This one is a little late… but between travel, work, and new business ventures, the blog has kind of been put on the back burner. However, it is better late than never and I have read some fantastic books these last couple of months. In my attempts to read more than historical fiction and romance in my October books, I have definitely fallen back in love with the horror genre.
Being able to visit English bookshops has also been great for my reading, as I no longer have the limited range of bestsellers in the local french bookshops or the range of vintage 1980s and 1990s books in second-hand shops. On the little Northumberland leg of my travels, I was lucky enough to visit the second-hand bookshop in Alnwick. This is a place you must go to if you are any form of the reader. If I was not with my brother I would have spent a few days happily browsing the shelves and diving into reading every book on offer.
Anyway, onto the October reading list!
If you missed last month’s list…click here!
This month I have read: 5 books amounting to 1,882 pages. If you want to stay updated on my progress, add me on Goodreads!
The Books
Too Late
Colleen Hoover
Genre: Romance
Length: 395 pages
First Published: 2016
Synopsis:
Sloan will go through hell and back for those she loves. And she does, every single day.
After finding herself stuck in a relationship with the dangerous and morally corrupt Asa Jackson, Sloan will do whatever it takes to get by until she’s able to find a way out. Nothing will get in her way.
Nothing except Carter. (Synopsis from Goodreads)
Review:
** spoiler alert ** I read this book in 5 hours. I have no idea why Colleen Hoover has this chokehold on me when it comes to her books but here we are another one read in a single sitting. Make that #5 of her books to do this.
This is a romance with the love triangle trope with a bit of forced proximity, and a lot of domestic and sexual abuse. If this is something that does not sit well with you DO NOT read this book. As a woman who has been in scary situations with men (who hasn’t at this point, unfortunately), this book was the worst nightmare realised.
The way this book was written by the last 100 pages had me a bit confused at first and then it was an ohhhhh OHHHH kind of moment and my pulse was up down side to side with anxiety.
I want to give this a 5-star review but the topic and theme I really can’t. Yes, this needs to be spotlighted that women are unable to fight their oppressors and the courts won’t support them, but also these themes are much to discuss and read about.
Rating:
The Spanish Love Deception
Elena Armas
Genre: Romance
Length: 487 pages
First Published: 2021
Synopsis:
Catalina Martín desperately needs a date for her sister’s wedding. Especially since her little white lie about her American boyfriend has spiralled out of control. Now everyone she knows—including her ex and his fiancée—will be there and eager to meet him. (Synopsis from Goodreads)
Review:
This book is ok. There are some parts that are great, and some parts that are not great. The whole European in America thing does not do it for me. This was supposed to be an enemies-to-lovers trope and there was no hate just rude indifference and that was not the fiery uhh I needed from a light romance. I was not attracted to this book but kept reading to see if it would get better. It didn’t, just stayed the level of meh.
Rating:
The Bridesmaid
Nina Manning
Genre: Thriller
Length: 296 pages
First Published: 2021
Synopsis:
From the moment they met as children, Sasha knew that beautiful, wealthy, and confident Caitlin would always be her absolute best friend. Sasha would do anything to make Caitlin happy.
Even keep her darkest secrets…
The years have passed, but their friendship remains. And when Caitlin announces she’s getting married there is only one choice for the role of bridesmaid. Sasha will make sure Caitlin’s wedding is as beautiful and perfect as she is. Won’t she?
But as the big day approaches, cracks begin to appear. Because no matter what Sasha does, she never seems to make Caitlin happy.
Review:
Picking up this book to read to keep me company to travel to a wedding, where I was a bridesmaid was a fun idea of mine. I can really relate to Sasha in the book. I feel many people have a friend like Caitlin – the one who has the world at their finger tips and gets everything they want. It’s a toxic friendship but its addictive. I feel this was the dynamic between Sasha and Caitlin. It’s a clever book. I enjoyed the read and the story, the dynamic of always the bridesmaid, never the bride.
However, it did not fill into the thriller genre. I can understand why it could be considered a thriller, but it’s more suspense fiction.
Rating:
The Unhoneymooners
Lauren Christina
Genre: Romance
Length: 400 pages
First Published: 2019
Synopsis:
Olive is always unlucky: in her career, in love, in…well, everything. Her identical twin sister Ami, on the other hand, is probably the luckiest person in the world. Her meet-cute with her fiancé is something out of a romantic comedy (gag) and she’s managed to finance her entire wedding by winning a series of Internet contests (double gag). Worst of all, she’s forcing Olive to spend the day with her sworn enemy, Ethan, who just happens to be the best man.
Olive braces herself to get through 24 hours of wedding hell before she can return to her comfortable, unlucky life. But when the entire wedding party gets food poisoning from eating bad shellfish, the only people who aren’t affected are Olive and Ethan. And now there’s an all-expenses-paid honeymoon in Hawaii up for grabs
Putting their mutual hatred aside for the sake of a free vacation, Olive and Ethan head for paradise, determined to avoid each other at all costs. But when Olive runs into her future boss, the little white lie she tells him is suddenly at risk to become a whole lot bigger. She and Ethan now have to pretend to be loving newlyweds, and her luck seems worse than ever. But the weird thing is that she doesn’t mind playing pretend. In fact, she feels kind of… lucky.
Review:
Loved this. This book is so unrealistic and fun, except for the bit where Olive gets fired. That is pretty realistic. It isn’t a steamy romance it’s more of a romance you can read on the train without feeling bad about the steamy read in public. Onto the actual content of the book. Olive makes bad choices, it’s not bad luck it’s just bad choices due to her lack of thinking or taking time to think. I like the duo of Olive and Ethan.
I’m a huge fan of the trope when a pessimistic person gets paired with an optimist. This book is a gem especially because Olive is more of a pessimist, realist personality whereas Ethan is the optimist. It is so rare in romance novels to see the female being the more negative one because it is usually the females that are always trying to make the males more optimistic but in this book it’s really opposite. It is nice to see cliche tropes used in a new way.
Rating:
The Outcast: And Other Dark Tales
E. F. Benson
Genre: Horror, Short Stories
Length: 304 pages
First Published: 2020
Synopsis:
The terrifying presence of a restless spirit on the top deck of a London bus; a possession at the bridge table on a cruise up the Nile; a nightmare encounter with druidic sacrifice in the innocuous setting of a terraced back garden . . . E F Benson’s “spook stories” pushed the boundaries of the ghost story tradition by exploring new, previously “out of bounds” settings—such as public transport and even hauntings by daylight—to frighten his readers from the 1890s to the 1930s.
Review:
Vintage chiller horror. Love it. Take the language of victorian gothic but make it applicable to newer technologies in the early 20th century and you have these masterful pieces. The length of these short stories is just enough to leave you satisfied with the chill but also wanting more. The first two stories are a little more ropey than the rest but it only gets better!
Rating:
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