Maren's Reads

Maren's Reads

Avid reader and reviewer with all the best book recommendations.

Marenโ€™s Reads ๐Ÿ’ซ Bookstagram on Instagram: "๏ผข๏ฝ๏ฝ๏ฝ‹ โˆ™ ๏ผฒ๏ฝ…๏ฝ–๏ฝ‰๏ฝ…๏ฝ— In a Holidaze Christina Lauren 5โ˜… Read if you like: โ€ขholiday traditions โ€ขtime loop trope โ€ขspicy romance โ€ขfriends-to-lovers โ€ขforced proximity โ€ขunrequited 04/12/2022

New Reel. Holiday Recommendation.

Marenโ€™s Reads ๐Ÿ’ซ Bookstagram on Instagram: "๏ผข๏ฝ๏ฝ๏ฝ‹ โˆ™ ๏ผฒ๏ฝ…๏ฝ–๏ฝ‰๏ฝ…๏ฝ— In a Holidaze Christina Lauren 5โ˜… Read if you like: โ€ขholiday traditions โ€ขtime loop trope โ€ขspicy romance โ€ขfriends-to-lovers โ€ขforced proximity โ€ขunrequited Marenโ€™s Reads ๐Ÿ’ซ Bookstagram shared a post on Instagram: "๏ผข๏ฝ๏ฝ๏ฝ‹ โˆ™ ๏ผฒ๏ฝ…๏ฝ–๏ฝ‰๏ฝ…๏ฝ— In a Holidaze Christina Lauren 5โ˜… Read if you like: โ€ขholiday traditions โ€ขtime loop trope โ€ขspicy romance โ€ขfriends-to-lovers โ€ขforced proximity โ€ขunrequited love This is my second time reading...

03/12/2022

๏ผค๏ฝ…๏ฝƒ๏ฝ…๏ฝ๏ฝ‚๏ฝ…๏ฝ’ โˆ™ ๏ผจ๏ฝ๏ฝ๏ฝ…๏ฝ†๏ฝ•๏ฝŒ๏ฝ“

My goal for December is to read as many holiday reads as humanely possible, starting with this lovely lineup. I am a bit of a mood reader, so of course there is room for me to veer, but Iโ€™m pretty set on this dozen. Conveniently, they will fit perfectly into the eighty million bingos Iโ€™m doing this month as an added bonus.

๐Ÿ“– The Holiday Switch by
๐Ÿ“–All I Want for Christmas is the Girl Next Door by
๐Ÿ“– Meet Me Under the Mistletoe by
๐Ÿ“– Just Like Magic by
๐Ÿ“– Youโ€™re a Mean One Matthew Prince by
๐Ÿ“– Lovelight Farms by
๐Ÿ“– Merry Ex-Mas by
๐Ÿ“– All I Want for Christmas by
๐Ÿ“– The Twelve Days of Christmas by and
๐Ÿ“– All I Want for Christmas is the Boy I Canโ€™t Have by
๐Ÿ“– The Matzah Ball by
๐Ÿ“– The Key to My Heart by

Speaking of Bingo, and I are hosting a big Winter Bingo now thru the end of February with a giveaway at the conclusion. Head to my story highlight entitled Winter Bingo to get all the details and the wintery board of your choice!

๐—พ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ฑ: ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ต๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜๐—ต ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ?

02/12/2022

๐—™๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—™๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜†: ๐— ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐—˜๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป

The Happiest Man on Earth
Eddie Jaku
5โ˜…

This is one of the most beautiful and heartbreaking memoirs I have ever read. As an Auschwitz survivor, Jaku takes us through every moment of his imprisonment, how he survived physically, but also mentally and emotionally to become the โ€œhappiest man on earthโ€.

The Extraordinary Life of An Ordinary Man
Paul Newman
5โ˜…

As a Paul Newman fan, I thought I knew quite a bit about his life. Turns out, I knew next to nothing. From the long standing affair he had with Woodward, prior to his divorce and marriage to her, to the death of his beloved son, I learned so much about his upbringing, marriages, parenting and most importantly, his philanthropy. Per his daughter, โ€œhis obituary in the economist noted he was the most generous individual, relative to income, in the twentieth century history of the United State.โ€ Did I mention the audio is narrated in large part by Jeff Daniels? Need I say more?

Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing
Matthew Perry
5โ˜…

As someone who is basically obsessed with the show Friends, I was worried about reading this and how it would alter my view of the show. Turns out, it did nothing to damage the love I have for the the wildly popular series, but instead, helped me to understand the internal struggles of the man portraying one of my favorite characters. While he made many of us laugh week after week, we saw with our eyes that he was not okay. His weight gain and loss seemed to coincide with relapses. In his memoir, Perry fills in the blanks.

The Other Wes Moore
Wes Moore
5โ˜…

This is one of the most interesting nonfiction books I have ever read. Part memoir, part social commentary, {now newly elected Maryland Governor} Wes Moore compares the lives of himself and another man who shares his name. This is a really fascinating read, particularly on audio, as Moore does a great job narrating his own story and that of his counterpart.

Seriouslyโ€ฆIโ€™m Kidding
Ellen Degeneres
5โ˜…

This is a short read/listen, but one that will have you belly laughing at times. When life feels stressful and you just need a good laugh, give this one a go.

02/12/2022

โ˜ƒ๏ธ ๏ผง๏ฝ‰๏ฝ–๏ฝ…๏ฝ๏ฝ—๏ฝ๏ฝ™ โ˜ƒ๏ธ

As the season of giving is upon us, I've partnered with and to host a holiday giveaway!

๐—ง๐—›๐—˜ ๐—ฃ๐—ฅ๐—œ๐—ญ๐—˜
Three lucky winners will receive a book from their wishlist.

๐—›๐—ข๐—ช ๐—ง๐—ข ๐—˜๐—ก๐—ง๐—˜๐—ฅ
โ„๏ธFollow us:




โ„๏ธLIKE and SAVE this post.

โ„๏ธComment below with your favorite winter activity. And tag some bookish friends in the comments (unlimited).

๐—•๐—ข๐—ก๐—จ๐—ฆ ๐—˜๐—ก๐—ง๐—ฅ๐—œ๐—˜๐—ฆ
โ„๏ธShare this post to your stories once every 24 hours and tag me. Then drop your favorite emoji in the comments. Each story share is 1 extra entry.

๐—ง๐—›๐—˜ ๐—ฅ๐—จ๐—Ÿ๐—˜๐—ฆ
โ„๏ธEnds on Monday, December 5 at 12 PST.

โ„๏ธBeware of scammers! We do not have any other accounts, and the winner will be announced in our post and stories.

๐—พ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ฑ: ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ณ๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐˜๐˜†?

02/12/2022

๏ผข๏ฝ๏ฝ๏ฝ‹โˆ™ ๏ผฒ๏ฝ…๏ฝ–๏ฝ‰๏ฝ…๏ฝ—

The Devil Gets His Due
Elizabeth Oโ€™Roark
Romance
5โ˜…

Read if you like:
โ€ขEnemies to lovers
โ€ขforced proximity
โ€ขthe best banter
โ€ขaccidental pregnancy
โ€ขDual POV

I simply adore Elizabeth Oโ€™Roarkโ€™s writing and could not wait to get my hands on the Devil Gets His Due, book four in the Devil series. I am so happy to say that it definitely did not disappoint. It is a testament to her writing that I fell in love with a book featuring one of my least favorite tropes, the accidental pregnancy. And yet I cannot imagine a better set of tropes for these two curmudgeonly characters. Nothing about it felt forced or phony and it added so much depth to not only Keelyโ€™s relationship with Graham, but also her relationship with herself. The emotional growth shown by her character from start to finish was one of my favorite aspects of this story.

No one writes enemies to lovers and witty banter like Oโ€™Roark does. Her dialogue is always fun and engaging and I just cannot get enough. Every single character throughout this series has been written in such a realistic and thorough way, I can always envision their lives off of the page. One of my favorite parts of reading this series is getting to see what has happened to each of the previous characters. She brilliantly weaves in a continuation of each of their stories from book to book and I love getting that small glimpse into each of their lives once again.

If you have not yet read this series, what are you waiting for? If you like enemies to lovers, if you enjoy witty banter, if you enjoy swoony romance and the epitome of the best book boyfriend, you need The Devil Series in your life, asap.

Thank you to Elizabeth Oโ€™Roark and Valentine PR for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

๐—พ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ฑ: ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ณ๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐˜€? ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ?

Photos from Maren's Reads's post 01/12/2022

๏ผข๏ฝ๏ฝ๏ฝ‹๏ฝ๏ฝ๏ฝ’๏ฝ‹ โˆ™ ๏ผฌ๏ฝ๏ฝ–๏ฝ…

I bought my first MyBookmark last year, right after Christmas, and have quickly become obsessed. When they reached out recently and asked if I would partner with them, it was a very easy yes.

