Remember when I said I didn’t have the best reading month in August? Well, sadly my unfortunate reading streak continued through September. The month started off strong, but then I ran into a bit of a slump where I couldn’t find anything I loved. Now, I did read a few really good books, but overall it wasn’t a fabulous month. Here’s hoping October picks up!
I read 7 books in September. Here’s what they are and what I thought about them.
All Good People Here by Ashley Flowers
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The only thriller I read last month was All Good People Here by Ashley Flowers. Apparently the author has a true crime podcast? I’ve never listened to a podcast, so I had no clue! This one was really good. In fact, I thought it might become my favorite thriller of the year, but then the ending happened. There was one thing that was left unresolved. One HUGE thing. And it really bothered me. Everything else about this book I loved, but this one detail prevented me from loving the book. I still recommend it though!
Add Rating: 4 stars
Everyone from Wakarusa, Indiana, remembers the case of January Jacobs, who was found dead in a ditch hours after her family awoke to find her gone. Margot Davies was six at the time, the same age as January—and they were next-door neighbors. In the twenty years since, Margot has grown up, moved away, and become a big-city journalist, but she’s always been haunted by the fear that it could’ve been her. And the worst part is, January’s killer has never been brought to justice.
When Margot returns home to help care for her sick uncle, it feels like walking into a time capsule. Wakarusa is exactly how she remembered: genial, stifled, secretive. Then news breaks about five-year-old Natalie Clark from the next town over, who’s gone missing under eerily similar circumstances. With all the old feelings rushing back, Margot vows to find Natalie and solve January’s murder once and for all.
But the police, the family, the townspeople—they all seem to be hiding something. And the deeper Margot digs into Natalie’s disappearance, the more resistance she encounters, and the colder January’s case feels. Could the killer still be out there? Could it be the same person who kidnapped Natalie? And what will it cost to finally discover what truly happened that night?
Tell Me Lies by Carola Lovering
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Tell Me Lies was a book I attempted to read years ago and never could get into it. After reading Carola Lovering’s other two books, I decided to pick it back up before the show came on. I ended up LOVING this one so so much! I’ve only watched the first three episodes on Hulu (I’m waiting for the entire series to be released) but I can already tell I’m going to love the book better-of course! The book seems to be a lot different than the show, so don’t skip either!
Add Rating: 4.75 Stars
A thrilling, sexy coming-of-age story exploring toxic love, ruthless ambition, and shocking betrayal, Tell Me Lies is about that one person who still haunts you—the other one. The wrong one. The one you couldn’t let go of. The one you’ll never forget.
Lucy Albright is far from her Long Island upbringing when she arrives on the campus of her small California college, and happy to be hundreds of miles from her mother, whom she’s never forgiven for an act of betrayal in her early teen years. Quickly grasping at her fresh start, Lucy embraces college life and all it has to offer—new friends, wild parties, stimulating classes. And then she meets Stephen DeMarco. Charming. Attractive. Complicated. Devastating.
Confident and cocksure, Stephen sees something in Lucy that no one else has, and she’s quickly seduced by this vision of herself, and the sense of possibility that his attention brings her. Meanwhile, Stephen is determined to forget an incident buried in his past that, if exposed, could ruin him, and his single-minded drive for success extends to winning, and keeping, Lucy’s heart.
Alternating between Lucy’s and Stephen’s voices, Tell Me Lies follows their connection through college and post-college life in New York City. Deep down, Lucy knows she has to acknowledge the truth about Stephen. But before she can free herself from this addicting entanglement, she must confront and heal her relationship with her mother—or risk losing herself in a delusion about what it truly means to love.
With the psychological insight and biting wit of Luckiest Girl Alive, and the yearning ambitions and desires of Sweetbitter, this keenly intelligent and staggeringly resonant novel chronicles the exhilaration and dilemmas of young adulthood, and the difficulty of letting go, even when you know you should.
Accidentally Amy by Lynn Painter
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After reading Mr. Wrong Number back in the spring, I fell in love with Lynn Painter’s books. She’s now an auto buy author for me. Accidentally Amy is a self published book and dare I say, my new favorite of hers! It is so perfectly fall! I highly recommend!
Add Rating: 4.75 Stars
IT STARTED WITH A CUP…
Isabella Shay is usually a very honest person.
But when she’s running late for her first day at a dream job and the barista yells for “Amy” 3x with no answer, she does the unthinkable.
Izzy takes that PSL.
It’s the exact drink she ordered and paid for, only waaaay further ahead in the line, so she mutters “I’m Amy” and grabs the cup.
But when she turns around and runs directly into the most attractive man she’s ever seen, spilling the drink all over his GQ shirt and tie, she ends up having the ultimate meet-cute. Sparks fly and things feel beyond promising until he says the words, “See you tomorrow, Amy.”
Uh, oh – she’ll definitely have to straighten him out the following day.
Only when she gets to her new office and meets the VP of her department, it is none other than Blake Phillips – the hottie from Starbucks. And the man might’ve been charming to “Amy,” but he is an arrogant grump to Izzy, an arrogant grump who dos not find her explanation funny at all.
MEET CUTE + GRUMPY/SUNSHINE + FRIENDS-TO-LOVERS = ACCIDENTALLY AMY
The Charmed List by Julie Abe
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This young adult, witchy book is a fun one! If you have a young teenager/middle schooler, they will love this one. If you loved Sabrina the Teenage Witch, you’ll love this one. If you loved Halloweentown, you’ll love this one. It’s a cute one. Immature, but cute!
Add Rating: 4 Stars
Thanks for my copy, Wednesday Books!
