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Hi everyone and happy October!
It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these, so I thought I’d get back to sharing my monthly reading recaps here.
This wasn’t a great month. Lots of romance and lots of thrillers. That’s comfort reading to me and what I needed. Unfortunately, only a couple knocked my socks off. BOOOO.
As always, you can find my real-time reading thoughts on:
Happy reading!
The Secrets of Us by Lucinda Berry- ⭐️⭐️⭐️-Kept me reading until the end but it was ultimately choppy and unsatisfying.
Just One Look by Lindsay Cameron-⭐️⭐️⭐️
This one is kind of scattered and all over the place and meandering but yet I was totally drawn into it. Creepy and messy and fun. Cassandra is like a female Joe from You.
Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ AUDIO
This wins the award for the sweetest romance I’ve read this year. It’s awkward and sweet and realistic and vulnerable and flawed and I’m absolutely in love with it.
Honestly Lucien and Oliver probably have the best chemistry of any romantic duo I can think of. Add in the supporting characters – you will fall in love with EVERY SINGLE ONE- and it’s just…chef’s kiss. Heart eyes. Swoon.
The audio version is phenomenal. I laughed out loud so many times at Luke’s stream of consciousness narration.
5 flawless stars.
Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney-⭐️⭐️⭐️
Allllll over the place and I honestly to this day haven’t worked out what I think about Feeney’s actual writing style.
BUTTTTT.
Let’s be honest. We all read Feeney’s books for the WTF factor and this one definitely entertains.
A Sweet Mess by Jayci Lee -⭐️⭐️⭐️ (2.5 stars rounded up)
I had high hopes for this romance. Two smokin’ hot Korean-American leads and a baking show backdrop? Yes please. But it ultimately just didn’t do it for me.
The Charm Offensive by Allison Cochrun- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ AUDIO
Apparently Boyfriend Material got me in the mood for queer love stories on audio. I really adored this sweet love story and the best part is that the two leads were real people with real problems. Serious ones. This book has a pretty heavy layer underneath the “romance”. And Cochrun wrote in such a lovely and respectful way. I also really appreciate the Bachelor/dating show setting.
Perfect Timing Owen Nicholls- ⭐️⭐️⭐️
First of all, this isn’t a light romance. There are quite heavy themes sprinkled throughout.
Second…I wanted to like this more than I did. I think I just honestly didn’t connect with the characters. I STRONGLY disliked Jess (she was unbearable) and I just never got a good handle on Tom. I’m sad because I really wanted to like it.
Miss Benson’s Beetle by Rachel Joyce- ⭐️⭐️⭐️
My feelings on this book are SO incredibly complicated. I give *five shiny stars* to the parts of the book that included the women. Any of the women. I loved “Marge” and Enid and their messy, chaotic, quirky, beautiful life. I laughed out loud, I marked passages, I cried, I nodded. Joyce characterized these women perfectly and they came to life as I read.
I loved the parts of the book about the diplomat’s wives.
I loved learning about beetles. And New Caledonia.
I’m a huge fan of Rachel Joyce.
And then there are the parts of the book that included Mundic. I HATED (and I rarely use that word) the parts that used a disturbed POW with PTSD for a plot device. I HATED that he was the villain and that what he had been through was glossed over and ignored. It broke my heart as a military spouse of a combat veteran and as a human. He was never treated with compassion. His chapters were literally two pages long. He was given no love and no understanding and even in the end….what was it all for???
He was just… so unnecessary. The book would have been perfect without him. There was plenty of drama and intrigue and humor in the women’s part of the book.
And man did I despise the end. More than I can explain. I almost threw the book across the room.
I don’t even know how to rate something that I feel so all over the place about. I give the women’s part of the book 5 stars and the Muncic part of the book 1 star. So I averaged the two scores.
What did you read? Any gems to share? Happy Friday, y’all!
xoxo
S