WTF Am I Reading? Mindf*ck Romance Books You’ll Hate to Love

Have you ever started reading a book that went so thoroughly off the rails and was a complete mindf*ck that left you asking “What the F*ck Am I Reading?” Yeah? Me too! And I’m listing my top 5 mindf*ck romance books in this episode of the She Reads Romance Books Podcast.

Episode 16: WTF Am I Reading? Mindf*ck Romance Books You’ll Hate to Love

*Disclosure: This post may include affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Books Mentioned in This Episode:

• Perfect Strangers
• The Risk
• Sinner
• Welcome to the Dark Side
• Undeniable
• Hopeless
• Mile High
• Behind the Net
• Make Believe Match

Episode Show Notes:

Hey readers! I am so excited for this episode because I’m dying to talk about these romance books that left me reeling and thinking “what the f*ck did I just read?” I mean, I’m used to feeling all mushy from a sweet and sappy romance, or even bawling my eyes out from books that rip my heart out and make me ugly cry but to have a romance book make me want to throw my Kindle against the wall or just bug my eyes out from what I’m reading, it’s rare but I LOVE IT!

For today’s episode I’m sharing my top 5 mindf*ck romance books that left me asking What the F*ck Am I Reading and I really hope you leave a comment or write to me if you’ve read any of these to tell me what you thought of them. Or even better, if you have another book recommendation of a title that left you reeling in the best way of course, send it my way.

OK, the first and ultimate mindf*ck romance book on my list is Perfect Strangers by J.T. Geissinger.

Perfect Strangers
by J.T. Geissinger

And any fans of J.T. that has read this book knows exactly what I’m talking about. This is THE book that by the last chapter or two I was literally exclaiming out loud, What the F*ck! And wanted to destroy my iPad. Like literally throw it across the room because I was SHOCKED by the twist that she threw into this story. Like legit shocked.

I’ve read enough books that I can often guess where the story is going a majority of the time, but OMG, I didn’t NOT see this twist coming at all.

Ok, so you get the picture that I was shocked if I haven’t said that enough already 😊. But back to the book. Perfect Strangers has a 4.25 rating on Goodreads with over 4,000 reviews so people are loving this book because of or even in spite of this twist. It’s the book everyone ends up talking about on her Facebook group. And JT would say that this is a work of literary fiction, not a traditional romance so be warned.

This book utterly consumed me!  But let me set the stage for why this is a complete mindf*ck book. For the first part of the story, I felt like a voyeur of a beautiful love affair.

Olivia, a writer from the States, just moved to Paris on a three-month “holiday” to find herself and her inner muse again. Two years prior she had endured a tragedy and she hasn’t written a book (or been intimate) since. She meets James at a neighborhood café and the sparks immediately fly. Not fighting their immediate attraction, they agree to having a love affair in which no personal information is shared, only their first names, until Olivia is supposed to return to the States.

To say I was consumed by their passion is an understatement. Olivia deserved a man like James, though as one character later described him, he was almost too perfect. He truly is the embodiment of what fantasies are made of: hot, smart, dominating yet sweet and caring and he is the BEST dirty talker around. I got totally swept up in their electric attraction and Paris only added to the OMG factor.

So there I am, completely swept up into this love affair and then things changed people.

When I say that J.T. Geissinger wrote the plot twists of all plot twists, I’m telling you the truth. I can’t even give a hint of anything without giving spoilers but my jaw dropped and I was like “WTF” just happened.

Despite my reaction, I can say that this book solidifies what an amazing author she really is. The originality of this story and the foreshadowing that I can now see after rereading passages, was so meticulously crafted that I’m just amazed.

BUT I was truly devastated by the turn of events and how the story ultimately played out. I was utterly gutted because it didn’t complete the ultimate high I was initially on, but I totally give it to Geissinger for causing my jaw to seriously fall to the floor and stay there with this story. She is amazing.

For the ultimate mindf*ck book, check out Perfect Strangers by J.T. Geissinger. Check out my book review of Perfect Strangers to see what else I thought of this book!

Book two on my list goes to The Risk by S.T. Abby which is book one, ironically of her Mindf*ck series.

The Risk
by S.T. Abby

This is a dark, romantic thriller that I had to pick up given all of the hype surrounding it because how do you NOT check out a book about a serial killer who is falling for the FBI agent tasked to capture her? I mean just wrap your head around that one for a second.

So this one is a story about Lana who is a serial k!ller who is systematically going after the men that had something to do with this tragic event in her past. You don’t know more about it other than the fact that it must have been pretty brutal because she has spent years training to get her revenge and it’s gruesome.

One day she happens to meet Logan at a coffee shop and their chemistry is pretty instant. But it turns out that Logan is an expert FBI profiler. I mean, of course he is, right?!

So while Lana is preparing for and enacting her revenge, Logan is trying to pick a part evidence to find his target all while they are meeting up to get it on. Ah!

