That Irresistible Poison (Calluvia's Royalty) Paperback – 9 Sept. 2019

One of my favourite authors, creating a fabulous world and characters I absolutely adored. Wonderful storyline, writing, and her signature humour. Simply gorgeous!

Enemies to lovers, sexual tension, repressed and possessive alpha types, and razor-tongued super-brats are what this author excels at, and she didn’t miss a beat in this slow-burn romance. It’s the second title in the Calluvia’s Royalty series and focuses on long-time nemeses [who we meet in Book 1] Crown Prince of the grand clan and Lord Chancellor of the planet, Ksar, and his bondmate, Prince Seyn. And although it probably can be read as a standalone, I’d suggest reading both books in order as the stories are actually quite intricately entwined.Calluvians are a nation of mostly low-level telepaths who are bonded to their betrothed when very young, and should therefore remain fairly asexual and celibate til they marry at twenty-five. When Ksar’s original bondmate dies leaving the then 8yo gravely ill and in urgent need of a new bond, baby Seyn is induced and immediately bonded to the older Prince to save his life. It should’ve guaranteed a unique telepathic and emotional connection between them, but, for reasons I won’t divulge for fear of spoilering, the relationship is a disaster, driving Seyn to seek annulment of the bond while believing the separation will bring him ultimate happiness. Wrong.The endless sniping, sass and UST between this duo, coupled with an intriguing background narrative involving Calluvian politics and laws, made for a slightly deeper and more fascinating read than its predecessor, I think. These arch-enemies secretly aching for and obsessing over one another for so long without fully understanding why let alone being able to express it, was maddeningly frustrating at times yes, but also made their connection infinitely more poignant and powerful and very sensual when they finally do succumb to all that pent-up want. I don’t think I’d quite label it angry-sex...but it was damn close at first ;)I liked both characters, but Ksar’s cool, detached stoicism on the surface, and simmering frustration, passion and possessiveness underneath, completely melted me. Yes, I wanted to scream at him for not trusting and opening up to his bondmate sooner, but I could also empathise with his situation and the fact he was literally born and bred to fulfil a princely and political destiny, and therefore didn’t believe his personal happiness was of any real importance. Ugh..how sad.In all, a pretty great sequel this, angsty, emotional, hot, with a romantic - although, not overly-slushy, thank goodness - conclusion for our leads, with a sweet little epilogue to boot. I also enjoyed catching up with Harry and Adam from Book 1, and I’m really looking forward to Book 3 - Jamil and his manservant - which should be available 2019.

Wow another killer book from Hazard! I love all the books she's written but this is definitely among the top for me.If you love enemies to lovers then this is a must.I really enjoyed that we had a longer book this time, it really paid off with the romance and plot and ended up being a perfect pace for me. I loved both of the characters, they each had flaws and felt like real people. The brattiness of Seyn was especially well written. The chemistry between them was exceptional. Super hot!Overall I absolutely loved this book, and can't wait for more in this series. I think there were a few teasers in here of potential fantastic new book plots.

Hazzard is a fantastic author - great at building tension, and diving in deep into her characters. The leads in this novel did not disappoint - both were well thought out and developed nicely throughout. The sexual tension was strong, and oh so satisfying! Will automatically read anything that Hazzard puts out at this point!Even though it's a standalone, I would definitely recommend reading book 1 first - a lot of this one relies on previous events.

I did like this, hence the four stars, but there was just something that meant I couldn't give it a 5, which was a shame as I was really looking forward to this book.The blurb explains the storyline and as a fan of the author I enjoyed the writing style and learning more about the workings of Calluvia and its people.I think that maybe, as other reviewers have mentioned and having read the first book, re-reading the same conversations from book one, albeit from a slightly different viewpoint, slowed this story down a bit and I'm not sure how much I gained from it. If I was jumping straight in to this one it would have been fine, but I wasn't. So saying that, at least I knew where in the timeline of Harry and Adams story, this takes place.I think the main thing for me though was Ksar. I was so wanting to like him more but the cold and sometimes cruel way he spoke to Seyn made it very difficult. Seyn verbally gave as good as he got but his feelings were hurt time and time again when I don't think it was always necessary. I had more empathy for Ksar by the end of the book and hope to see a slightly softer side to him, especially where Seyn, Harry and Adam are concerned, in the next one. Although not too much with regard to other people. This is Ksar after all.I liked the ending and am pleased all worked out as it did, as I wasn't always too sure where it was heading.This was an emotional, angsty and sexy read and as ever, I'm looking forward to the next one.

