Hello readers! This month I read more than I read in any other month in 2023. I had 5 stars all the way down to 1 star. I do not give 1 star often, so that made it more surprising for me.
I read so much this month totaling 5,638 pages across 21 books. I don’t know if I can keep that going. Mostly, I was just reading like 3 or 4 books at once. I really enjoy doing that, actually! I’ll have 1 main book and a few others that I read on the side. I’ve also been dedicating a certain time before I fall asleep to reading, which I didn’t do before this August.
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I read the last 4 books in this series at the beginning of this month. It was a wild ride for sure. This series follows a female serial killer out for revenge on these men who destroyed her life and an FBI profiler.
It’s very violent and a little smutty. Check the trigger warnings for sure. Many characters were traumatized in this book, most of which when they were children. So, keep that in mind. I recommend reading it all at once. It really was 5 pieces of one story and I wish it were just one longer book instead of 5 novellas.
If you like thrillers and dark romance, this would be perfect for you! I am enjoying delving into dark romance more.
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This was my first ARC of the month. It’s one of a anthology series by 11 different authors. It’s out when you see this! This one follows a girl who works in this magical library. She finds herself homeless and the only person who has a place for her to stay is this guild of mages, including a prince she hates.
This was a cute story! I cannot wait to read the rest. Actually, I ended up getting Kindle Unlimited because all the books in this series are on there. Now, the writing isn’t the best, but I was entertained. I think we can all give a little grace to these self pubbed authors who don’t have the resources that traditional published authors do. I enjoyed the story, despite the writing. It didn’t bother me at all, but I saw many other ARC readers who were bothered by it, so I want to make sure everyone knows.
This series is perfect for the YA cozy fantasy reader with a little romance. It is very PG, no smut at all. I can’t wait to try the other books!
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Give Me a Sign follows a young girl who becomes a counselor at this deaf camp she had attended for a few summers. She struggles with not really fitting in with deaf people or hearing people. Her parents didn’t encourage use of ASL in her home, so she doesn’t know it much. However, she is also deaf and can’t hear people who communicate verbally well.
This was a great story. I do watch some people in the deaf community and from what I’ve heard from them, all the experiences were true. Of course, the author is also deaf. There is a video on Tik Tok of her showing how to sign the book title!
I would recommend this to anyone who want to learn about the deaf community or know someone who is deaf, especially those who are parents of deaf children.
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I also received this one as an ARC. Fawn and Foe follows a fae/vampire King named Barrette who is injured in the forest by an enemy. A fawn shifter (who is also plus size!) finds him and nurses him back to health.
This is one of my favorite books of 2023! I loved that the POV was the man. I loved that the love interest, Hazel, was plus size. We plus size girlies need more rep in romance! There was also a NB character, which I did not expect one bit.
I loved the spice, I loved the characters, loved the plot, and that ending had me on the edge of my seat. This is the type of book you will wish was longer. Not because it felt too short, but because you will be sad to see the characters go.
This has to be one of the best ARCs I’ve received as well. I seriously have bad luck with ARCs! This one came out on the 25th, so get it if you are interested.
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Here is another ARC! Craving the Alien Vampire is a VERY spicy scifi romance between an Indian woman and this vampire alien man. His entire species are vampire aliens.
Maya is sold to these aliens by her boyfriend and gets auctioned off and the love interest ends up buying her.
This is the perfect book if your looking for something short and smutty from beginning to end. The banter in the beginning between the characters had me laughing out loud. The cultural differences between humans and non-humans were pretty funny.
Once you start the book, it’s unputdownable. (seriously, I read this in one sitting)
I’ve never heard of an alien vampire before this, but I’m here for it and would love to read more! Pick this book up if you love a good spicy romance with extra spice.
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I am so happy to be done with this dang series, but I gotta be honest, I DNF’d this book about half way. I just dreaded reading it. It is one that I’ve owned the longest and haven’t read, so I am happy to have it done with.
I can admire LOTR and appreciate what it has done for the fantasy genre, but it just isn’t really for me.
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The author sent me this book, but it isn’t an ARC. I signed up to be an ARC reader for the sequel and so I had to read book one. It is on KU, if you are interested. Even though she sent it to me, I borrowed it on KU.
