As with September, the October reading numbers aren’t as high as usual. I’m actually okay with it though. I’ve had a really good reading year, so tapering off is to be expected I think.

Quiet in Her Bones by Nalini Singh – 5⭐

Oh my goodness, this book!

I was unsure for a while, I thought it was going to be a medicore for me from one of my favourite authors, the horror!

But fear not, Nalini Singh got me in the end!

Almost every single character in this book is very unlikeable. It’s a cul de sac full of incredibly wealthy and privileged people so that’s not a total surprise, it was also one of the reasons I struggled with it. I wanted them all to be guilty and all go to prison, but it all came to a head so nicely and even though I’d guessed the perpetrator early enough, all the details were surprising and riveting. 

Aarav‘s mental state really added to the overall uncertainty as to what was going on and the few red herrings there were a lot of fun.

I’m just a big fan of this author in general and even though this is very different to stuff I prefer from her, PNR, I’m enjoying her journey into crime fiction. Looking forward to more of this genre from her.

The Pumpkin Spice Café (Dream Harbor #1) by Laurie Gilmore – 3⭐

Such a pity but I didn’t love this, in fact it was kind of mediocre. 

It just felt like nothing really happened and what did was kind of bland. The most interesting thing in the whole book was the playlist at the start to be honest. 

Jeanie’s crisis, while sad, felt very disingenuous and her aunt just giving her a whole ass building and business, while awesome and I’d love it, was the most unbelievable part of the whole book. 

Jeanie and Logan were cute but I also felt like there was very little chemistry. 

Not sure if I’ll continue the series but the spirit might move me some Sunday afternoon. It wasn’t a bad book, just not as good as it’s been hyped up to be!

Swift and Saddled (Rebel Blue Ranch #2) by Lyla Sage – 4⭐

This was as sweet and low stakes as Done and Dusted but I enjoyed it a little more. 

Ada was a little too closed off and I would have liked a bit more insight to what shaped her (some basic information about the end of her marriage would have been a good start) as I feel it would have given us a better understanding as to why she was so closed off and found it so difficult to open up to Weston.

Wes was a sweetheart but I also found that not diving into his mental health issues was a missed opportunity. 

Something I really appreciated (and will always appreciate in my romance) is that when Ada finally allowed herself to fall she didn’t give up her dreams to with Wes, well she didn’t do it right away, and when she made changes to her dream she made them after freely pursuing what she wanted without any guilt from her partner. 

I’m very much looking forward to Dusty and Cam’s book which is book four I believe!

The Nothing Man by Catherine Ryan Howard – 5⭐

This was a really riveting read. 

A book within a book The Nothing Man is narrated by Eve Black, the soul surviver of the serial killer who killed her family, and said serial killer who is reading her book and giving us a unique insight into all the events that took place while he was on his rampage. 

One thing I really appreciated with this book is that it’s a book based in Ireland and written by an Irish author, you wouldn’t think this would make such a big difference but it really does, just small things like Eve explaining her walks in Dublin were factual and therefore didn’t take me out of the story. 

This book also really hit different for me because as I was reading a truly terrible man from my childhood (and a man who really reminded me a lot of Jim Doyle) died so it all felt very surreal. Especially given that I was picturing Doyle as said asshole before the fucker died. It made the ending rather satisfying actually! A good time to point out that if you are a truly terrible human being in your life people won’t just not care when you die, they’ll actively celebrate. If only that was motivation enough for people not to be truly evil, unfortunately it’s not!

Text Appeal by Kylie Scott – 4⭐

Excuse me, a fake dating trope so the townspeople won’t bother the hero when his ex comes back to town that DOESN’T have the heroine and said ex be mortal enemies from the get go?

What is this sorcery? 

Riley was just very emotionally mature from the get go actually, the way she often paused and gave Connor time to reply and how she dealt with intrusive questions and text messages was just all very adult, even the pictures of the feet! It was unexpected and very welcome. 

Connor might not be the preferred dark haired hero but he more than made up for that in other ways, like dirty talk! A tiny bit emotionally constipated but Riley soon sorts that out. She is a communicator is Riley, she was just all round refreshing. Almost everyone was, Denise (Connor’s mom) was unforgivably rude and behaved like the most immature character in the whole town though, the lady really needed to get a grip. She kind of redeems herself but I’m really not a fan.

And then we also got a lovely queer HEA for secondary characters that wasn’t marred by small town homophobia and was all very Schitt’s Creek like. I’d have liked a bit more focus on it to be honest but totally get why it’s not in the book. I’d not hate a little short story! 😀 

The only thing that has left me pondering is the recycled phone number. I mean if it hadn’t happened there wouldn’t be a story and the short timeframe is given an explanation but it kind of threw me. It wasn’t enough to take me out of the story but it was very farfetched but I mean it is kind of instalove (which I’m a big fan of) so it’s not the only farfetched plot point! 

This was a fun and speedy listen that is currently included on audible.co.uk membership and is worth a download if you’re looking for something low stakes. 

Sunlight (Haven River Ranch #2) by Devney Perry – 4⭐

Yeah, I really enjoyed this addition to the Haven River Ranch. 

It’s DP so it’s over the top on the drama and I’m a fan of the drama from time to time. This book also has my very least favourite trope surprise pregnancy which is actually seems to be a favourite trope for this author and most of the time I enjoy how she does it, this was one of the times I really didn’t enjoy it. Jax and Sasha were actually very grown up and mature about the whole thing and I enjoyed seeing their relationship develop with the added ‘complication’. 

Sasha carries A LOT of guilt about her past and I feel like she hung onto that for far too long, you could tell early on that Jax would be more than happy to help her work through it but I also understand the need for her work through it on her own. It was a little frustrating but only because it took so long for that ‘big reveal’ and it was kind of easy to work out the gist of it early on so it just felt a bit dragged out. It all worked out in the end though!

I’m excited to see where this series goes!

Bayou Magic: The Complete Series by Kristen Proby

Shadows – 3.5⭐

I should love this book but I struggled to be honest. I’m a big fan of the instalove and yet I didn’t love the insta in this book. I felt like there was very little chemistry between the main characters and I wasn’t entirely invested. Then we had the villain, wow, like I’m okay with violence but this just seemed gratuitous. I really didn’t understand why it was so violent, it’s a PNR for goodness sake not American Psycho. 

I think it’s what made this such a hard book to like!

Spells – 2.5⭐

Well if I thought the violence in book one was gratuitous it was nothing on this and the reason for it made even less sense then in the first book. I mean I get that the villain is insane and evil but I didn’t at all joy being inside his head and having to go from there to a reincarnated love story was just unpleasant. Maybe they did have chemistry and their love story wasn’t confusing given they’ve known each other so long but I was too busy being skeeved out by the torture and murder of all the men. 

I want to read the last book because I don’t like to leave things unfinished but I’m not sure I have the stomach for it. I don’t mind overt violence when that’s what I’m in the mood for (see American Psycho) but I just wanted witches in New Orleans! 

Serendipity – TBR

Who knows when or if I’ll get to it. I’m not going to commit to it anytime soon though.