It was a big reading month, can’t believe I read 28 books to be honest, as usual there were a fair few rereads, but there were also a few books that have been on the TBR for a hella long time and I finally read them.

Finished up two series as well, that’s always a bit bittersweet.

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⭐, Storm Echo (Psy-Changeling Trinity #6) – 5⭐ & Resonance Surge (Psy-Changeling Trinity #7) – 5⭐ by Nalini Singh

Reread number five of the first six books to prepare for Resonance Surge.

I love the bears so bloody much. ❤

This might not be my favourite in the Trinity right now but I think I said that about Alpha Night and Ocean Light the first time I read them and now I love them just as much as all the rest. I think it’s to do with the speed I read them, I miss some of the attention to detail Nalini Singh is so good at on the first read sometimes!

What I liked about their story was even though the state of the PsyNet was still mentioned, we kind of got a break from it and this felt old school and concentrated on a psychopath. I don’t mind the PsyNet storyline (and I feel it kind of reflects the destruction of our planet due to climate change and humans fucking everything up) but it has been going on for a lot of books and things seem to be getting worse instead of better. Just like our planet without Changelings to stop us from destroying everything I guess. I just hope there is some stability for a while soon. It’s making me anxious! Just like the real world!

I really liked Yakov and Theo, Theo is another badass Trinity heroine, she has survived a lot of torture and man I’m glad Kaleb flew Marshall Hyde up, can we bring him back so she can blow him up again? That would be nice. Yakov was as wonderful and he is whenever he gets page time. Yakov and Pavel are far too wonderful. I also adored all the twinning going on, this is all going to be even more important in the future right?

I adored the little Pavel and Arwen secondary story, I would have loved for it to be a bit more of them and a little meatier but I’ll happily take what we got. A teeny tiny little short story about the two of them and their mating ceremony would be super welcomed! ;D

Perfect Strangers by Erin Knight – 5⭐

I picked up a copy of this book in a secondhand book shop years ago and bought it because it sounded like it would be interesting. Then I saw it on sale for 2.99 on Audible a few years later and read the synopsis again and bought it again in case I fancied listening to it one day.

Well today was that day. Today. I binged it in one day. Opted to walk an extra hour and a half instead of taking the bus just so I could binge it!

This was very entertaining. It was basically a British soap opera and although I haven’t watched one of those in years I still had a great time. Yes, you could see some things coming a mile away, especially the big things, but there was still enough red herrings thrown in to keep you questioning everything and it meant it was impossible to ‘put down’. It’s probably more a 4 star read but I was 100% hooked so I’m giving it 5.

It also made me:
a) so, so glad that I didn’t grow up around the minefield that is social media
and
b) even more glad of my decision not to have kids because some of the stuff in this was terrifying and I’d wager it’s the tip of the iceberg. I also feel the need to have chats with my nieces and nephews again about the importance of not just online safety but the importance of knowing they can come to me about ANYTHING and I won’t judge and we can figure it out because that bottling it up doesn’t do a damn thing!

Yes, a lot of this was over the top because it’s a work of fiction and as I mentioned was a lot like a soap opera, but I’ve also listened to Sweet Bobby and Unraveled: The Stalkers Web so I’m aware that the stories that sound the most bananas can actually be true, so I didn’t need to suspend belief too much with this book.

This was entertaining, terrifying when thinking about online presence and impossible to put down. Will definitely be checking out this authors backlist! Bummer, checked and she hasn’t written anything since this (2018) and has no backlist. That’s disappointing, very strong debut I must say!

Oh and the narrator was really very good! 10 out of 10 for her as well.

Play It Safe by Kristen Ashley – 4⭐

Felt a little bit slumpy so reread number five. This isn’t an out and out favourite but I do enjoy spending time with Gray and Ivey every now and then.

Death on the Nile (Hercule Poirot #18) by Agatha Christie – 4.5⭐

One of my favourites. It’s the setting and the murder is, I want to say a fun one but I don’t mean fun, the murder is… nope, still want to say fun! That feels so wrong but I can’t think of another way to describe it. I will say that I always felt that final murder was unnecessary and over the top. It felt a bit like Agatha Christie telling us without telling us what she thought of certain types of authors and well I happen to love those sorts of authors so maybe I’m projecting! 😀

Anyways, this has always made me want to do one of those cruises down the Nile and it still does. I just hope that if I ever get to do it there isn’t 5 bodies in bags coming off after!

I’ve a few different cruise companies picked out but a current favourite is Sanctuary Retreats on the The Sanctuary Nile Adventurer.

But I also really want to go with Nour El Nil, they’ve been on my bucket list for YEARS!!

Just need to win the lotto now. You know I think my love of luxuries holidays started at about the age 6 when I saw my first Agatha Christie! 😀

After the Climb (River Rain #1) – 4⭐ Chasing Serenity (River Rain #2) – 4.5⭐, Taking the Leap (River Rain #3) – 5⭐, Making the Match (River Rain #4) – 3.5⭐by Kristen Ashley

Setting myself up for the September release of Fighting the Pull, I really hope it’s better than Making the Match. Still not over the Genny bullshit.

Rock Chick by Kristen Ashley – 5⭐

I was mad about Genny’s behaviour in Making the Match and needed a KA heroine that doesn’t disappoint me so Rock Chick it was. Reread number… eight!!

Maniac (Necessary Evils #7) by Onley James – 4⭐

Bummed this series is over to be honest. It was really compelling and I enjoyed the craziness. I see some rereading in my future.

Maniac was a little bit disappointing though, I still enjoyed it but I think I’d built it up way too much in my head and I found Thomas’ ‘big secret’ to be kind of underwhelming even though it was rather horrific when looked at away from the craziness of all the other books. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed it and Thomas and Aiden were kind of awesome together but I’d have liked more? More backstory maybe? I don’t know what was missing but there was something. Doesn’t matter though because it was still good.

I will say that the culmination of the series had every single character from the series make an appearance and that’s A LOT of people (and one new one, Lola) it was nice to see them all but I’d have to stop every now and then so that I could try and place some people. Jericho’s Boys threw me the most but they are getting their own series so I get why they were there and I’m looking forward to their books as the boys are funny.

Beauty and the Mustache (Knitting in the City #4) – 4⭐, Truth or Beard (Winston Brothers #1) – 4.5⭐, Grin and Beard It (Winston Brothers #2) – 4.5⭐, Beard Science (Winston Brothers #3) – 5⭐, Engagement and Espionage (Solving for Pie: Cletus and Jenn Mysteries #1) – 4⭐, Marriage and Murder (Solving for Pie: Cletus and Jenn Mysteries #2) – 4⭐, Beard in Hiding (Winston Brothers #4.5) – 4.5⭐, Beard in Mind (Winston Brothers #4) – 4⭐, Dr. Strange Beard (Winston Brothers #5) – 4.5⭐, Beard with Me (Winston Brothers #6) – 4.5⭐, Beard Necessities (Winston Brothers #7) – 5⭐& A Beardy Bonus: Bonus and deleted scenes from the Winston Brothers Series (Winston Brothers #7.5) – 3⭐ by Penny Reid

I began this series back in 2017. I read book 1, 2, 3 and 4 and then had to wait for the next book and it just dropped off my radar and when I looked it up again things had really progressed, the series had not only been completed but there was related series up the wazoo! 😀

A really fun series with lovely characters and it ended perfectly. I really need to catch up on all things Penny Reid. Knitting in the City up next time I’m in the mood for her.