This one follows Jacey who is cheated on by her fiance (with her assistant) and is challenged by her best friend Leon to say yes to the next 5 men who has her on a date. We follow her doing this.
There are a total of 6 love interests in this book and we didn’t get to see who she ended up with by the end. IDK when the 2nd book will be out, but I really cannot wait to see what happens with this romance! I mean, she isn’t with all 6 at once, but there is some overlap there.
It’s also paranormal, but that doesn’t happen until the last 5 chapters or so, but I knew we will go into it much more in books 2 and 3.
If you are wondering about spice, it is VERY minimal here. However, the author did say each book in the trilogy will have more spice than the last. It’s defensible a slow burn in that aspect and with this love triangle by the end. She never said when the next one comes out, so I have no clue when I am getting the ARC for book 2.
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Buried Roots was an ARC I got on Book Sirens. It follows a woman named Willow who has inherited a large property and home from a couple she didn’t know. The love interest is a vet who she needs as she has also inherited horses and goats. She is from NYC, so she doesn’t know the first thing about taking care of a farm animal.
This was a romance book with a bit of mystery in it, and I honestly wish it were the opposite. I was more interested in the mystery aspects of the book than the romance. It kind of gave me cozy mystery vibes with the setting in a small town and all the side characters. However, I wish we got to see more of them and more of the mystery.
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Space For Love follows a human woman named Fina, who has just moved to Spire. Spire is full of many different kinds of aliens. She ends up meeting this alien named Breks who is a holographic receptionist at this place where you can pay for these AR simulations.
As she falls for him, she wants to know his true identity and the MMC is too scared to tell her because of his looks.
Because of this, the beginning of the spice is somewhat dub con. I LOVE that this MC is plus size, and not just the curvy kind. We get both POVs, which is becoming my absolute favorite thing with romances. I love seeing the mans POV.
One thing that will always sell me on a book is great banter, and this book had that. I love when the characters are funny and awkward. Hell, dating can be awkward! And the spice is probably a 4/5. There is more spice than plot for sure. This is a romance with the backdrop of a scifi.
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This book is HUGE on Booktok and I decided to give it a go. My biggest issue with it is how people describe it. This book was traumatizing to read.
knew this book romanticized stalkers going in and I was prepared for that. What I wasn’t prepared for was romanticizing rape. I am tired of everyone calling it dubious consent and CNC. It isn’t either of those things. This book is full of straight up graphic rape.
I am not shaming anyone who likes this book! I am just tired of this conversation around this as if this book is somehow consent. This character mentions multiple times that she would not be doing it if she wasn’t forced to be. She also makes MULTIPLE police reports because she is so scared of him.
I can say I liked the book UNTIL the graphic rape in it. The MC was sassy and kinda bitchy, and I liked it.
However, I also think both characters act in ways that don’t make sense to who they are. How am I supposed to believe that Zade has a passion for sex trafficking victims, victims of abuse, and victims of childhood SA when he graphically rapes a woman through a whole book? He is one of the people he would murder!
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I enjoyed Bound by Honey, so I decided to try Bound by Treason. This book is very different from the other. I would recommend Bound by Honey for a young YA audience. It’s very cozy and fluffy.
This one starts out with the death of the third child of the Queen of the fae, suspected to have been murdered. There is also light domestic violence in this one.
I’m not complaining, just surprised from the stark contrast. I liked this ones characters and writing better, but I enjoyed the plot of Bound by Honey more.
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Clara and Louisa, two young sisters, must live with their godfather Drosselmeyer. One night, a doll comes to life and asks for their help. Louisa and Clara embark on an adventure in the Fae realm, where she meets the charming Sugarplum Faerie. Louisa and the doll argue, but also feel drawn to each other. Meanwhile, the Seelie kingdom is in danger from the Rat King.
This book is a new favorite of all time! This is a spicy nutcracker retelling. I’ve never read a nutcracker retelling and it was refreshing. I love how colorful this world is, yet sinister. One romance happens pretty quickly and the other is a slowburn. Does anyone reading this listen to Melanie Martinez? I imagine the world in this book looks like her Mad Hatter music video. I cannot wait to read more in this series and from this author!
