Book Review Round-Up #36

• Read 6 books a month to hit my reading goal of 75
  • Month Total: 13
    • Physical Books: 3
    • eBooks: 2
    • Audiobooks: 8
  • Year Total: 20/75
• Library vs Ownership
  • Borrow: 11
    • Library: 11
    • KU: 0
  • Own: 2

• Category _{(don’t just read romance)}
  • Romance: 8
    • Contemporary Romance
    • Sports Romance
  • Fantasy: 3
    • High Fantasy/Alternative Universe
    • Romantasy
  • Thriller: 1
    • Contemporary Psychological Thriller
  • Non-Fiction: 1
    • Financial
• Read more books with POC 👩🏻👩🏼👩🏽‍🦳👩🏽👩🏾
  • Main Character: 5
  • Author: 1

The Right Move by Liz Tomforde (Windy City #2)

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• 🏀 Ryan Shay is Chicago’s NBA golden boy with a good guy reputation, severe anxiety, and a fear of dating but is awfully good at it. He buys her a bed, stops eating bacon, and calls her Blue.
• 🛫 Indigo is his sister’s best friend who is scared she won’t be able to have children due to genetics. She needs a place to stay and definitely falls first.

💖 This book made me cry and I wish I could read it over again for the first time. I liked it better than the first book in the series. He says the sweetest things to her. This pulled at my heartstrings over and over and over again.

Talulah’s Back in Town by Brenda Novak (Coyote Canyon #1)

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• 🍰 She owns a desert diner in Seattle (where I live!), is relatable, completely comfortable in her skin, and makes a killer carrot cake. She’s also independent; looking for a man who appreciates & respects that
• 🤠 He’s a rancher in Montana who definitely falls first despite her first fiancé being his BFF. He’s also got 3 brothers looking for loveeee. 😉

💖 This is my first real Brenda Novak book and she’s stolen my heart with these characters. The initial get-together had me literally squealing. This small-town gossipy romance had me laughing out loud. 

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas (ACOTAR #1)

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• 🏹 Feyre saves her family from starvation by killing a wolf (actually a Fae) for coins
• 🧚‍♂️ Tamlien is the High Lord of the Spring Fae Court

💖 Unpopular opinion: I didn’t love this book. I found zero chemistry between the two main characters and I think it’s due to my age. There was a lot of overprotectiveness, love bombing, and manipulation tied to this Beauty & the Beast re-telling. That said – the second book blew my mind and I’m so happy I survived this book to read the next in the series.

It’s One Of Us by J.T. Ellison

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• 🧬 Wild ride of the physiological thriller plot dealing with a husband whose son’s DNA shows up at a crime scene… only he doesn’t have children.
• 🔪 Classic who-done-it with a twist that’ll make you gasp and second-guess everyone
• 🧬 Please check the trigger warning: severe infertility trauma.
• 🔪 POV: Wife, Husband, Husband’s Brother, Husband’s Daughter, Daughter’s Mother 👀

💖 Really enjoyed this one. It had my mind fooled and I love it when a plot gets you so wrapped up that you can’t see what could be right in front of you. You never truly know anyone’s past and what demons they are carrying. This book was wild.

Rich AF: The Winning Money Mindset That Will Change Your Life by Vivian Tu

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• 📈 Section on how to start investing and grow it
• 💰 Fantastic refreshers for those wanting to remain focused and eye on their money prize. Breaks down how the system is working against POC and low-income/impoverished households

💖 I follow Vivian on social media so when her book came out I rushed to the library (which I know she’d appreciate). This book had amazing knowledge on everything from money, capitalism, and system disadvantages in America. It was well-written and I’d like to pick up the eBook so I can annotate and highlight on points.

Throttled by Lauren Asher (Dirty Air #1)

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• 🏎️ Noah Shade is an F1 race car driver with a womanizer reputation who comes from loveless parents (abusive dad & absent mom). He cannot stay away from her, despite her brother’s protests.
• 📷 She’s globetrotting with her brother (Noah’s new teammate and nemesis on the track) and starts a YouTube channel of F1 racing behind the scenes.

💖 There was so much traveling in this book it made my heart SOAR. I was fully prepared for this book to be a 3-star read but no. Oh no-no-no. This book/series gets spicy so if you’re uncomfortable with open-door scenes, this one isn’t for you.