This book was the second in a series so most readers would have also read the first book yet the author repeated each word and scene for the first tale. The new book therefore only actually started after chapter 11/12. I felt both conned and bored at having to re-read everything I had already read previously. A simple 1 page recap at the start would have sufficed.

I so loved this book. I enjoyed the first one but this brought a lot of humour and much more emotion. Great read!

Wow I could not put this book down!! I loved the character development and storyline, I hated having to step away from this story for actual real world responsibilities 😂 highly recommend!

La historia está increíble, desde que estaba leyendo That Allien Feeling estaba ansiosa por saber más de la historia entre Seyn y Ksar, en cuanto lo terminé empecé a leer este libro y no lo pude soltar.La relación entre los protagonistas es súper intensa y toda la dinámica para que vayan de enemigos a amantes me encantó, se aborda de una manera especial por todo el tema de la comunicación telepática que tienen los Calluvianos y justo eso lo hace mucho más entrañable a mi parecer.La historia está muy padre, es sin duda alguna de mis libros favoritos de Alessandra Hazard, lo he releído muchas veces y me sigue emocionando muchísimo.La obra es increíble en sí, y físicamente el libro llegó en perfectas condiciones, la edición me gusta bastante, el papel se siente de buena calidad, la letra es de un buen tamaño y el interlineado es adecuado.

The history is interesting, the characters are incredible!!! I loved the couple. I liked a lot that I wanted a continuing, there are more room for it.

I loved the first book in the series That Alien Feeling so much I read it twice in a row. I would never have thought I could love the second book more. But I do! The characters had more of a complexity to them and the plot was just as well developed as the first. You get to see more of the original characters from the first book so for you Harry and Adam lovers you can get your fix of them too. Seyn is close to my heart I felt like I could understand his character from a personal standpoint and Ksar you love to hate but grudgingly you find you love to love him too. I mean what truly is better fantasy than a hard man that is only soft for you? Anyway enjoy laughing crying and loving with these characters then give three cheers to Alessandra for another successful truly enjoyable story.

Wow, this is now one of my favorite romances of all time! I was very overwhelmed by the end of the book and can’t stop thinking about Seyn and Ksar. This is such an emotionally intense story!I was glad to see Harry and Adam again.Seyn is my favorite character. He is so adorable and lovable! I grew to like and sympathize with Ksar. As hurtful as Ksar was to Seyn, we do find out Ksar’s motives (even if I still don’t agree with his actions), and Ksar did work extremely hard and was willing to sacrifice his own happiness to save his brother.Ksar and Seyn’s dynamic was super fascinating, and not just because it was an enemies-to-lovers trope. There was a lot of exploration, via their internal dialogue and interactions with each other, all the deep psychological intricacies of their relationship. They both seem to be remarkably unaware of their true feelings towards the other person.One great thing about Calluvian society is that they are so open-minded towards same-gender romantic relationships. Seyn was brought up by two moms and it seems perfectly normal to have a bondmate of the same gender. It’s possible that gay relationships are even more common than heterosexual ones. Yay! Calluvians seem to respect women more, too. The second and third Grand Clans are both ruled by Queens, and nobody finds that unusual on this planet.I’m still feeling overwhelmed by the sheer emotional intensity of their story. Seyn and Ksar are also the only couple from an adult romance (rather than a YA one) that made it into my favorite couples of all time list.Looking forward to Jamil’s story, though I doubt I’ll love it as much as Seyn and Ksar’s story, as these two are hard to beat!

Ho letto quasi tutto di questa autrice e, a parte poche eccezioni, ho adorato e adoro tutte le sue storie. Anche questa non fa eccezione. Complessa, passionale, romantica e piena di rabbia che, ovviamente, si trasforma in altro. Unica pecca: aver corso un po' troppo dalla fase nemici (lunghissima) all'amore. Fase attesa, ovviamente, ma un po' innaturale per i personaggi che sembrano non evolversi naturalmente. Qualche scena "un po' forzata" ma per il resto un ottimo secondo capitolo per una serie molto carina.