August felt a bit like me scrambling to catch up on my Romanceopoly 2025 Challenge and the Goodreads Summer Challenge. As a result my reading is all over the place. Total books read was 16 which brings me to 154 books read so far this year. Part of me thinks 16 is low but I know it’s really not. I like tracking the stats but it can also mess with my head. One book a month is a great achievement, 16 should be seen as outstanding. I had a few months of reading over 20 books a month and now I’m hard on myself when I don’t reach that goal. It’s so dumb!!

Read one book for the TwentyOffMyShelf 2025 challenge, A Keeper, so now at 18, I have plans to finish this challenge in September. After a very unproductive month last month with this quarters Romanceopoly 2025 Challenge I completed five prompts in August. Having to complete five blog posts in a short period of time should be a lesson to me moving forward! 😀

I also completed five prompts for the Goodreads Summer Challenge. I don’t really tend to count the first three prompts, Page Turner (2 books in challenge timeframe), Speed Read (3 books in challenge timeframe), and Book Boss (5 books in challenge timeframe), in this challenge as they are just about how many books you read during the challenge. I do like the later ones though as they tend to make me pick up books I wouldn’t necessarily priorities.

• Challenge Faves: The Wedding People by Alison Espach
• Poolside Puzzlers: Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent
• Chart Toopers: Shield of Sparrows (Shield of Sparrows Trilogy #1) by Devney Perry
• Acclaimed Titles: The Wedding People by Alison Espach (twofer!!)
• Lightning Round: Eat the Ones You Love by Sarah Maria Griffin

I have Debut Darling lined up and ready to go in September!

I also read book number eight in my own Non-fiction reading 2025 challenge. Yet another month of me saying that it was a really tough read. September better be easier on my emotional wellbeing.

You will note that Atonement Sky has made its way to the top rated spot for the second month in a row! Yes, I did reread it less than a month after my original read, I had a hospital appointment that was making me EXTRA anxious in August, and I was in need of a distraction. Atonement Sky was new enough that I didn’t zone right out, and knowing how it ended helped ease the anxiety. I can always rely on Nalini Singh for helping in those situations.

Problematic Summer Romance by Ali Hazelwood – 4.25⭐

Problematic Summer Romance by Ali Hazelwood was a Sunset Bay prompt, Starlight Cinema — Participate in a group or buddy read in the Romanceopoly 2025 reading challenge.

The Mad Earl’s Bride (Scoundrels #3.5) by Loretta Chase – 4⭐

I used this as a little bit of a space filler over a very busy weekend, novellas are great for busy times when you want to read but won’t be able to dedicate a lot of time to it.

Like all novellas in a series you enjoy though, this wasn’t long enough. It had the same magic the other books had though. Gwen was amazing and I loved how she handled everyone around her, Dorian included. 

As someone who has suffered from migraines, I unfortunately was able to diagnose Dorian early on. Honestly couldn’t imagine suffering from them in the 1800’s. Horrendous! 

As with book three and four, we get some of the delightful Bertie in this novella, I could never have enough Bertie, he is so sweet and so dumb! I adore him! 

A Keeper by Graham Norton – 3.5⭐

This was actually an entertaining read. What I like about Graham Norton’s writing is how he manages to capture Irish village/small town life. Like it’s eerily accurate. 

Granted this book had a bit of a wild storyline happening in Cork, but I’m from a tiny little rural village and I’ve heard much wilder stories than a woman essentially being kidnapped to be a farmers wife! 

I’m afraid I didn’t love the whole American side to the story though, I think given the time period in which this whole book take place, London, or even Dublin, would have worked better. Also, I can understand the storyline with Elizabeth’s son, parallels and all that, but it felt kind of icky, wasn’t dealt with correctly AT ALL, and just felt unnecessary. Elizabeth just solving the mystery of her parentage and the fallout of that would have been enough I think. The rest took away from the story for me. 

Not a favourite but I’ll of course pick up more Graham Norton’s!  

