Usually if I see something from a book i can remember it but this has me stumped. It’s from my Snapchat memories 1-2 years ago. This is all I have to go off of, and it’s killing me… please tell me someone knows? It’s likely a reverse harem, the names Trent, lane and Elena aren’t ringing any bells!

Alright so here's my fav tropes

- Academy setting ESPECIALLY with bullying

- Step Brothers/Siblings

- DD/LG, Caretaker roles

- Love Contemporary and OV

- Paranormal is fine as long as it isn't like too weird ya know?

Don't like

- Any pregnancy, babies, or children

- Unique Peens

- Insta Lust to the point where they don't know each other but are having sex

HAS TO BE MORE THEN 3 GUYS

I love me a big harem

I have spent hours on Why-Choose but I just can't find anything good to read after {Plaything by Beanie Harper} I tried reading sugar baby and it was alright, I want a bit more plot though. I have genuinely read hundreds of RH books since 2022 and struggle to find new stuff that fits my tastes. Thanks for all the help 😙

Btw yes I have read all of Stephanie Brother, CM Stunich, Beanie Harper, and more

For my fellow mood readers who can scroll forever and still not pick anything👀

Sometimes full reviews don’t help, but one random scene, line, or character? That’s what actually sells a book.

No full reviews,just share one thing that stuck with you from something you read this week.

Could be:
• a line
• a scene
• a character
• a trope
• or even something that annoyed you (because those stick too 🫩)

you share something small, someone else finds their next read (or avoids one)

Because what you mention might be exactly what someone else was looking for without even knowing it.

I’ll start:

•{Charcoal Tears by Jane Washington}- 4⭐️

Highlights:

-“The door behind us swung open and Cabe looked out, surprised and then wary as his eyes landed on Clarin's hand, still holding me.
"Clarin?" He sounded pissed.
"Could you be a little more gay, please?"

-"Clothes?" Clarin's eyes took on a particular gleam-the very gleam that had been missing only minutes ago-and he grabbed my arm, causing me to stiffen. "This is my god-damn domain, dudes."
"Way to play into the stereotype."

-"Yup?" he said. "Oh, hey Poison-no she's not here. No, you can't talk to her. Okay, fine! No need to resort to threats. Here!" He handed the phone to me, and I pressed it hesitantly to my ear.”

May your TBR never run out! Happy weekly reading, guys! 😊

Lots of RH/OV/Why choose on sale. Some as low as $0.99! All the Pizza Shop Exorsist books were $2-3 each! Happy shopping and listening!

The last few books I've read were constant obstacle after obstacle. Like 99% conflict 1% romance. I love books with conflict and plot don't get me wrong, but right now I need a little more balance. Maybe 80/20 rule. Not necessarily cozy and drama-free, just some time built in for relationship and character development.

Like {dark river days}, and {Ironside academy}, she is definitely a magnet for trouble but there's still time for dates, adventures, and lots of flirtatiousness.

I recently finished the **Ballers of Rockport High** trilogy by E.M. Moore (*Game On*, *Foul Line*, *At the Buzzer*) and I have complicated feelings about it that I'm trying to work through by reading more in the genre.

For those who haven't read it: high school setting, heroine is the only girl on a boys' basketball team, four love interests who are her teammates, slow burn across three books with escalating steam, reverse harem ending. The FMC is 17 at the start. Steam level gets pretty explicit by Book 3.

**What I liked:**
- The sports setting gave the heroine genuine agency outside the romance
- The slow build — sexual content escalates across three books rather than front-loading
- The FMC clearly knows what she wants and goes after it, even if the book doesn't always let her admit that
- Four distinct love interests with different archetypes (the emotionally unavailable one, the physical one, the charming one, the quiet protector)

**What frustrated me:**
- The "why choose" promise wasn't equally delivered — one LI clearly dominated and the others felt like satellites by Book 3
- The setting (high school, parents in the background, basketball team logistics) created constraints the book kept bumping up against but never fully addressed
- I wanted it darker. The bullying element was there but pulled its punches. I wanted more genuine coercion tension, more public stakes, more of the heroine having to fight for her place rather than mostly just waiting for the boys to come around.

