November is a month that just went by so quickly! I can’t believe how fast it went by here. Its kinda of crazy how closer to the end of the year, it feels like the months just go by so much faster than it does in the beginning of the year. November was still a solid month. We got our first snow, in fact, since Thanksgiving, it’s been either overcast or snowfall. Winter here we come haha It was a pretty solid month for reading, but it could have been better. I still got more read than I thought I would towards the end of the month so that is progress and I am good to reach my end-of-year goals. Been busy getting together all of my end-of-year posts for you all! Whew, I can’t believe it’s that time of year again. Definitely excited for December and to see all of your end-of-year evaluations!

Reading Stats

So my reading this past month has been really interesting. Not as many five or 4.5 stars as I normally have and many more 3 stars than I am used to having. Just picked up books I had high expectations for. And Dark Romance is the sub genre I have been really into, but definitely need to be reading other sub genres and going to focus on that more in the next few months. I really need to have it balanced, just so I don’t get into a slump. But wow I almost got to 50 books in November, with my audiobooks being almost half at what it normally is? Kinda crazy haha Especially with half my weekends being obsessed with football and not getting much read on friday or saturdays. I have been seeing a trend in trad pub books not really doing much for me lately. Might dig into some older books to get that a bit more balanced as I do prefer that half and half of trad vs indie.

Acquisitions/Savings

So one of my goals for this year, is to track my acquisitions and see what I am saving through my subscriptions and such. So each month I will be sharing my month’s current savings. Now while part of me would love to purchase everything and keep all of it, and while I do have the money to buy books, its nice to save money when and where I can especially during a recession.

May Totals:

Total Spent: $56.25

Subscription Costs: Libraries, Audible Plus, Anyplay, KU: $18.98

Total Month Savings: $126.32

Reading Challenges

So, I am not participating in too many reading challenges this year. My focus for the year is the Goodreads (of course), Romanceopoly and a few of the reading challenges on Storygraph. Just simple ones. So below I will be sharing my reading progress with you on these every month.

Goodreads Reading Challenge

I am at 475 books out of 500 and I am on track to complete the challenge. So far, I am ahead on the reading challenge with 11 books being ahead. I really made great strides this past month. I am at 14 books ahead currently so unless something crazy happens, I should reach 500 before the end of the year. (isn’t that amount of reading kinda bananas? but kinda awesome too)

Romanceopoly Reading Challenge-Under the Covers Book Blog

So I have completed the challenge completely. This was such a fun challenge to do! I highly recommend doing it next year. It was also great for working through some books in my TBR I have been meaning to get to.

Books Read

My reading for this month was AMAZING, I read almost 50 books! That is complete bananas to me especially with the family moments that happened in November and that my audiobook counts were half of what I normally do. My quality of reading was a mix though so in that respect it could have been better. I just have been picking up random recommendations and they don’t always work for me. But some books were incredible reads!

Top Books of the Month

VAL

When I was nine, I went to my first funeral. Along with accepting my father’s death, I had to accept new and awful truths I wasn’t prepared for.

When I was nineteen, I went to my mother’s funeral. We weren’t close, but with her gone, I became more alone than ever before.

Sure, I have a half-brother who runs The Alliance. And yeah, he’s given me his protection — in the form of a bodyguard and chauffeur. But I don’t have anyone that really knows me. No one to really love me.

Until I meet him. The man in the airport.

And when one chance meeting turns into something hotter, something more serious, I let myself believe that maybe he’s the one. Maybe this man is the one who will finally save me from my loneliness. The one to give me the family I’ve always craved.

DOM

The Mafia is in my blood. It’s what I do.

So when that blood is spilled and one funeral turns into three, drastic measures need to be taken.

And when this battle turns into a war, I’m going to need more men. More power.

I’m going to need The Alliance.

And I’ll become a member. By any means necessary.

Wow this romance was brilliant! One of the best dark romances I have read in a while although it could be considered a lighter dark romance with just a morally grey hero. Their connection was beautiful and so sweet and intimate. The conflict was perfectly handled and the heroine was so “normal” and I loved it. Too many heroines these day are so wild or out there and I don’t relate to them very easily. But this heroine had honest vulnerabilities, self esteem issues and just wanting love and family in her life and I related so deeply with her.

A forbidden, timeless, and haunting love story.

Once upon a time, there lived a girl named Fallon who was taken far away from home shortly after she was born. 
A home that held more than strange traditions and bizarre superstitions.
Twenty-four years later, she returned to Weeping Hollow, a town she’d only heard about in stories during restless nights under a marble moon, in the middle of the night to take care of her last living relative. 
They called the nosy mortician a freakshow–a ghastly thing.
They said I couldn’t go near her.
Still, there was this aching pull to Fallon Grimaldi that I couldn’t escape.
A nostalgic pull as if we’d been here before.

Once upon a time, there lived a mysterious boy named Julian with a curse as old as centuries wrapped around his soul. 
He was one of the four Hollow Heathens, the very dark creatures who caused the town’s people to live in fear. 
And the Blackwell name was stained with darkness and death.
They called him a monster. Cold and hollow.
They said I shouldn’t go near him.
Still, there was this aching pull to Julian Blackwell that I couldn’t escape.
A nostalgic pull as if we’d been here before. 

This book is the MOST atmospheric book I have ever read in my life. And the quality of the writing in this one is top tier level. I just loved everything about it. Its a story you take your time with. Its not one to rush into. I literally spent all day reading it because I just wanted to take my time with it. If you want a beautiful autumn romance, this book needs to be on your list.

From USA Today & Wall Street Journal bestselling author Michelle Heard, comes a new STANDALONE, full-length MAFIA ROMANCE novel.

Home. It’s the one thing I want more than anything. A husband I can love. Children I can give the world to. A house I can call my own. To many, it’s a stupid wish, but to me, it’s everything.

When my adoptive father demands that I marry one of his business partners, Karlin Makarova, my dream becomes nothing more than that – a dream. Karlin is a vile monster, a nightmare for any woman he crosses paths with.

I dread the time I have to spend alone with Karlin and hide the bruises that fill me with deep shame.

But then my beloved brother steps in and arranges a marriage with one of his best friends.

Armani De Santis is known to be coolheaded, aloof, and calculative. Sure, he’s heartbreakingly attractive – emphasis on heartbreakingly – but it’s clear he sees me as his friend’s little sister that’s become his problem.

Then again, I’d rather have my heart broken by Armani De Santis than be Karlin Makarova’s punching bag.

And so, my dream of a happily ever after turns into a cold-blooded war between the two men, and I find myself praying that somehow I’ll survive.

But life has taught me prayers are never answered.

STANDALONE: A Mafia/Bratva Romance, standalone, full-length novel.
WARNING: 18+ only. Please read responsibly. THIS NOVEL CONTAINS TRIGGERING CONTENT.

Absolutely loved this one. Its the type of arranged marriage and brothers best friend I LOVE to read. This book was packed with suspense and loved the sweet relationship and the conflict in the story was outside of the relationship for the most part which I appreciated. One of my favorite Michelle Heards I have ever read.

Honorable Mentions

I wish I could express how much I adored all of these books and could have added them also in my top favorite and they are really all over the genres here. Definitely most swoony worthy reads that I can’t recommend enough if you haven’t read them!