Night’s Fall by Kristen Ashley – 4.25⭐

First of all, it’s important to state, this was a total surprise, she had been hinting at something for a couple of weeks but I thought she was just hinting at a new future series, nope, dropped the book the day she announced what all the sneak previews were. I mean that is kind of badass!

I enjoyed this and I’ll always be happy to have a new KA series but I didn’t LOVE it. 

I don’t know, some of the world building felt nonsensical, like some of the conveniences seemed to be more of a hassle! I also found some of the dialogue super cringey, it was like these adults were trying to speak like my 12 year old niece and doing a very bad job of it. 🙈

I enjoyed Aleksei and Laura’s relationship development though, it was almost instant but I enjoyed Laura becoming a princess and Aleksei treating her as such. I got super annoyed with him a few times though, like he was understandably standoffish because of all that was going on but he behaved like a total dick, and I don’t think he groveled enough. This is something I’ve complained about with KA in the past, I really don’t feel like her MMC’s grovel enough given how a lot of them often behave abysmally. I enjoy a redeemed douche-canoe but I’m getting to the age where the grovel needs to EXTREME for me to forgive bad behaviour.  

Even with the issues I had though, there are dragons and I’m very intrigued about the rest of the characters. I tell you this though, when Cormac and Gayliliel get their book, Cormac better lie prostrate in front of her while BEGGING for forgiveness, this needs to be top tier groveling, and not some half-assed excuse about how he was just trying to protect her or some such nonsense.  

That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon (Mead Mishaps #1) by Kimberly Lemming – 4.25⭐

That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming was a Sunset Bay prompt, Full Moon Adventure — Read an adventure romance book in the Romanceopoly 2025 reading challenge.

Atonement Sky (Psy-Changeling Trinity #9) by Nalini Singh – 5⭐

As mentioned above, I needed a Nalini Singh reread for anxiety reasons. It worked wonderfully, I recommend reading AND listening, AKA immersive reading, a well loved book if you are in a very anxious place. I reviews this on my Quick July 2025 – Wrap-up post.

Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent – 3.25⭐

I really enjoyed the majority of this, it was dark and disturbing but watching Sally carve out a life for herself offset the bleakness of her journey into the world. 

It felt hopeful. I didn’t enjoy Peter’s POV all that much and began to dread his chapters. I knew him coming into Sally’s life would bring bad tidings but I couldn’t foresee just how bad.

I went into this book fully aware that people were unhappy with the ending and I thought it couldn’t be as bad as people were making it out to be. I was wrong. The ending sucked. It sucked for lots of reasons and I can almost see why the author did it the way she did. The circumstances of Sally’s birth and upbringing were such that she likely never would have gotten a happy ending and the men in her life had a lot to do with that. But it was just such a rushed ending that it felt like whiplash. Maybe she was trying to convey just how fragile relationships are but to leave Sally in a worse position than we found her was so unsatisfying. I personally felt like it served no purpose. 

I really enjoyed the small town Ireland feeling the majority of the book conveyed, it was especially enjoyable seeing a more diverse small town Ireland. This book should have been a 5 star read but it all went to hell in a hand basket at the end. A pity. 

Poor Sally! 

Seven Summers by Paige Toon – 4⭐

Seven Summers by Paige Toon was a Sunset Bay was a Sunset Bay prompt, Breezy Pier — Read a book with strong summer vibes, such as a road trip, armchair travel, or beach read in the Romanceopoly 2025 reading challenge.

The Fake Boyfriend Fiasco (Midnight Heat #3) by Talia Hibbert – 4⭐

The Fake Boyfriend Fiasco (Midnight Heat #3) by Talia Hibbert was a Sunset Bay prompt, Beachside Café — Read a book set by the water or on vacation in the Romanceopoly 2025 reading challenge

The Wedding People by Alison Espach – 4.75⭐

The Wedding People by Alison Espach – was a Sunset Bay prompt, Wedding Season — Read a book that features a wedding, engagement, or marriage of convenience in the Romanceopoly 2025 reading challenge

The Viscount Who Loved Me (Bridgerton #2) by Julia Quinn – 5⭐

Continuing my Bridgerton reread, I don’t plan on rereading them all at one go and I’m enjoying knowing I have something waiting for me if I feel a little uninspired!