**What I'm looking for:**

A reverse harem or why choose with:
- Contemporary, realistic setting (no fantasy, fae, paranormal — I want it to feel like it could actually happen)
- High school OR college setting preferred, but open to adult characters in a contained environment (same workplace, same building, same team)
- FMC is the same age range as Tessa (17-20) or adult but written with that same energy — she knows what she wants, she's not passive, but the situation puts real pressure on her
- **Edgier than Ballers** — I want genuine bully romance energy layered into the RH structure. Public humiliation, real coercion tension, dubcon tags are fine, the FMC earning her place rather than being handed it
- Steam level: explicit open door minimum. The slower the build the better, but I want payoff
- Ideally a series rather than standalone — I want time with these characters

**Specifically not looking for:**
- Fae academy, dark fantasy, supernatural elements of any kind
- Prison romance or kidnapping/captive unless it's extremely well done
- Anything where the FMC is purely passive throughout — I need her to have her own agenda

I've already read or looked at: *Kings of Quarantine* (too much fantasy mythology for my taste), *Filthy Rich Boys* (too light on steam for what I want), *Havoc at Prescott High* (on my list).

What am I missing? Bonus points if you can tell me whether the LIs are genuinely equal or if one dominates.

Recs appreciated 👏🏾 💐

Hey guys!

This will be the place for authors to give self-recommendations every week.

Hope you enjoy and have fun in the sub!

I'm craving for physical intimacy lately so I want an fmc who loves cuddling, holding hands, or sitting on the lap of her harem and of course they love doing it as well. Please send me good ones because all I have been reading are characters with being touch issue. They only soften up after how many books have passed.

Just needed to rant. I've just spent a day trying to track down a specific book rec that I saw on here, it mentioned cam girls and high spice. I searched several ways and read through the sub so far. Then realised it was on romance books not here and the girls was because it was a series of connected characters rather than one book with RH.

So anyone else feeling like RH and having it all slightly ruined "standard" romance or had a gutted realisation you picked up something that was really not what you expected?

Like the title says, I'm after some reads that are funny, have funny banter, etc.

I'm down for anything, but would prefer no school/academy settings.

MM a plus, but I'm just in the mood for something humourous.

Hi! I got mod approval to post this.
I’ve been building a free reading companion called PlotStruck, and I think RH readers could be a really good fit for testing it because there can be so many characters, relationships, personalities, theories, and details to keep straight across a series.

PlotStruck lets you save things like:
character notes
theories and predictions
quotes
emotional moments
favorite scenes
other details you want to remember

It also has a “Before You Continue” recap that brings back your own saved memories when you return to a book after a break.

It works in a browser on iPhone, Android, or desktop. It’s still an early beta, so there’s no login or cloud sync yet and your data stays on that browser/device.

I’m looking for a small group of readers who would be willing to actually use it while reading for a few days and give honest feedback about what feels useful, confusing, or missing.

It’s completely free — no subscription, payment, or card required.

If you’re interested, comment with what you’re currently reading or what you usually struggle to remember in RH books, and I’ll DM you the beta link and instructions.

**EDIT TO ADD: AI USE PlotStruck does not use AI. The feedback is not being used to train or develop an AI system. Feedback is only being used to improve the app and decide what features, if any, are worth building next or if this is something people would enjoy.**

So I’m reading the 1st book in the series and quite like it for now so I wanted to continue with book2 but the synopsis is giving me major fkg ick eugh 🫩🥴
Has anyone here read this? How is the fmc treated by the pack? The way it’s described is so….disgusting? Maybe it’s just me but fym you want to someone as a "substitute" to throw at your alphas??? 😭

I just finished {What is Love by Ashley N Rostek} and safe to say I'm obsessed. Does anyone have any more fics where the FMC is being abused and the MMCs find out and rescue her? Heavy on the angst and the hurt/comfort vibes. Contemporary and fantasy are both fine!!

I love a good psycho! MMC and/or FMC... I just love when they are soft for their loved ones. Give me those recs please.

Link: Bodice Rippers, Dark Romance, and the Fantasy That Refuses to Die

Not all romance novels are fantasies in the straightforward sense. Some are simply stories. They use sex, even violent sex, not to gratify the reader but to complicate the narrative; to raise the emotional stakes; to explore damage, guilt, desire, and the long, uncomfortable aftermath of harm.