With everything from ballerina slippers, to Edgar Allen Poe, llamas to mermaids and of course the Beast, this company has a wide variety of intricate bookmarks sure to please the readers in your life. Their holiday assortment would make the cutest stocking stuffers or secret Santa gifts as well.

A Ukrainian company that has continued its work even through time of war, this incredibly unique company creates one of a kind sculpture bookmarks. Each bookmark is handmade from polymer clay, painted and polished with a special varnish to make them that much more durable.

And the best news? They are running a 50% off sale as we speak! You can find the link in my bio. Head on over to their website and snag one for the holidays.

๐—พ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ฑ: ๐—ฑ๐—ผ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ธ๐˜€? ๐—ฑ๐—ผ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ ๐—ณ๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฒ?

30/11/2022

๐Ÿ—“ ๐—ก๐—ข๐—ฉ๐—˜๐— ๐—•๐—˜๐—ฅ ๐—ฅ๐—˜๐—”๐——๐—œ๐—ก๐—š ๐—ช๐—ฅ๐—”๐—ฃ ๐—จ๐—ฃ ๐Ÿ—“

I know this year has flown by, but it sure seems like someone upped the play speed on the past few weeks. Anyone else feel like this too? I am not nearly ready for December to be here, but yet here we are.

I had a great reading month in November, thanks in large part to audiobooks once again. I read a ton of great books, some really good ones and only one I did not like. Below is the breakdown:

โ˜… 170/215
Books: 43
Pages: 12,540
Arcs: 15
BOTM: 0
Audiobooks: 31
Nonfiction: 8
2022: 274/250

๐—™๐—”๐—ฉ๐—ข๐—ฅ๐—œ๐—ง๐—˜ ๐—•๐—ข๐—ข๐—ž๐—ฆ: Hello Stranger, The Devil Gets His Due, Before I Let Go, and The Simple Wild

โฌ— ARC not shown
โœง borrowed book not shown

5โ˜…
โ€ขHave I Told You This Already? โœง
โ€ขGreenlights
โ€ขThese Silent Woods
โ€ขTake My Hand
โ€ขThe Do-Over
โ€ขHello Stranger โฌ—
โ€ขAngels of the Resistance โฌ—
โ€ขThe Devil Gets His Due โฌ—
โ€ขThe Happiest Man On Earth โœง
โ€ขThe Other Wes Moore โœง
โ€ขBefore I Let Go
โ€ขThe Simple Wild
โ€ขThe Extraordinary Life of An Ordinary Man โฌ—
โ€ขFriends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing โœง
โ€ขSeriouslyโ€ฆIโ€™m Kidding โœง
โ€ขHow to Walk Away

4.5โ˜…
โ€ขYou Can Thank Me Later โœง
โ€ขThe Man I Never Met
โ€ขThe Christmas Wish
โ€ขTwenty Years Later โœง

4โ˜…
โ€ขThe Villa โฌ—
โ€ขSundown Motel
โ€ขAmerican Mother
โ€ขThe Personal Assistant โฌ—
โ€ขTwo Wrongs Make a Right
โ€ขSay You Still Love Me
โ€ขThe Naughty, The Nice & the Nanny โœง
โ€ขNever Ever Getting Back Together
โ€ขThe Christmas Blanket โœง
โ€ขLore Olympus

3.5โ˜…
โ€ขThe Last Invitation โฌ—
โ€ขTwisted Love
โ€ขItโ€™s a Wonderful Wife โœง
โ€ขTalk Santa to Me

3โ˜…
โ€ขShopaholic & Baby โœง
โ€ขAnon Pls. โฌ—
โ€ขNick and Noelโ€™s Christmas Playlist
โ€ขSingle and Ready to Jingle โœง
โ€ขThree Bells, Two Bows and One Brotherโ€™s Best Friend โœง
โ€ขA Partridge and a Pregnancy โœง
โ€ขThe Girls Who Disappeared

2โ˜…
โ€ขAccidentally Amy

๐—พ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ฑ: ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ฐ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ณ๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐—ฑ๐—ผ ๐—ถ๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—น๐˜† ๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ.

30/11/2022

๏ผจ๏ฝ๏ฝŒ๏ฝ‰๏ฝ„๏ฝ๏ฝ™ โˆ™ ๏ผง๏ฝ‰๏ฝ†๏ฝ”๏ฝ‰๏ฝŽ๏ฝ‡

Throughout the month of December, I will be featuring some of my favorite products that would make perfect stocking stuffers and holiday gifts.

