books

atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “Witching Hour” Vol. 1, by Paru Itagaki

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is suggested for mature readers.

Trapped in a marriage where they are only intimate to get pregnant, Megumi longs for a more fulfilling sex life. When a spirit manifests to satisfy her, her husband, Yuji, grows suspicious.

This is weird. At first I thought this would be kinda goofy, but it’s actually dark. Megumi is essentially cheating on her husband with a ghost; the consent is iffy, and while I understand this is just the first volume, it’s paced like it’s a one-shot. It’s rushed, and overall, this is a bit off-putting, and I don’t think it is in the way the author is intending. There’s gotta be a way for this premise to be done and work without giving me the ick. 2 out of 5.

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WIP Wednesday: August 2026 Roundup

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I have to admit that while I haven’t put many more words on my longer stories, I was able to catch up with a bunch of ARCs, post a ton of reviews, and publish three stories this month on my smut pen name. I am also in the process of assembling bundles for that pen name, learning the hard way about merging and converting documents, let me tell ya…

Despite not adding on to the longer projects as much as I’d wanted to, I am ready to post to Patreon next month. I’ve also added more items to my online store; all comics I’m looking to get rid of. I’m also thinking of adding a new project to my Patreon that will be available for free on all posts. I wanna call it “There, I fixed it,” where I take ideas that I feel had potential but not the best execution. It’s mostly movies where, like The Happening, the concept could absolutely be handled in a way that’s effective and not so goofy. I think it would be a fun way to stretch my writing skills. I have no set schedule for this; it’ll be done sporadically whenever I have the chance to do it. I just don’t have the audience to commit to taking requests or a hard timeframe. I’m all about pumping out content at this point.

I am also making plans to catch up with the ARCs I have that are not comics or manga. I got a nice one from Flame Con that I wanna read and a pile of library books to get through, including Haunting Adeline, because I want to see if it’s as bad as everyone says, and In the Miso Soup for the same reason. I also have some more movie and TV show reviews on deck.

Like I said, pumping out content. Maybe volume will help me pull out of this pit.

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WIP Wednesday: First Brood 4 uptate!

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I’ve updated my Patreon with the newest part of First Brood 4: Emma. That one is on the paid tier, but the first chapter is available for free.

As I’ve been editing and cleaning things for Patreon, my word counts aren’t the best:

  • A: 20,612
  • B: 912
  • C: 19,121

I’ve also started posting some of my old comics to my other website. I photographed a decent stack of them to start, and I wanna make sure I get all the condition details right before they’re all live. I’ll be selling them around cover price if they’re new and discounting the ones that are yellow or damaged. And if you’re subscribed to this blog or any of my socials, you’ve seen that I’m catching up with a LOT of reviews. I’m nearly caught up with all my recently requested digital ARCs, and once those run out, I have older digital ones and physical books floating around. I am not short on content.

I was also approved for a press pass to FlameCon! I won’t have a table there or anything, just me and my son checking it out and reporting on it for Otakus and Geeks. I post reviews there as well from time to time. I’m doing my best to get up the money I need and working as hard as I can. Thanks to everyone who’s supported me so far. It means more to me than you know.

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Lenni Reviews: “Bride of the Shark Clan: Married Life” Vol. 2, by Satomichi

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is rated 18+

After a year of marriage, Avel and Tukiri are happy. But Tukiri feels something is changing within him and an outsider biologist, Dylan, wants to study the two clans.

I like how Dylan’s arrival allows us to dive into the origins of the two tribes and all the shark shifter abilities present in the series. I love when there’s lore to my smut. And there’s a LOT of smut. In some places it felt like “Oh, we haven’t seen man on man action for a bit. Lets do that real quick.” But that’s ok because I like our main couple. 3.7 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Sunshine in Hades” Vol. 1, by Puling

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is rated 18+

Cerberus is a slave, champion gladiator, and a prime chance for his owners to breed him out to produce more like him. But he’s a virgin. Cerberus enlists the help of Phaethon, a priest of the sun god to teach him how to please a woman, only to grow closer to the priest as time goes on.

Cerberus, of course, has total golden retriever energy in a rottweiler’s skin, while Phaethon is the “I don’t fall in love until I totally do” type. The intrigue around them makes for some interesting plot points that give what is a predictable yaoi something a bit more unique. It is VERY suggestive and the art favors the tiddies:

This dude is a cup size up from me, I swear… It’s not bad, I wouldn’t mind getting my hands on the next one. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Scattering His Virgin Bloom: Love Frenzy” Vol. 3, by Aya Sakyo

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is rated 18+

After the incident with Joel, Renjaku wants Hana to quit his job and work at Renjaku’s firm.

I am not a fan of how Renjaku is behaving. He’s not being protective; he’s being controlling, taking Hana’s phone, hauling him off on a work trip… He’s heading into red flag territory. Hana seemed genuinely concerned about losing his autonomy. It’s why he wanted to keep his job and worked so hard to get a full-time position since the start of this series. At the same time, he just lets Renjaku undermine that? Why even set that up then? I dunno, it seems like a plot device to keep the coffee shop setting for some scenes. I sure hope Hana sticks to his guns on this. 2.5 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Scattering His Virgin Bloom: Love Frenzy” Vol. 2, by Aya Sakyo

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is rated 18+

While Renjaku is away for work, Hana’s mother moves to set up her son with another alpha, Joel. Renjaku did give Hana a collar instead of biting, but this publicly outs him as an omega.

What a toxic fucking family. This makes me even more annoyed that Hana didn’t make Renjaku more aware to better protect him from his mother’s machinations. It was also very predictable that whoever his mom would pick as a potential mate would be a jerk because everyone but Renjaku has to be an asshole. 3 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Perfect Buddy” Vol. 1, by daki & Lash

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*This book is rated 18+

Seo Hyunsoo has only physical relationships with men and is devoted to his routines but when he catches Baik Youngchan  masturbating in a public bathroom, the man throws a wrench in Hyunsoo’s ordered life.

While they have a typically comedic and antagonistic relationship, Baik’s protective golden retriever energy is so much fun. He’s clearly more on the ball than Seo gives him credit for. Seo’s background with his former job gives some nice context to his deadpan attitude and why he gives in to all this extra work. I’m looking forward to learning more about why he was transferred and how these “enemies” come into play in the plot. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “At 25:00, in Akasaka” Vol. 1, by Hiroko Natsuno

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*This book is rated 18+

Shirasaki Yuki has landed a huge acting gig and his costar is superstar actor Hayama Asami. Yuki is nervous about his performance in a gay drama and asks Asami to help him.

While not the most original premise, it’s very tender in the way it executes it. Asami, while indulging this wild proposition, is quite respectful of Yuki’s boundaries and since their chemistry is good, they’re easy to root for and I’m hoping for their happy ending. The art is fairly standard but good and the smutty bits fit well into the plot. It’s pretty spicy but also sweet! 3.7 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Scattering His Virgin Bloom: Love Frenzy” Vol. 1, by Aya Sakyo

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is rated 18+

Renjaku and Hana are living together as mates and as their relationship is more serious, their families get involved.

This volume focuses on Hana’s family and how they’ve treated him as an omega. Which is not great. It doesn’t really help that he’d not being honest with Renjaku about what’s happening and (spoilers???) with Renjaku leaving on a work trip, Hana can’t even go to him for comfort. The persistent smut doesn’t distract from how sad this is. And we’re just gonna have no hard feelings for your alpha brother trying to mate with you. Okay… 3 out of 5.