The Risk, as I mentioned, is book one of a five book series. It’s only about 130 pages so a quick read if you just want to see what it’s all about. I honestly haven’t finished the series because I’m not sure I want to know more about Lana’s history and why she is hellbent on this revenge spree but then again it really does hooks you so I may break down and read the rest. Stay tuned if I do…

Book three of mindf*ck books is Sinner by Sierra Simone.

Sinner
by Sierra Simone

Now this one is a bit more benign than the previous two and yet I was definitely asking myself at several points, what the f*ck am I reading because for starters this is an age gap romance. Zenny is a college senior I think (though don’t hold me to that) and she is 15 years younger than Sean, her brother’s best friend.

But the real mindf*ck is that Zenny is a postulant who is about to start her journey of becoming a nun. Yes, you heard that right. She is 100% certain that she wants to devote her life to the church, to God and to become a nun.

However, to make sure she is making the right decision, she wants Sean to teach her everything there is to know about $ex. And what does he do, well the playboy accepts and boy does he deliver with his teachings. Holy cow!

I looked back at my review for this review and I write, “OMG, he’s f*cking a nun. What am I reading?”

If you don’t want to read a book that has lots of filthy, dirty $ex in it, then don’t pick up this book.

But I will also say that Simone’s intellectual and philosophical musings on faith and God were really interesting and something that I wanted more of. There are several paragraphs that I found so thought provoking on the areas of faith, purity, virginity, religion, and God.

My final thoughts on this, if age gap romances, instalust or gross dirty talk appeals to you, you’ll love this book.

Would I attend a weekend retreat to listen to Sierra Simone’s thoughts on religion, belief, faith, and the Goddess? You betcha! So Sierra, there’s an idea for you and I’m there. Check out my book review of Sinner to learn more.

Moving on to book four of mindf*ck romance books is Welcome to the Dark Side by Giana Darling.

Welcome to the Dark Side
by Giana Darling

This is another age gap romance and motorcycle club romance in her Fallen Men series. I didn’t read book one, just jumping into this one which is book two and didn’t have any problems reading it as a standalone.

And this is one where the age gap really did give me pause to where I was asking myself, what the f*ck am I reading and do I want to continue. I did and actually gave it a five star review!

This book is a love story between Loulou the mayor’s daughter and Zeus Garro was the President of The Fallen MC who have a 19 year age gap between them.

They first meet when Loulou is really young, like age 7 if I remember right, and they end up staying in touch as she writes to him while he is in prison. But once he is out and they meet again ten years later they end up together.

I really loved Darling’s writing of this story and while age gap isn’t my preferred trope I was hooked on this story and couldn’t put it down. But there were scenes that gave me that what the f*ck pause – like when he’s drilling her on his bike behind a building somewhere. I’m just like….O-Kay…..

But it was a great read and highly recommend it.

The final book on my list, book five, is Undeniable by Madeline Sheehan.

Undeniable
by Madeline Sheehan

This is another motorcycle club romance but this one is CRA-ZY I tell you. CRA- ZY and yet I was completely hooked.

I sometimes think that MC romances start to all read the same. But this isn’t about a good girl snatching the attention of the Prez who goes all in with her- oh no.

This is a story about Deuce and Eva who have a long history together. Eva first meets Deuce when she’s 5 and he’s 23 so yes another age gap romance here folks. They meet when she’s visiting her father in prison and Deuce was visiting his old man too. They end up running into each other at several times here and there as she gets older and it’s evident that they have this undeniable connection but they are also so f*cked up people.

If you don’t like books with cheating then you will hate this book because there is a lot of cheating and a lot of moments that I couldn’t stand and yet I liked that these characters were not perfect.

I wanted to strangle Deuce for his stupid behavior at one particular point if not several, but they lived their lives and it was a hell of a ride and a total mindf*ck!

And that wraps up my list. Books like these that have that ability to just give me pause and really question what I’m ready are few and far between but I cannot wait to see what the next book will be that gives me this same reaction! Bring it on.

To wrap up this episode I thought I’d share the books that I recently put in my Kindle Unlimited library. I freaking love Kindle Unlimited because so many of my favorite romance book authors have their work in Kindle Unlimited and it’s a fear-free way to check out a book because if I end up not liking it then I just hit return and no harm no foul. And I have NO problems these days calling it on a book and putting a book on my DNF shelf.

But the books currently in my KU library include Hopeless by Elsie Silver. The previous book in her Chestnut Springs series, Reckless, was fantastic so I cannot wait to read this story that is a fake relationship, age gap romance with a virgin heroine.

I’ve also got Mile High by Liz Tomeforde because I like the enemies to lovers vibe between hockey player and flight attendant.

Another hockey romance in my KU library is Behind the Net by Stephanie Archer and lastly I have my eye on Make Believe Match by Melanie Harlow, a marriage of convenience romance, that will be releasing soon in KU. So stay tuned to me here where I’ll share more after reading those!

Happy reading.

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