First up is my favorite bookish candle company, Novelwicks {partner}. A small business run entirely by a single mom (with the most precious little girl), every hand poured candle is created with a ton of talent and a whole lot of love. Each scent is unique and beautiful, and the wood wicks pack a major punch of nostalgia. Think fire burning in the hearth on a cold Winterโ€™s eve. Coziness included.

If you are looking for a gift that would work for a whole host of people, you can find it at Novelwicks. The small size tins would make great stocking stuffers, or teachers gifts, and the large size the perfect hostess gift.

Some of my favorite scents include:
โœฎRiley Sager
โœฎHedwig
โœฎReading Fuel
โœฎReading by the Fire
โœฎThe Christmas Bookshop

Head to her online shop for all kinds of deals this holiday season and use code MAREN10 for 10% off.

๐—พ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ฑ: ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ณ๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—บ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ด๐—ถ๐—ณ๐˜ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ๐˜€?

29/11/2022

๏ผข๏ฝ๏ฝ๏ฝ‹โˆ™๏ผฆ๏ฝ…๏ฝ๏ฝ”๏ฝ•๏ฝ’๏ฝ… ๐Ÿ“

Thank you {partners} and for my copies.

A newly reissued duet, Danger in Plain Sight and Rough Justice by Burt Weissbourd are the perfect reads for those nights when you are torn between the newest blockbuster and the desire to snuggle in with a book. Both of these gorgeous new editions are available now.

๐—ง๐—œ๐—ง๐—Ÿ๐—˜: ๐——๐—”๐—ก๐—š๐—˜๐—ฅ ๐—œ๐—ก ๐—ฃ๐—Ÿ๐—”๐—œ๐—ก ๐—ฆ๐—œ๐—š๐—›๐—ง

It took fourteen years to construct a safe world for her and her sonโ€”and only one night for her ex to unravel it. Celebrated Seattle restaurateur Callie James is more than a little thrown when her ex-husband, French investigative reporter Daniel Odile-Grand, shows up after fourteen years, asking for her help. Even more disturbing: as she throws him out, Daniel is deliberately hit by a car, hurled through the front window of her restaurantโ€”broken, bloody and unconscious. He flees from the hospital and breaks into Callieโ€™s apartment, where he passes out.

Reluctantly, Callie hides him. When she gets back to her restaurant, two assassins walk in, insisting that she find Daniel for them by tonight or pay the consequences. Overwhelmed and hopelessly out of her depth, Callie hires the only man she knows who can help her: Cash Logan, her former bartender, a man she had arrested for smuggling ivory through her restaurant two years earlier, and who still hasnโ€™t forgiven her.

๐—ง๐—œ๐—ง๐—Ÿ๐—˜: ๐—ฅ๐—ข๐—จ๐—š๐—› ๐—๐—จ๐—ฆ๐—ง๐—œ๐—–๐—˜

In Rough Justice, Callie and Cash are back, and their world is about to explode. Theyโ€™ve grown comfortable together, no, more than that, against all odds, their feelingsย for each other have evolved beyond anything theyโ€™ve ever knownโ€”theyโ€™re wildly in love. So, imagine their surprise when they get an unexpected, half-Algerian female guest, twenty-five-year-old Sara, showing up at the restaurant and insisting on telling them her shocking, unbelievable story.ย Someone is trying to kill her, and theyโ€™ve stolen her identity. She needs their help now, and she has aย stunning, life-changing secret to tell.

๐—พ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ฑ: ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ?

28/11/2022

๐•Ž๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•ฅ๐•–๐•ฃ ๐”น๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•˜๐•  + ๐”พ๐•š๐•ง๐•–๐•’๐•จ๐•’๐•ช

Behold my Merry Monday stack and my sweet little reading gnomes. Also peep my cute little pencil tree I finally managed to put up yesterday while sick for the eighty millionth day. ๐Ÿคช Which brings me to the real reason for this post, itโ€™s bingo time again.

โ„๏ธ ๏ผท๏ฝ‰๏ฝŽ๏ฝ”๏ฝ…๏ฝ’ โˆ™ ๏ผข๏ฝ‰๏ฝŽ๏ฝ‡๏ฝ โ„๏ธ

and I are so excited to announce our ๐—ช๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—•๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด๐—ผ ๐—–๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ด๐—ฒ + ๐—š๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐˜†!