The Viscount Who Loved Me really is one of my favourites of the series, I love even more that when I reread this I now picture Jonathan Bailey as Anthony and Simone Ashley as Kate. I really wish they hadn’t had the Kate and Edwina conflict in the show though. It just tarnishes that season for me. One of the best things about this book is Kate and Edwina’s relationship.

Shield of Sparrows (Shield of Sparrows Trilogy #1) by Devney Perry – 3.75⭐

This was actually fun. Not sure it needed to be so long, and I stupidly didn’t think it was going to be a series. That’s totally on me though.

Look, this book is what it is. It’s not a literary masterpiece but it also isn’t branded as a literary masterpiece. For me it was a fun romp! The world building could have been a little better at the start but as the story moved along it started to come together and I have slightly higher hopes for book two.

It’s also not a book that was hard to figure out, well apart from the VERY end, but even at that, we all knew something big was coming, so it wasn’t as much of a surprise as you’d think.

My biggest criticism was what felt like a very forced love/hate relationship between the two main characters, it felt a bit convoluted to be honest and took way to long for them to get their asses in gear, which is where I think the feeling of it being too long comes into play. Maybe if there had been less conflict and more world building and fleshing out of secondary characters it wouldn’t have felt so long. Still, a fun read and I look forward to reading book two.

I’m a fan of romantasy and I know a lot of the time they are very similar but for me that’s the attraction. I like formulaic book! If it ain’t broke and all that! 😀

Story Of My Life (Story Lake #1) by Lucy Score – 4⭐

This put me in mind of a Riley Thorn book (series by Lucy Score) without the awesome senior citizens and murder, and like the Riley Thorn books I ate this up. 

Lucy Score is great at over the top characters, funny one liners and slapstick like comedy. 

Lucy Score also does great small town romance and is queen of grumpy/sunshine. 

Hazel started off less sunshine and more midlife crisis but she was over all sunshiny and Cam was just all the way grumpy. I liked that Hazel was upfront with Cam being inspiration from the get go, it would have been lame if that was the big third act conflict. As it was the third act conflict was a little lame but we got to see Cam’s parents give Cam a talking to that actually made me very emotional. 

I can’t wait for more stories from Story Lake, Zoey and Gage up next! Can’t wait. 

I should really shout-out Zoey in this review as well, a true ride or die friend. She deserves only good things and Gage has all the hallmarks of giving good things! 

Eat the Ones You Love by Sarah Maria Griffin – 4⭐

Good lord, this was fabulously weird and legitimately creeped me out.

Sarah Maria Griffin is great at writing the most unusual stories. This story is mostly told from the POV of a monster similar to Audrey II in Little Shop of Horrors. The story takes place in dilapidated shopping centre in north Dublin.

This book felt quintessentially Dublin, even though the story itself verges on horror (with a bit of body horror which I’m still thinking about) it still felt very comforting. There aren’t many books like this that take place in Ireland, it was lovely being able to see everything so clearly in my mind.

I did take issue with Griffin intimating that only ‘tourists and old people’ go to Howth! I’m only 42 (almost 43) and I’ve been going out there regularly since I was in my 20’s. The audacity! 😂

Overall a very weird and wonderful story. I feel like I’ll end up thinking about it a lot in the next few weeks. 

An Offer From a Gentleman (Bridgerton #3) by Julia Quinn – 5⭐

Usually I’d list my series together but usually I also read them altogether. As I said, it’s nice having these as a backup if I don’t know what to read. I was stuck trying to pick something to end the month with so this was perfect. I tend to go up and down with rating this, it often depends on my mood, sometimes a 4, sometimes a 4.5, and sometimes a 5. This reread was a 5 star read.

Finding Me by Viola Davis – 5⭐

Finding Me by Viola Davis was number eight in my non-fiction 2025 challenge.