Some huge standouts this month but there were also a few very meh books.
November was also a tough month personally so that might have impacted how I felt about what I was reading.
Complicated by Kristen Ashley – 5⭐
Standard KA stuff really. Alpha male, sad lead female, alpha male behaves like a douche not once but twice, he grovels, she forgives, HEA follows. It’s standard but to be honest I can’t get enough of it. One of my favourite things about KA is the fact that her lead females are not 20 year old virgins but a lot of the time women over 30 who have actually had a life before they met the alpha male who is gonna cause emotional upheaval before she gets her the HEA!
The Heart Principle (The Kiss Quotient #3) by Helen Hoang – 5⭐
This book!!
It kind of broke me to be honest but it was a good breaking. Helen Hoang is an author to watch. The neurodivergence she writes is just so welcomed and we need more of it in our romances.
This book also dealt with the struggle of being a caregiver and I think that the struggles involved in relation to this need to be talked about more.
So some tough subjects highlighted but we also get to read a beautiful love story. Stunning really.
Snowblind (Dark Iceland #1) by Ragnar Jónasson, Quentin Bates (Translator) – 3⭐
Hmmmm. I was too quick to dive into another Nordic Noir I think. Maybe should have done more research. I’ve read that this series gets better though so I will totally read the next book.
A Conspiracy in Belgravia (Lady Sherlock #2) by Sherry Thomas – 5⭐
This one was such a good follow up to book 1 and so many twists and turns.
Charlotte Holmes is a legend. I really can’t wait to find out what she does next. I just love what Sherry Thomas has done with the characters in these books. I can’t get enough of them.
Sweet Bliss (Harper Landing #1) by Jennifer Bardsley – 3⭐
I did enjoy the story and the characters but it was a little too instant for me. It’s weird, some authors can do instant and I barely notice and I struggle to accept it with others. This was a case of struggling. I think it’s because I found some errors in the timelines so I kept trying to figure out how long it was they really knew each other so that was always on my mind.
Black Sun (Between Earth and Sky #1) by Rebecca Roanhorse – 5⭐
I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this book!
Multiple POV. Lovely world building. Epic journey which included a sea voyage (my fav). A magic system I’m looking forward to learning more about. Characters I already love who could be villains or they could be heroes. Who knows? I can’t wait to find out.
So basically everything I personally love in a fantasy!
All in all this was impossible to put down and it is absolutely going to be in my 2021 Top 10!
Sweet Dreams (Colorado Mountain #2) by Kristen Ashley – 5⭐
See comment on Complicated. 😀
Silver Silence (Psy-Changeling Trinity #1) – 5⭐, Ocean Light (Psy-Changeling Trinity #2) – 5⭐, Wolf Rain (Psy-Changeling Trinity #3) – 5⭐, Alpha Night (Psy-Changeling Trinity #4) – 5⭐, Last Guard (Psy-Changeling Trinity #5) – 5⭐
This is where my month really went to sh*t.
So we all know I’ve a rereading problem and I’ve always known it was linked to my anxiety, the way I look at it, it’s better to reread rather than read nothing at all, especially because I find reading the perfect way to calm myself.
Read a really interesting article about rewatching tv shows (which I also do a lot) and it definitely stands true for rereading as well. The psychology behind why you like to rewatch your favourite movie or series during the pandemic.
“According to psychologist Pamela Rutledge, rewatching a movie or show you really enjoy can be a simple way of controlling your emotions when your entire world feels out of control.”
Health24
Fix Her Up (Hot & Hammered #1) by Tessa Bailey – 3⭐
This was good but a little rushed and the end conflict felt forced. I’m also really not a fan of the virgin trope, it makes me uncomfy. I was in the mood for something quick, with an alphahole and sunshine heroine and this ticked the boxes. Overall it worked for what I wanted and dirty talk!! Not sure I want to read about the rest of them but we shall see.
Protecting What’s His (Line of Duty #1) by Tessa Bailey – 1⭐
This is my own fault. I can only read very, very specific cop stories and Derek was the opposite of what I need in those stories. As in I’m like 100% convinced he is the type of cop who would murder a suspect while on duty and not give it a second thought. For a cop hero to work for me he must be inside a corrupt system and put himself in danger trying to change it. It’s the only thing that makes sense to me. 🤷
Also another virgin trope, I really don’t like this trope, mainly because I think it’s ridiculous and then Ginger did the whole ‘too stupid to live thing’ that just made me roll my eyes and skim the last part if it so this one couldn’t win for losing for me!
Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker – 5⭐
This was not an easy read. Nobody in this family had an easy time of it and it’s hard reading about so many kinds of trauma but this is also an in depth look into schizophrenia which is scary and difficult to understand. I’ll talk about this more in my non-fiction quarterly wrap up but highly recommend this if you would like to learn more about a kind of unknowable disease.
mindforbooks.ie 