Bookish Posts and Books Read of Week of October 29th through November 4th
This week has been so successful. It’s actually been a great week. I hope you all had a wonderful time celebrating Halloween. I just relaxed with a good home-cooked meal and some treats with some books. So it was a good time for me. I normally am more low-key for Halloween. I also had a long weekend and was able to get ahead on some reading which was really nice. So my reading this week was really strong with 13 books. So it just felt so nice to get back to reading the amount that I actually wanted to and quite a few of these were longer. And even though there were some that weren’t top hits, I did have some books that will be top books of the year and already ordered the physical copies for my bookshelves. I do love it when I can read a lot more during the week especially in the fall so that I can really enjoy football game day on Saturday. And I love it when I can read the books on my weekly TBR. And cheers to you all for Happy November! Can you believe we are only two months away from 2024? Yeah I can’t either lol
So I did want to touch base on what is happening with Tillie Cole. So this happened just over the weekend and it happened fast. So apparently on TikTok is where I think it originated, but some readers were upset over the Hades Hangmen series because the last book deals with members of the KKK. And these readers haven’t read these books by the way. Its all based on ignorance and not having read these books so they have zero context into what is happening. As I am currently reading this series, they are highly misguided. But I am a firm believer that authors should be free to write what they want to. But whether it was Amazon or Tillie Cole, all of her Hades hangman books are completely gone from Amazon unless you already downloaded them. I had to purchase I Do Babe in print just so I could read it this week. But unless it gets resolved soon, I will most likely need to buy the rest of the books in print and it probably won’t be cheap. But I will do it to support this author. I do not support this cancel culture that has become so toxic in our community because readers just want to hate on an author. I seriously think they just look for anything to complain about. Let’s stop with the witch hunts on dark romance authors. Be happy and leave these authors alone please. Because it would be like attacking Rom Com authors for writing comedy or HR authors for writing a rake, that is how ridiculous it is—Okay done with TED talk and lets move forward with happier stuff. haha
(All my books read and their reviews are on Goodreads, I have linked for you)
List and Link book reviews with ratings and descriptions of opinions via goodreads
Book Read-Confessions of a Dangerous Lord by Elisa Braden–Rating 5 Stars—This book was incredible. It just might be my favorite Braden novel and is most definitely my favorite historical I have read all year. There was something so deep and resonating about this story. And a heroine who just wanted marriage, love, and family? YES PLEASE! I am just drained from all the HR career-minded heroines. Give me a heroine I can relate to and one that seems more authentic to the time she lives in. And it delivered so many feels. So if you have been wanting to try out some good HR, I can’t recommend this author enough.
Book Read-Blonde Date by Sarina Bowen—Rating 5 Stars–I know this book is only a novella but I LOVED it. And its a basketball one. I need basketball romance haha But it was also so normal and down-to-earth type of story. No crazy angst. Just feels. And is my favorite of the series so far haha But it was delightful.
Book Read-Psycho by Nikki J. Summers—rating 4 Stars–This author I have been seeing so much on Instagram. So I decided to try her out because I just knew that it would be perfect vibes for Halloween and yep its perfect. So if you want a dark romance that just has a spooky type of feeling to the atmosphere, you should try this author out, and its in KU. So this story was really fun and deals with a group of psychopaths who basically are vigilantes and protect the innocent from the worst of society. So it was very intriguing.
Book Read-The Debt and the Duke by Brianna Nicols—Rating 4 Stars—A friend of mine wrote this. She also used to be a book blogger. So I do love showing my support. I really enjoyed it. It was a solid story. But I do admit I am very biased lol
Book Read-Damnable Grace by Tillie Cole—Rating 4.5 Stars—I read this one for Halloween as well and it just was just right. I just love the way that Tillie Cole writes her books. Its so wonderful and this series can be really dark and the MC aspects are really gritty. Almost a bit too much for me at times. And this one was pretty intense. But the reason why Cole writes these books, I admire so much. The way women and children are abused in religious cults are so heartbreaking and love that she is giving them a voice.
Book Listened-Fury of Shadows by Coreene Callahan—Rating 5 Stars–What a superb read. I absolutely loved everything about this one. It just delivered everything that I was looking for and I never wanted their story to end. It had some deep moments that I wasn’t expecting and the spice was just the right touch.
Book Read-Lord of the Abyss by Nalini Singh—Rating 4.5 Stars–What an incredible read. This also might just be one of my favorite older Singh’s. If you love gothic feeling paranormals or have read Lair of the Lion or like Beauty and the Beast retellings, this is a must. And most likely with it being with HQN, it would be in most library catalogs. Super intriguing and fascinating and can’t wait for the rest of the series.
Book Read-Brutalize Me by Michelle Heard—Rating 5 Stars—One of the BEST mafia romances I have read not only this year but all time. There was something so much more about this book. And the suspense in it was perfect. And the sweet relationship between the two main characters is so sweet. That isn’t the norm in the mafia. Normally there is a ton of angst between the couple. But it had a blend of arranged marriage, friend to lovers, and brother’s best friend. So if you love mafia romance, I recommend this one.
Book Read-I Dare You by Ilsa Madden-Mills—Rating 4 Stars—I literally read this all night, I was so hooked. This was not a book to read right before bed haha I didn’t expect to find a book so addicting. But it was pretty cute for a football romance.