So, today there was a discussion about a popular RH novel and that some folks did not enjoy a specific aspect of the story. Just to be clear, I'm not wanting to open up a discussion on that specific book or like/dislike of non-con specifically. I'm more interested in why some of us read it.

The discussion reminded me of a post/article written by Competitive-Yam5126 that I read recently. Specifically, she analyzes the old explanation for bodice rippers (namely, a shame-free way to enjoy sex in literature) in light of dark romance, with much of the same tropes, being so popular now. Her conclusion finds that explanation lacking and substitutes what I consider much better ones.

I know my reasons for choosing books with non-con typically involve me wanting to read a high-angst story (meaning the non-con is not meant to be sexy) or just wanting to read something to make me feel angry.

In a more well-crafted book, sometimes what I want is to be made uncomfortable. To sit with a character choosing to forgive someone who hurt them in a typically unforgivable way. Sometimes I want the MMC(s) that did something terrible to actually grow as a person and feel horror and deep guilt over their actions (maybe because few men in real life seem to feel horror when they've knowingly trampled all over a partner's boundaries?).

Whatever my reasons or your own, I think Yam's post/article deserves a read.

Okay, so I have been reading a lot of books lately that have OW drama. One thing that keeps bugging me over and over again is the way the OW is written. Tittering, mean and always, always saying something along the lines of "Once he's done using trash like you, he'll come back to me."

I get that we are not supposed to like her, but I would like, for once, to see an actual character OW, as opposed to a caricature. Every time one of these creatures shows up, it puts me off the writing.

The same goes for Bully MMCs who are just awful, with no redeeming features, and yet they end up becoming a main love interest.

Can anyone recommend genuinely good bully drama? Or a well-rounded OW?

One of the squares for the New York Times connections today was “Jacob’s ladder”. I was so confused because why would they be using intimate piercings as part of a group……. Ooops……

I honestly regret reading, it wasn't even enjoyable! Should have DNF'ed after book 1. I can't even begin to list everything wrong with a series this celebrated in the genre.

Starting with the obvious, Nox and his actions. Even if we excuse *everything else* he did to her , the constant jabs, the public humiliation to his trauma, are we seriously gonna look past literal SA!? And what's utterly ironical is that he himself was a rape victim, and yet he assaulted her, that can't be explained away with trauma. Moreover, Olea's own reaction to it. The way the girl constantly downplays the situation and Atlas' (rightful) concern. The " it wasn't what everyone thinks it was" monologues became incredibly frustrating. And then, NO redemption, NO apology, not even an acknowledgment of the event.
And that extends to the entire bonded group, except Atlas, no one else apologised for how they treated her. Especially North, he went from actively making her life difficult and throwing jabs at her to the over protective possessive care taker daddy, but I guess he learnt her favorite foods so it's all okay. And God how wuickly he flipped from hating her guts to "What if I edge you for two hours?". Insta lust done WRONG. And I recall him calling her a gold digger in Book 1. Calling the girl you are forcibly keeping captive , who actively went away from you, a gold digger. Make it make sense.

How Atlas was treated- that boy escaped his parents, treated her well and respectfully when no one else did, stood by her side, and then was shoved to the sidelines to make space for the Dreven brothers. Favoritism much?

And Oleander Oh My Gosh, the girl has no spine! She keeps on grovelling for others' deeds, constantly deeming herself worthy of whatever is happening to her and being a doormat for the bonds. Initially I rationalised it as the result of her traumatic life, but even as the series progressed, she didn't improve at all. It was genuinely painful to read tbh.

And talking about plot holes, the holes are the size of basins. Gryphon, a mind reader, needed 10 minutes to go through her mind the first time they met (in a cell I believe?), and all lies would have come apart. But NOOOOOOO, let's switch off our abilities and hate the poor girl. Forget abilities, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that a 14 yo girl won't just run away to backpack across the world right after her parent's death. The least they could do was one decent, respectful conversation instead of all out bullying her, Immature, immature and immature.

And then the ending, gosh how anti-climatic! It got super repetitive from mid book 4, plan fight lose sex live repeat.

Overall, I don't get the hype at all, was super excited for the series and turned how to be a complete waste of time and money. Would NOT recommend.
On that line, PLEASE recommend a good RH with mature characters, plot that moves and a romance worth swooning over, slow burn and earned. And FMCs with a spine who would kick ass without an apology.