August is the first month this year that I haven’t reached 20 books (19) and if that’s not a sign of how exhausting August was, I really don’t know what else would do for that. I did a lot of driving in August, so on the one hand, yay for audiobook hours and on the other hand, I did a lot of driving because I wasn’t home enough. I’m almost done with the most hellish commute (truly, this interstate I’m on every day feels like a death trap because of the amount of work zones where lanes just end/merge) so I’m really hoping September, aka my birthday month, will be better. In the meantime, I’mgoing to try and write so many of the posts I owe y’all during this long weekends let’s pray I can do that. Anyway, y’all aren’t here for me crashing out over my level of exhaustion so let’s talk about the books, shall we?
Breakdown by Rating
5 Stars
Three rereads and two new contemporary romances comprise my five stars of August. Technically, I initially gave Happy Ending a 4.5 because of my issue at the end of the book (see my ARC Review), but honestly, I just really love the book and it was my favorite new to me read of the month. I also have a review posted for In Her Spotlight by Amy Spalding, but the tl;dr for both of them are that both of these books are about the emotional journey to becoming who the FMC has always wanted to be and finding love along the way. Truly, my favorite premise of a book. You can see that even with ACOSF with Nesta and Ninth House/Hell Bent with Alex. I’m not going to belabor this post with my love of my rereads, but truly, I need you to know, the fact that it seems like the next ACOTAR books are going to be about the Valkyries has made me SO HAPPY. And I cannot wait until September 15th so I can read Dead Beat. I need the conclusion to the Ninth House trilogy like I need air at this point.
4.5 Stars
I’ve already purchased myself a physical copy of The Cozy Nook Bookshop by Jeannie Chin, which I really did love. I liked the Fall vibes, the small town community, the bookstore, the nature… Really almost everything about it is perfect. I have an ARC review here if you’re interested. My review of The Summer Girl is coming shortly (hopefully), but this is arguably my favorite Elle Kennedy in YEARS. I thought it was charming and engaging and I’m as surprised as anyone because this is about a college girl and a guy who was also college aged and often, I’m like, “children!” But for some reason, I really just adored everything about this. Probably helps that it wasn’t set at the college… Anyway, I had so much fun.
The Shadow Sister by Lucinda Riley is the third book in Riley’s Seven Sisters series and my favorite so far, although I am intrigued by the series in general. The Shadow Sister is just the first time I felt like I was genuinely able to know the characters well enough that I was fully engaged the entire book. Of course, now I’m on The Pearl Sister and am right back to feeling a level removed. This series is not really my usual, but I am hooked on it!
4 Stars
I do really like the way Grace Callaway does her romantic suspense situations in the historical romance genre and this book was really fun. Unfortunately, I hate the way Callaway writes her intimate scenes, but aside from that, this book was just great. The Seven Sisters and The Storm Sister are both great historical fictions with the past/present timelines set in places I haven’t read much (if anything) set there. The problem I have with these books is that Riley writes in a way that leaves me removed from the characters and I want to feel more than what her writing style really welcomes. Slaying the Vampire Conquerer was mostly a good time, a little stressful, and was enough to leave me excited again to finally dive into the second duology in the Crowns of Nyaxia series.
3.5 Stars
Reviews are coming for Love Interest by Clare Gilmore and The Secret Crush Book Club by Karmen Lee, but both were good but not great for me. I wanted to feel more engaged with the text and the characters than what I did. Same Time Next Summer by Annabel Monaghan was… Well, it’s great in the sense that Monaghan’s writing is great, but it just didn’t have the same magic in the relationship as the other two books I’ve read from her. Enter the Duke by Grace Callaway is once again a charming romantic suspense book, but there are a lot more intimate scenes in this book and, again, I really don’t connect with how she writes those scenes.
3-2 Stars
Having two two star books in one month is wild. I am pretty good at DNF’ing these days, but both Maybe This Once and Tropesick were going fine for so long that by the time I decided I hated where it was going, I was too far in to give up. You can read my full review of Maybe This Once here. Tropesick is a contemporary romance with a speculative twist that isn’t introduced seamlessly in my opinion. It felt a little like How to Write a Love Story by Yulin Kuang in some ways (not copying it, to be clear, just similar vibes), but I actually preferred How to Write a Love Story, which I still didn’t keep on my shelves. I like angst and I like grief, but I just didn’t like this. At one point, too close to the end, the phrase “it’s embarrassing to want you” or maybe love you? I can’t remember, but I hated it.
She Come by It Natural was fine! That’s why it’s a three. I just felt like it was fine, but it didn’t do enough to make it more than that.
Closing Thoughts
Well… This was a very uneven month of reading, but ending it with my Ninth House and Hell Bent rereads was magnificent. I cannot wait for Dead Beat. Truly. My favorite book of the month that was new to me was Happy Ending by Chloe Liese. What was your favorite book of the month? Let know!
xx
firewhiskeyreader 