After spending most of high school as the quiet girl, Ellie Kobata is ready to take some risks and have a life-changing summer, starting with her Anti-Wallflower List—thirteen items she’s going to check off one by one. She’s looking forward to riding rollercoasters, making her art Instagram public (maybe), and going on an epic road-trip with her best friend Lia.
But when number four on Ellie’s list goes horribly wrong—revenge on Jack Yasuda—she’s certain her summer has gone from charmed to cursed. Instead of a road trip with Lia, Ellie finds herself stuck in a car with Jack driving to a magical convention. But as Ellie and Jack travel down the coast of California, number thirteen on her list—fall in love—may be happening without her realizing it.
In The Charmed List, Julie Abe sweeps readers away to a secret magical world, complete with cupcakes and tea with added sparks of joy, and an enchanted cottage where you can dance under the stars.
Funny Feelings by Tarah Dewitt
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Oh goodness, this book. I’ve seen Funny Feelings everywhere. And everyone raves about it. Y’all, I just didn’t love it. I didn’t connect with the characters. I didn’t buy into the romance. There were a few funny moments, but I never swooned. It could totally be my mini reading slump though, so don’t just go off my review. I’m in the minority on this one.
Add Rating: 3 Stars
Farley Jones is being forced to date Meyer Harrigan, the man she has come to love, in order to make all of her stand-up dreams come true.
It’s agony— a tragedy, even. In lieu of flowers, please send cash…
Meyer and his daughter Hazel have been everything to her since they came into her life three years ago. So, all joking aside, the stakes really are high when it’s not only her career, but both of those relationships on the line.
A former stand-up star himself, Meyer has helped the trajectory of her career take off since he began managing her… Since he became her closest and most treasured friend, in the process.
This is the only reason why, when the biggest opportunity of Farley’s career includes thrusting him back into the spotlight to stir up publicity, he agrees— despite his grumpiness, his protectiveness over Hazel, and his disdain for public attention.
When helping her includes taking those barriers down, all those funny feelings start coming out into the open, and it quickly begins to feel like anything but a joke.
Funny Feelings is a swoony story about friendship, love, and looking for the laugh in life. It touches on the creative spirit and all that comes with sharing that gift, and how oftentimes the comedians in our lives are the most sensitive, or struggling. It features two friends, one incredible little girl, and a kaleidoscope of feelings along the way.
Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez
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To help get me out of this mini reading slump I found myself in during the middle of September, I decided to read my ARC of Yours Truly. Now, this one doesn’t come out until 2023, so I hate reading something that far in advance but I was trying to find something I loved.
And I did.
Y’all this book is the *best* It may be my new favorite Abby Jimenez book. Great mental health rep without being too after school special. It is phenomenal. Pre order NOW.
Add Rating: 5 Stars
Thank you for the ARC, Forever Publishing & Netgalley!
Dr. Briana Ortiz’s life is seriously flatlining. Her divorce is just about finalized, her brother’s running out of time to find a kidney donor, and that promotion she wants? Oh, that’s probably going to the new man-doctor who’s already registering eighty-friggin’-seven on Briana’s “pain in my ass” scale. But just when all systems are set to hate, Dr. Jacob Maddox completely flips the game . . . by sending Briana a letter.
And it’s a really good letter. Like the kind that proves that Jacob isn’t actually Satan. Worse, he might be this fantastically funny and subversively likeable guy who’s terrible at first impressions. Because suddenly he and Bri are exchanging letters, sharing lunch dates in her “sob closet,” and discussing the merits of freakishly tiny horses. But when Jacob decides to give Briana the best gift imaginable—a kidney for her brother—she wonders just how she can resist this quietly sexy new doctor . . . especially when he calls in a favor she can’t refuse.
Blind Side by Kandi Steiner
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And lastly we have Blind Side. This is another book I was seeing everywhere and everyone was raving about it. I didn’t enjoy this one AT ALL. Y’all, this book was not for me. The female main character was so annoyingly naive. And the male lead was just blah. Sometimes an indie book I discover on TikTok really wows me (To Love Jason Thorne, The Spanish Love Deception, Drive) but this one didn’t do it for me. It was also verrrrry spicy, and I felt like the spice was thrown in just for the sake of spicy scenes, which I hate. If a book is swoony and has spicy scenes, great. If spiciness is just written in like 50 Shade of Gray? I’m not a fan.
The hottest college football safety in the nation just asked me to be his fake girlfriend.
And I just asked him to take my virginity.
Clay Johnson has the abs of Adonis and the deadly smirk of the devil, himself. There’s hardly a day he’s not headline material during football season, and never a day he isn’t a bullseye target for every girl on campus.
He used to be the easiest of all the players for me to wrangle as the Public Relations Coordinator, but after a nasty breakup with his high school sweetheart, he’s a mess.
And a complete pain in my ass.
We meet to discuss his behavior and review media relations standards. But when he witnesses how I fall to pieces in front of my guitar-toting crush, his wheels start turning. And he cooks up this absurd plan.
He helps me get noticed.
I help him make his ex jealous.
All by pretending to be in a relationship.
What he doesn’t realize is that this bookworm is a virgin, and far from versed in seducing a musician. So, to sweeten the deal, I convince him to help me — not just to get my crush’s attention, but to knock his socks off once I have it.
But the more I come unraveled at the hands of Clay Johnson, the more trouble I have discerning what’s fake and what’s undoubtedly real — particularly, the way my heart flutters every time that breathtaking man touches me.
We set the rules. We put the safeguards in place.
But they say rules are meant to be broken.
They probably should have added that hearts are, too.
Add Rating: 2.5 Stars
Check out my past month’s book reviews here:
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