our FMC's had so much depth to them. Trauma, grief, you name it. And to find a book that can illicit so many emotions in such a raw way was amazing and I will cherish this book for the rest of my days, Becca & Stasi now have a permanent place in my soul. I cannot wait to see what else Alexia has in store for us 🖤 **Please check your trigger warnings before proceeding!!

The plot, my lanta the plot was so good. I loved reading this book, had me sucked in from the start. The trauma that Becca had was so raw and how she was dealing with it, or lack there of was conveyed so well. I hurt for her throughout the book. Her internalized homophobia was a whole other level. Seeing her learn to understand herself was heart wrenching. Stasi, well I wanted to love her at all costs. But there were so many times where I said “wtf stasi”. Overall I still really enjoyed her character and her ability to truly love herself and help show Becca how to do the same. Anywho, the plot and story were so amazing. I enjoyed reading this books beautiful plot and finding yourself storyline. Alexia is a wonderful author.

What even was that?! I both liked and disliked it…hate is a strong word. I have a lot of mixed feelings that can’t be contained, but I will try. I love a dark sapphic romance as much as the next person and the paranormal aspect pulled me in, but here we go. I deeply sympathized with Stasi, and they were both just such complex characters. I wanted to both hug Stasi and keep my distance at the same time. I was just in tears and so frustrated over it. And Becca? I also sympathized with her and everything that happened was heartbreaking, but at the same time, I just wanted to scream. I know dark romances are usually toxic, but the constant hot and cold, push-pull, weird pet names, and cringey dirty talk combined was too much. I strongly recommend that readers view the trigger warnings before diving in.

Dark sapphic romance. Bully. Stalker. Second chance. Paranormal. Love after death. So many trigger warnings. A whole bunch of kink. You wouldn’t think it would all work, but Onyx does a masterful job at making this story cohesive and thought provoking. If you loved books like Everything Crumbles, Blood Beneath Ice, Hush or Vibe, then this book is definitely right up your alley! I know lighthearted sapphic novels are all the rage, but give me a deeply gouging, wholly unhinged romance any day of the week. Becca and Stasi are a match made in purgatory and their relationship feels equal parts creepy and comforting. They make a life for themselves in a veritable graveyard of red flags and I am here for it. Lots of open door spice including praise, degradation, orgasm control, exhibition, voyeurism, fisting, bondage, light Dom/sub and a very fascinating use of a Bop It. While Onyx weaves a gorgeously dark and twisty tale of obsession and lifelong love after childhood rejection, it is incumbent on the reader to check the trigger warnings listed at both the beginning and end of the book, which include, but are not limited to: rape, bullying, stalking, cyber bullying, blackmail, harassment, suicide, murder, humiliation, homophobia, and fat shaming. I didn’t read the first or the third book in this series because they aren’t sapphic. Maybe they enhance this one, maybe they don’t. I didn’t feel lost in the storyline having skipped the first book so I think it’s safe to say Warmer,…

I feel like all books by Alexia Onyx should come with a box of tissues. Or at least a warning not to read them in public unless you are okay with ugly-crying while waiting on your flight and making people look at you funny. This one especially. Not only did Becca's trauma have me clutching my chest with all the raw emotions, but Stasi had me wanting to fight for her. Together they were such a beautiful couple. Even if there was some not so beautiful moments in getting there. And while I knew that this was an interconnected standalone with Come out, Come out, it took me LITERALLY until the end of the book to realize how they were connected. And then I felt like an idiot for not realizing sooner and it made my emotions raw all over again because Aiden will forever be my favorite. I will never understand how Alexia manages to take such difficult topics, ones that would make me stop watching if it were a tv show, and holds your hand through the trauma while you process everything and then makes you say thank you afterwards. But I am all for it. And I can't wait to read Hawthorne's story.