I have two observations about my current reading list: 1). It seems I’m drawn to shades of blue/green/purple right now, and 2). I’m leaning heavily on the romantic comedies during this season of busy days and evenings.
My list looks a little shorter than normal, but that’s just because I’m doing some incognito reading for a couple different projects I have coming up that I don’t want to spoil for you. But if you desire spoilage, you can follow me on Instagram because my monthly wrap up posts include all the books I’m reading, no matter what. So I’ll leave that up to you.
I also feel like I should have listed my own book The Gratitude Guarantee on this list since I’ve read it all the way through at least twice this month as I did the final edits and formatting in preparation of release day on October 22. If you haven’t read any of my books, I would start with this one because it’s both my favorite story and favorite cover of all my books so far!
What have you been reading this month?
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Just Finished:
If you like fake dating romances (which I most assuredly do) then you don’t want to miss this enemies-to-fake-lovers-to-more story. Plus, it takes place primarily on a cruise ship, and I like cruising almost as much as fake dating. The characters are well-drawn and the story is entertaining from the get-go as you watch Lauren and Jack try to figure each other out. It also has a great cast of side characters that add different elements to the story to make things interesting.
Yes, this is another Kasey Stockton book. I think I’m ready to call it—I’m a certified fan of hers now. This is a historical romance about Elsie, who made a pact years ago with a pair of friends that they would never get married and let a man control their lives. They’d seen quite enough of that with their fathers and brothers. But their parents have different ideas and when the time comes for them to ‘come out’ to the ton, they have few options but to make the best of it, especially when Elsie’s mother makes her an offer she can’t refuse—make every effort to entertain any gentlemen who shows interest and if she hasn’t found a man she’s interested in by the end of the Season, she’ll receive her dowry and be free to live independently. It seems too good to be true, but as we all know, the best-laid plans so often go awry. This is a fun but also surprisingly touching story about making your own decisions, caring too much about what others think, and doing the right thing.
In Progress:
What happens when a sweet Southern chef goes up against a certified bad boy chef in a cooking competition? Sparks of all kinds fly and tempers flare as the kitchen and rivalry heat up. This is a re-read for me and I am so enjoying the witty prose and snappy banter. Bethany Turner is so good as hilarious clean rom-coms (or maybe we just have the exact same sense of humor, who knows). What I do know is that if you like foodie romance, you should check this one out.
This is a read-aloud that I’m currently enjoying with my nine and eleven-year-olds. It’s set in a futuristic world where robots have eliminated humans because of the destruction they wreaked on the planet. XR is content with his purpose as a solar panel repair bot until he and two of his coworkers encounter a Life Form that shouldn’t exist. A human girl pleads for safe passage, and a journey begins. This book sounds kind of dark and I guess parts of it are, but it’s also so funny and endearing. The robots are the perfect mixture of intelligent and clueless as they help the girl along on her journey and discover that not everything about the ideal robot society they live in is as it seems. It has created so many opportunities for discussion already as we’ve been reading.
The final book in the popular Ember from the Ashes series, I haven’t read enough of A Sky in the Storm to form an opinion yet, but I am excited to wrap up this story and see how everything ends. This is a YA fantasy series with lots of action/adventure/battles and a thread of romance running through it. The characters are compelling and even the villains are so interesting that you can’t purely hate them. Great series, but do be prepared to start at the beginning and be dedicated to around 2,000 pages if you want to finish all four.
Up Next:
Ember doesn’t care that her nephew Quinn is a lupine—but she does care when he runs away shortly after he begins changing under the new moon. She tracks him down and finds he’s been accepted into a community of other wolves, including Adam who is happy to take him under his wing. But Ember isn’t about to just leave Quinn there, so Adam allows her to stay for ten days until the next full moon. I imagine things will progress quickly between the two of them over those ten days if I know anything about romance books. This is billed as a sweet, clean werewolf romance and I’m here for it! Can’t wait to start this one. It seems like the perfect vibe for fall reading.
I hope y’all aren’t tired of hearing about clean hockey romances because I’m still going strong. The keywords on this one have all my attention: fake dating, wall kisses, who did this to you, amateur sleuths, enemies to lovers…the description makes me think this is going to be a sweet, hilarious sports romance and I can’t wait to give it a try.
As always, you can find more current reads lists like this one over at Modern Mrs. Darcy’s monthly quick lit post. Be sure to check the comments for links from other readers!