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Dear Monster Claus follows this Cupid woman named Xochitl (sow-cheel) who writes to Santa wishing to fall in love. It is said that Cupids are not allowed to fall in love, but she wants to.
I liked a lot about this book. It is a Christmas book and I loved every aspect of that! I loved the characters as well. All the characters, including side ones, were great. I love that Santa’s name is Arson and he has a brother named Pyro. I don’t know why, but I thought that was a cute pair of sibling names.
I gave it a 3 because I think it needed to be longer and I was confused. We were told in the beginning that Cupids cannot fall in love, but there wasn’t any reason given for that. This woman had parents that were together, so I’m not sure about that. Also, there wasn’t any consequences for the falling love part. I just think the world in general didn’t make sense.
There is another book in this world, though called Stupid Cupid. I’m gonna read that one at some point and see if that is addressed. That one follows Xochitl’s brother Valentine and Arson’s brother Pyro.
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This is the first book in a duology, the 2nd book comes out in December.
Cora becomes CEO of her father’s company after he passes away. When she comes into work on her first day as CEO, she meets the leader of the HR department, and it happens to be Jay, a guy she had a one night stand with 2 years before. It’s a why choose between Cora, Jay, and Jay’s masseuse boyfriend Marco.
I did enjoy this book, even if it ended on a cliffhager. I would say if you like books with BDSM, try this one for sure. I didn’t like that aspect of it. I feel like BDSM with the dom/sub aspect are too organized.The dom will be talking and I’m just tired of listening to them say stuff, lol.
I would say this book also has a pretty large focus on miscarriage and other traumas such as childhood abuse and PTSD. I submitted the triggers to the Trigger Warnings Database, so it might be on there at some point.
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Forgotten Vows is an ARC that I got this month. The book itself comes out on the 6th. It follows Ben and Chelsea. Chelsea has just been in a horrible car accident and has forgotten the last 10 years of her life. Ben, her ex husband, is listed as her emergency contact and comes to visit her, only to find she doesn’t remember him. It’s a second chance romance between them as Ben never wanted their relationship to end.
I really enjoyed following Chelsea and Ben’s relationship over time. They really have been through so much and to see them take their 2nd chance at love was heartwarming. Forgotten Vows has some of the best dialogue I’ve read. All the characters are so sweet to one another! I wish I had Chelsea’s friend group. They are so caring. This book is also quite spicy, which I did not expect at all! I cannot wait for book 2 to be in my hands. We were left with a lot of unanswered questions that I need to know.
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The best way I can describe this book is Squid Game mixed with The Selection series.
Adina gets into a verbal altercation with a rich, white girl at school and loses her admittance to Yale along with her scholarship. In order to get back what she earned, she joins this competition where the winner will be in the favor of this rich and powerful family. The thing is, Adina didn’t know this competition would turn deadly for everyone except the winner.
I really enjoyed the idea of the book more than I liked the actual book. I didn’t like really any of the characters except Graham. I wanted more out of it. I wanted to be on the edge of my seat, but I really wasn’t. I wish it were more of a thriller in that way. I do want to see what else this author does in the future as it is only her debut.
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Faultless Notion is a rockstar romance following a band’s assistant, Eloise, and the drummer, Keller (the band is called Prevelant Notion).
Eloise and Keller get really drunk while the band is on tour in Vegas and get married. In order to keep the band’s reputation in tact, they pretend to have married on purpose.
In this book, the two of them fall in love and learn to heal over past trauma involving both their families. I really enjoyed this one and cannot wait to read book two. HOWEVER, book three follows the lead singer, Theo, and I’m not excited for that at this point. Theo’s character was the actual worst. This author is gonna have to give him a lot of character development to get me to root for his romance! I’m open minded, but also unsure.
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This is the first book in a series called Monstrous Deals. I think book 2 comes out really soon.
We follow Kalli, who is down on her luck because she cannot pay her bills. She joins this escort service for monsters and is quickly contacted by a demon named Rin. He can shapeshift into a human, so she doesn’t know what he actually looks like.
The longer they spend time together, the more they realize there is something more between them. However, Rin doesn’t think he could be with Kalli because of his looks.
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