Can you believe the year is almost over? I feel like I eagerly awaited for fall and it has zoomed on by. It could be said it’s because some great reads have been released this season and made time speed up. I’ve included some of the best that I’ve read this month.
Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
Chloe Brown is a chronically ill computer geek with a goal, a plan, and a list. After almost—but not quite—dying, she’s come up with seven directives to help her “Get a Life”, and she’s already completed the first: finally moving out of her glamourous family’s mansion. The next items?
Enjoy a drunken night out.
Ride a motorcycle.
Go camping.
Have meaningless but thoroughly enjoyable sex.
Travel the world with nothing but hand luggage.
And… do something bad.
But it’s not easy being bad, even when you’ve written step-by-step guidelines on how to do it correctly. What Chloe needs is a teacher, and she knows just the man for the job.
Redford ‘Red’ Morgan is a handyman with tattoos, a motorcycle, and more sex appeal than ten-thousand Hollywood heartthrobs. He’s also an artist who paints at night and hides his work in the light of day, which Chloe knows because she spies on him occasionally. Just the teeniest, tiniest bit.
But when she enlists Red in her mission to rebel, she learns things about him that no spy session could teach her. Like why he clearly resents Chloe’s wealthy background. And why he never shows his art to anyone. And what really lies beneath his rough exterior
Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert is the first in a new series. Chloe is plagued by her many illnesses and after a near death experience has decided to literally, “get a life”. She starts off a journey that includes checking off what she considers to be momentous acts that will drive her life forward. Her new superintendent, Red, is just the dashing kind of hero that she didn’t expect. This opposites attract story is a testament to adventure and self-discovery. I liked how the author was realistic with Chloe’s expectations and her limitations. She has a serious pain and gets through her day with some self-medication and laughter. I think that Chloe is a fierce heroine and her journey to self Re-discovery and her tenacity in these obstacles makes this a book that will turn any cold day frowns, upside down.
Disarm by Karina Halle
Seraphine Dumont seems to have it all: she’s gorgeous, brilliant, and part of one of France’s most illustrious dynasties. But underneath the facade, Seraphine struggles to hold it all together. Besides grieving her adoptive father’s suspicious and sudden death, she also shares a tenuous role in the family business with Blaise, her in-name-only cousin. As tumultuous as their history is, he may be the only member of the deceptive Dumont family she can trust.
Seraphine is a temptation Blaise can’t resist. The torch he’s carried for years still burns. It’s his secret—a quiet obsession just out of reach. Until his brother demands that he spy on the increasingly cagey Seraphine, whom their father considers a dispensable Dumont outlier. But the more Blaise watches her and the closer he gets, the more he sees Seraphine may have every right to be suspicious. And she could be the next one in danger—from his own family.
As blood runs hot and hearts give in, Seraphine and Blaise have only each other. But can their love survive the secrets they’re about to uncover?
Do you like your romance with a side of piping hot murder/mystery? Straight out of the Hallmark Mystery Channel but ramped with a lot of erotic chemistry between the two characters. Hot off the heels of the first novel (even though it can be read as a standalone) these two characters are fighting familial tensions and murderous intentions. Seraphine feels orphaned all over again now that her father has died. We delve into her emotions and Halle does an amazing job of navigating the turbulent waters while also dealing with stalkers, vipers in her nest and a romance that has finally reach volcanic temperature. From car chases, to midnight meetings, this novel will keep you on your feet. I cannot wait for the next book because I need to know what happens next!
The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams
The first rule of book club:
You don’t talk about book club.
Nashville Legends second baseman Gavin Scott’s marriage is in major league trouble. He’s recently discovered a humiliating secret: his wife Thea has always faked the Big O. When he loses his cool at the revelation, it’s the final straw on their already strained relationship. Thea asks for a divorce, and Gavin realizes he’s let his pride and fear get the better of him.
Welcome to the Bromance Book Club.
Distraught and desperate, Gavin finds help from an unlikely source: a secret romance book club made up of Nashville’s top alpha men. With the help of their current read, a steamy Regency titled Courting the Countess, the guys coach Gavin on saving his marriage. But it’ll take a lot more than flowery words and grand gestures for this hapless Romeo to find his inner hero and win back the trust of his wife.
This is an unexpected romance. Gavin, our hero, is the main voice we hear in this story which was interesting. I liked the different perspective and how fun it was to hear about the “bromance” book club. Gavin and Thea married young and at 25 with school age twins, they realized they’ve lied for most of their relationship. It was interesting to see how a couple could attempt to rebuild their marriage and this novel takes you to tough places while also placing a band aid over the hurts it also delivers. It is a blend of cheesy romantic lines that are delivered to his wife as he tries to woo her back. With botched date nights, hilarious attempts at “date-rescue” by his friends and the rekindling of their chemistry.
Veils by Brynne Asher
“Give me a memory, Noah.”
That’s what she said … the woman who rendered me stupid in the shadows at a wedding reception. I did everything I could to figure her out. She wore more veils of armor than I’ve seen in a lifetime. On the outside, she was strong and self-assured. But within those beautiful, guarded blues? She was laced with vulnerability and grief.
We had one night. The best night. She got the memory she wanted, but in the process, I was left branded.
Then she thought she could strut out my front door and my life, right after announcing she was my boss’s baby sister.
I had no choice but to follow. Not only did I go after her, I chased her halfway around the world. Because when it comes to her, one memory isn’t enough. It doesn’t matter that there couldn’t be a more opposite pair than us.
Gracie Cain is a healer. I’m Noah Jarvis, a cold-hearted killer.
But when my job came back to bite me in the ass, I wasn’t the only one caught in the crossfire. It bought us memories no one was counting on.
That’s when all the veils were ripped off.
This was an action packed addition to the series. It takes you all over the world to interesting place, one of my favorite parts of the story. There was a suspense element to this story that keeps you on your toes. Who is after Gracie? Jarvis has remained a mystery throughout the series and finally we get his back story which was better than expected. There’s a lot of character development here as Gracie is the younger sister that’s always been baby’d by the family, and for good reason. Jarvis is a hothead that had no idea he was hooking up with his boss’s youngest sister. How that unfolds is NUTS.
Blindsided by Amy Daws
What happens when an almost thirty-year-old virgin agrees to let her Scottish footballer best friend give her some lessons in seduction?
Lots of banter, awkwardness, jealousy, and heat.
Midfielder Maclay “Mac” Logan is a loud-mouthed, tattooed ginger content with focusing on football. But when an adorably-freckled seamstress comes barreling into his life, he finds Netflix-And-Bickering with her to be his new favorite pastime.
Freya Cook is used to being the invisible woman with a needle and thread, offering cheeky punchlines as she helps dress London’s finest. She’s plus-sized in body and spirit, and other than her friendship with Mac, talking to the opposite sex is one skill she never mastered.
However, after one innocent game of Never Have I Ever, Mac offers to play Love Coach for Freya.
What neither of them see coming are the feelings that develop when the clothes come off.
Now they’re both about to learn the biggest lesson of all: Don’t fall in love with your best friend.
This is a friends to lovers story that is set in Scotland. If you’re looking for a sexy accent, a man that eschews toxic masculinity while playing rugby and a heroine that is a personal journey that anyone can relate to. Freya is a plus sized girl living in a world that isn’t always kind. I like the aspect we explore personal truths vs public truth. Fighting your own private demons isn’t easy and this story shows you how the right partners and friends can lift you right up.
With the holidays gearing up, what are you reading this month to fight off our turkey slumber?