Book Read-Hollow Heathens by Nicole Fiorina—Rating 5 Stars—This book was EPIC! FAVORITE BOOK OF THE YEAR! That is how good it is. I am not sure why I have been sleeping on this author, but now I know why it’s so well-loved. And also if you want a story that has the BEST Gothic spooky vibes or really just a strong Autumn vibes, this is the book for you. It has curses, witches, covens, a small town, and a forbidden love. And the ending was majestic and beautiful. And another cool thing about this book the author has a YA version. So if you have teenagers that love this type of stuff, you can get a version that doesn’t have the smexy stuff in it and read it together! I would love to see this become more of a trend. haha I also did a combo read of this one. So if you love AUDIO—-get it in Audio. The narration is brilliant and really makes the atmospheric vibes come alive. This is a book you want to take your time with. It’s not a small-town romance you can breeze through quickly. It literally took me all day to read it but most of that is I was taking my time with it and even had it at a slower speed so I could enjoy it more and really get the atmospheric vibes from it the most.
Book Listened-Happily Ever Amish by Shelley Shepard—Rating 3.5 Stars—I really enjoyed this one, don’t get me wrong. But the heroine was a bit too dramatic at times and made mountains out of molehill. lol But it was a sweet one.
Book Read-King of Greed by Ana Huang—Rating 4.25 Stars—I wanted to love this one more, but I did have some issues with the heroine. However, the way our hero fights for the marriage is beautiful. And for those who say there is no grovel—they apparently didn’t read the same book as I did. It’s just a different style of groveling than we are used to seeing in a romance. We need more marriage in trouble romances in the genre because I adored how this one played out. I think those who are married will really enjoy this one and find it super relatable.
Book Read-Match Me If You Can by Susan Elizabeth Phillips—Rating 4 Stars–What a great one this one is. It felt more chick-lit than romance at times. It was just a very slow burn, but if you are a Zapata fan, then I do think you will enjoy it. I just would have liked to see more romance in this one.
Book Review-Hollow Heathens by Nicole Fiorina
Bookish Posts to Look Forward To
Romance Trends of 2023
Book Release Post
Fast Five Friday
Recommend It Post
Current Reads
So my current read is The Guy in the Middle by Kate Stewart. This is my very first Kate Stewart and I am really enjoying it. I am curious to see how the forbidden romance will be played out. Not seeing too much of that aspect yet. But I love the hero and his depth and how Stewart is really showcasing how dangerous stereotypes can be. Hook by Bianca Cole I also am reading too. I know two books at once but still, I just have a couple chapters in, and it’s really interesting. Definitely playing the Peter Pan aspects really well. Even his partner in crime has a name “Smythe” and he hates clocks and ticking noises lol My Season of Scandal I received as an ARC last week and really want to grab it up soon. I just loved the previous book and the blurb of it sounds really interesting and it looks so cozy. I am going to take a leap of faith with the latest KA with Too Good to be True As some of you probably know by now, I have had some serious issues with Kristen Ashley lately as I haven’t been a fan of her modern style. However, I have heard the hero is closer to her classic heroes so I am going to try it out most likely in Audio as it has Stella Bloom. Then I will be picking up Michelle Heard. After reading Brutalize Me, I just wanted to get to this series. I really do enjoy this author and keep forgetting to read her current series. The hero of Destroy Me is the brother of the heroine of the book I just read this past week and I really loved him so can’t wait for his story.
Book Releases I am Excited For
Hunt on Dark Waters by Katee Robert
His Wicked Ways by Melissa Foster
Courting Miss Emma by Linda Broday
Reign by Donna Grant
My Weekly TBR
These are books that I have for what I term a flexible TBR shelf for the week. As some of you know, I have been working on switching from being a mood reader to a TBR reader where I just work around a flexible weekly TBR. This week my focus is getting some balance of subgenres, working through my KU library and getting through to the series I am currently working on.
Favorite Book of the Week
New Additions to AR Library
This week was a good one for adding books to my library. I did a visit to B&N and picked up the Kery, Hartmann and Haung in print. I received the Maxwell in ARC on Netgalley. I purchased I Do Babe in Print (expensive novella folks lol), and then managed to grab up Crux Untamed in KU and downloaded it literally minutes before it got removed from Amazon.
I need to finish the Underdogs series. I read The Guy on the Right soon after it came out, but I am terrible with keeping up with series. Glad you are enjoying book 3. I remember enjoying Blonde Date and wishing it was a full length. Seems like it really wowed you. You always know the social media drama. It is stuff like what you shared that keeps me off those platforms.
I had no idea about that new drama Renee but I am also over that cancel culture! It’s like a dictatorship of the misinformed! The haters are kings. Truly I am fed up with it all! I also bet, given the current circumstances with Israel, that Sword Catcher by Cassandra Clare will soon be victim of wicth hunt too…
It looks like you had a great reading week. Glad you got to spend Halloween the way you like to do it. Have a good one.
I read that whole Kate Stewart series and loved it. The Guy on the Right was my favorite. Glad you enjoyed Blonde Date. That is a fun one in the series. If you like basketball romances, I recommend Rebecca Jenshak’s Smart Jock series. It’s a lot of fun.
I have been so busy that I missed the drama. Wow, your reading game was strong this week! It is so nice when you really feel like you are in a reading groove. I hope that you have a wonderful week!
I can’t believe there’s only two months left of the year! Goes by too fast!
I’m never on TikTok so I didn’t see any of that. Sounds like a lot of misinformed drama. I’m not a fan of cancel culture.
Hope you enjoy that new Kristen Ashley. It’s been a while since I’ve read anything by her.
Can’t say I’m sad to have missed the drama, but yeesh, it gets old people trying to tell other people what to write and think (particularly when they have the wrong end of the stick in the first place). I do enjoy Tillie Cole’s writing so will probably get to the series someday.
Holy moly, thirteen books! Way to go on the reading front. Glad you had a cozy Halloween. I spent mine much the same way.
Have a great week, Renee!