I know we're almost through a new month, meaning I am late AF. But a lot has caused me to not have the energy needed to do all the things. So, I'm pulling my last little bit of energy I have to share my reads to the group. If you follow me on social media, you have already seen the video. But this will include my thoughts on the books I've read and links if you are interested in purchasing one for yourself. So, lets get started...
Most of the 12 books I read this LAST month were by "New to Me" authors. And then, two were by someone whose books I've read under their pen name, but not their real name... until now. But she's a cool ass person too.
I started off the month with Tamara Ford. She was new to me. I'm not one to spoil books in my posts, so I won't say what transpired in the book. But it was too much and not enough all at the same time. Let me explain what I mean. The book was less than 100 pages... I could tell. It was as if the book was rushed to include everything to make a beginning, middle, and end. However, the details were lacking. I'm all for quickie romances... in a book. But even in a quickie romance book, there has to be a streamline from one thing to the next. Not a hop, jump, and a skip and we're done. That's what I felt about this book while reading it... quickly. (And I read slow) The description was interesting enough, but somewhere between "In the beginning" and "The End", I feel like something fell through for me. If I'm being completely honest with myself, the one thing that really irked me about the book was this concept that the heroine of the book was a freak and the things she liked to do sexually were not the average. Couple that with the hero of the book being surprised by her sexual desires and favorite things to do in the bedroom. To me, and most of the people I know, the shit they did was basic bedroom behavior. So, that kind of ruined the way the heroine was described. The extreme stretch of the truth in description messed the whole fantasy up for me and made the characters very immature for what they were doing. And they were good and grown during this book too.
Next on the list was Leila E. Hart. She was also a newbie for me. Once again, the description grasped my attention. And although I was originally "eh" about the book. After thinking it over a bit and reminding myself what all transpired in the book, I can say it was a nice read. Another short read, it had more of a plot to it than the first book of the month. A bonus was that it was my favorite book trope: Enemies to Lovers. It's just something about two people hating each other; or at least one person despising the other, as is the case in this book; where something sparks that they can't deny that makes my heart smile. The reason I can tell I wasn't all the way in with this book is because of how long it took me to read it. It was another book that was less than 100 pages but it took me 2 days to read it. I know I said I read slow, but not that damn slow. Not even on my busy days. I can't pinpoint exactly what made me read this book with an unhurried pace, but many of the books that grasp my attention tend to cause me to want to re-read them and this one I had to remind myself what the book was about. That's another sign that I wasn't all the way in. It wasn't so bad that I wouldn't try another book from this author though. So, that's a good thing, in my opinion.
Next up was Tiye Love with her Endgame Trilogy. Once again, this was the first time reading something from this author and it was 3 full fledged novels. I was ALL IN with this one right here. And the funny thing is, I actually met the author less than 2 weeks after I finished the series. There was so much drama within those 3 titles that I told her that the hero and the heroine exhausted me. They had me wanting to shake both of their asses. But it was so good that I sent the links to my friends when she put them on sale.
The same day I finished The Endgame Trilogy, I started and finished Hunger, by one of my favs, Nicole Falls. It's the first of a duality and BAYBEE, it was given the correct name. The hero showed exactly what it was meant by Hunger. And when it ended, I was hunger for book 2. And I politely told Nicole I had beef. For the book to be a quickie, I enjoyed myself immensely from beginning to cliffhanging end.
Then, I read my first book from A.C. Arthur. Love Me Like No Other is the first of the Donovans series. If I saw correctly, I think that series has 15 titles under it. Listen, honey... I couldn't read all of them babies in enough time for the initial reason for reading book 1. See, I participated in an event at the end of August that the mentioned author was hosting. My conscience was eating at me that I hadn't read anything by her, yet I was going to her event. I'd had a plethora of samples of her books in my Kindle app but hadn't sat to read any of them. Well, after that first book, count me in for the long haul. I have GOT to see how the rest of these family members cut up. Book one was a Enemies to Lovers/Second Chance romance and I was here for all of their mess. The hero's one brother irritated the snot out of me while the other cracked me up... until the end. But they both have books of their own, so I can't wait to dive into theirs as well.
Shay Davis has popped up on my list a couple of times. But it was under her pen name, Eva Sherie, which she uses for her erotica. I read two titles under her real name for August: A Dash of Christmas Magic and Love After. Although they weren't a series, the sister of the hero of the former was the heroine of the latter and the hero (of book 1) and both books' heroines were very present in both titles. I loved the dynamic between the characters and wish I was as close to my siblings as the brother and sister were. We're close, but not like they were. And, not to spoil the book, but the daughters stole the freaking show. Those girls were hilarious. They were teenage enough to make you want to punch them, but silly enough that you couldn't help but laugh with and at them. Both books had plenty of drama, jack rabbit sex, and comedy for me to thoroughly enjoy myself while reading. Oh, and Love After did have some BDSM in it, but was definitely written tastefully.
Kema B. is an author I've seen throughout the variety of reader/narrator groups I'm apart of and I already knew she was cool people. But I'd never read anything other than snippets of her work. Then, when Free Game came out, I found out that the heroine was the employee of a hero from another one of her books. I put a pause on reading that one to read the first one, Autumyn's Kiss. Both books are essentially standalones, but I like following along to see how everyone connects. Although, had I known, I would have started with Kema's first title, because all of her books connect in some way. I love it. So, I will be diving into the rest of her catalog, which is already waiting for me in my Kindle app. What I love about both of the titles that I've read so far is that the heroine is not hard pressed to fall in love and live the happily ever after life like some traditional romance novels write women to be. They were both free thinking, hardworking women in their own right. But when it came to falling in love, it was far in the recesses of their minds. The journey to the HEA land was difficult in both books but I enjoyed every bit of their drama and nasty bedroom banter... even if it wasn't always in the bedroom. lol
My last read for August was by one of my definite favs, Ms. Rilzy Adams. I've already read half her catalog and I went ahead and bought the remainder of it because sis hasn't written a book I haven't enjoyed yet. But Surrender was a surprise erotic short read and I loved every bit of it. Friends to Lovers troupe with a little BDSM on the side. Between Rilzy's note at the beginning and the first line of the book, I was sold already and cackling. The dedication said, and I quote, don't let my mama see this. LMAO. And the first line? "You owe me two nights." When I say, my interest was piqued very quickly to see what this was all about. And Rilzy did not disappoint. But, she never has, so I wasn't surprised. I can't wait to finish swimming in her catalog either.
If you are curious and/or interested in any of the titles featured in my August Reading List, here are the covers and links for you to check them out.