Collided by Lauren Asher (Dirty Air #2)

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• 🏎️ Liam F1 race car’s golden boy who hates the idea of being friend-zoned due to a tragic past. He can’t stop the friendship or thinking about her.
• 🎨 Sophie is joining the circuit with her Dad (F1 corporate) and is trying to live life to the fullest and creates a bucket list filled with thrilling but also naughty items. 👀

💖 This one took me by surprise because Sophie demands a friendship out of Liam. Telling him it’s all she can offer. He desperately wants more because that’s all he knows but then falls harder than ever once they’re true friendship blooms. 🥹

Wrecked by Lauren Asher (Dirty Air #3)

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• 🏎️ Jax is a British F1 Racer with severe anxiety and addicted to pills, partying, and a destructive reputation. He desperately needs to get his image in check but is dealing with a lot under the surface, especially stress from a family member’s chronic illness.
• 💋 Elena is a PR consultant paying her grandma’s nursing home bills after a haunting past in Mexico who’s prepared to be his on-tour no-BS babysitter. She’s got nothing but time and love to give.

💖 I cried. HARD. This was my favorite book in the series because the unexpected happened. They get a HEA in the most backward way possible. I loved its focus on mental health, giving to those less fortunate, and living life with the idea that you may not be here as long as you think.

Secret Twins For My Boss by Harley Chambers

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• 🍼 Penny comes home to help care for her grieving mother and is offered a job by her brother’s best friend. She gets pregnant after a corporate party goes right.
• 🚢 Michael is an introvert and cares deeply for his best friend and his family. He can’t stop falling for her every second he spends with her.

💖 A new book I bought for $1 (available on KU). This is by an independent Amazon author. The romance podcast I listen to would call this book a “smutty good time”. It’s perfect for those looking for a quick, easy, effortless read.

A Court of Mist And Fury by Sarah J Maas (ACOTAR #2)

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• ⚔️ Feyre’s adventure resumes after Under the Mountain and makes a home at the Spring Court.
• 🌙 However due to her bargain with the Night Court’s High Lord, Rhysand, she’s to stay with him 1 week a month.
• ⚔️ She soon discovers another hidden agenda and a potential for a war that will take out not only the Fae realm but the human world with it.
• 🌙 Torn between two men, two courts, new friends, a newfound family, and her sisters… Feyre is stretched thin.

💖 FIVE HUGE STARS – It’s like Sarah J Maas wrote and published the first book and decided to throw it in the trash and then wrote this masterpiece. I wish I could read all 641 pages as a newbie. I was hesitant to pick up book two because I didn’t love the first but this book took me by storm. The world building is phenomenal and everything that the original was missing.

If you’re debating picking up this series, just get through book 1. You can do it.

Redeemed by Lauren Asher (Dirty Air #3)

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• 🏎️ Santiago lives breathes and IS F1 racing but has a tragic incident that crushes his body and his spirit. He’s babysitting his nephew and needs help.
• 🌞 Chloe buys a one-way ticket to find her biological father in Lake Como after her deadbeat mother fails her for the last time. She’s nothing but sunshine with a heart of gold who only wants the best for Santi.

💖 The final book in Lauren Asher’s Dirty Air series. It was my least favorite one but I think it’s because there was a lot less travel involved and a lot more focus on getting through tragedy. I love how these characters walk in unperfect but somehow are perfect together.

I recommend this series to anyone wanting to fall in love with 4 hot F1 racers but, again, know you’re walking into a lot of open-door scenes and spice!

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

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• ☕ Viv leaves her life of chaos after one last mission and purchases a rundown Livery in this High Fantasy novel. She takes a chance after tasting a gnome delicacy called coffee and has her heart selling it in her shop.
• 💎 Tandri is looking for an escape for new opportunities after quitting school

💖 I cannot tell you how surprised and delighted I was by this darling little world of friendship, community, trust, acceptance, and love. This book was recommended by several people and I thought it was going to be overhyped and ridiculous. FAR from it. It’s everything cozy, beautiful, and just wanting to live a happy, healthy, simple life. I loved it.

Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren

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• ❤️‍🩹 To get Macy away from their everyday life to build new memories, her dad buys a cabin for the weekends
• 📚 Elliot is found in the house reading trying to get away from his house filled with brothers, and they become inseparable
• ❤️‍🩹 10 years later Macy and Elliot run into each other at a coffee shop after not speaking after a terrible incident that wrecked their friendship/relationship

💖 I didn’t want this book to end. It brings its audience back to being 16, in love for the first time, experiencing body changes with their best friend, and feeling like the world will end without them in their life ever again. This brought my heart down memory lane and I loved every second of it. I also sobbed.