See our story highlights for the boards (you can pick your favorite) and the full rules.

๐•Š๐• ๐•ž๐•– ๐•“๐•’๐•ค๐•š๐•” ๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•—๐• :
โ€ขRuns from Dec 1 - Feb 28
โ€ขThere will be two winners announced at the beginning of March. Each winner will win a book off their wishlist.
โ€ขCome play, too, because it's tons of fun and very motivating! ๐Ÿ’•

๐—พ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ฑ: ๐—ถ๐—ณ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด๐—ผ๐˜€, ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ณ๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐˜? ๐—ถ๐—ณ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜, ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ป๐˜‚๐—บ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป?

28/11/2022

๏ผข๏ฝ๏ฝ๏ฝ‹โˆ™ ๏ผฒ๏ฝ…๏ฝ–๏ฝ‰๏ฝ…๏ฝ—

Thank you {partners} Park Row Books, Harper Audio and LIbro.fm for the gifted ARC and ALC.

The Personal Assistant
Kimberly Belle
Thriller
4โ˜…

Read if you like:
โ€ข domestic suspense
โ€ข whodunnits
โ€ข social media/influencer life
โ€ข dual timelines

This is my first Kimberly Belle thriller, and while there were a couple of aspects I was confused by, I found it to be a bingeable and entertaining thriller that I couldnโ€™t put down. I wound up finshing my immersive ebook/audio read in under a day.

As an influencer myself, it is so much fun for me to read books about social media celebrities, espcially the darker and more distrubing side of the business. While this story is ultimately a whodunnit, an overarching plotpoint involves the consequences that can occcur when a post has gone viral. Letโ€™s just say, I would never, ever, want to find myself in Alexโ€™s shoes.

There is such a fun twist to this book, that although others may guess what it is earlier on, I did not. That twist alone increased my enjoyment of this book quite a bit, and I would recommend it solely on that alone. When I think of my top three thrillers, they all share this kind of very unique twist.

My main critism of this book is that the ending was not as clear and cohesive as I would have liked. I found myself a bit confused as to what was occuring and had to go back and reread/relisten to make sure I understood it correctly. Utlimately you must suspend disbelief quite a bit, but then again, we have to do this to an extent with all thrillers donโ€™t we?

I think this is a solid, entertaining read and would recommend it especially for the social media aspect and that great twist. I cannot wait to go back and read Kimberly Belleโ€™s backlist.

One final note, I listened to this on audio, while reading the ebook, and have to give a shoutout to the audio narrators. There was a different narrator or each of the three main characters, Alex, Patrick, and AC, and I think this helped to make each of the them stand out in their own right. I think this would be fun to read in any format, but the audio might outweight the others by just a hair.

๐—พ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ฑ: ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ?

27/11/2022

๏ผข๏ฝ๏ฝ๏ฝ‹โˆ™๏ผฆ๏ฝ…๏ฝ๏ฝ”๏ฝ•๏ฝ’๏ฝ… ๐Ÿ“

Thank you, Partners for my copy.

๐—ง๐—œ๐—ง๐—Ÿ๐—˜: ๐—•๐—Ÿ๐—˜๐—˜๐——๐—œ๐—ก๐—š ๐—›๐—˜๐—”๐—ฅ๐—ง ๐—ฌ๐—”๐—ฅ๐——
๐—”๐—จ๐—ง๐—›๐—ข๐—ฅ: ๐—˜๐—น๐—น๐˜† ๐—š๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต๐˜€
๐—ฃ๐—จ๐—• ๐——๐—”๐—ฌ: ๐—ก๐—ข๐—ฉ๐—˜๐— ๐—•๐—˜๐—ฅ ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฑ, ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฎ

Dark academia? Check. Twisty thriller? Check. Dual timelines? Check. As soon as I saw the synopsis for Elly Griffithsโ€™ newest book, I knew it was going on my tbr. This sounds like a book for fans of Ashley Winsteadโ€™s In My Dreams I Hold a Knife and Ruth Wareโ€™s The It Girl, for which I am one. Let me know in the comments below if this sounds like something you would want to read.

๐’๐”๐Œ๐Œ๐€๐‘๐˜: When Cassie Fitzgerald was at school in the late 90s, she and her friends killed a fellow student. Almost twenty years later, Cassie is a happily married mother who loves her jobโ€”as a police officer. She closely guards the secret she has all but erased from her memory.

One day her husband finally persuades her to go to a school reunion. Cassie catches up with her high-achieving old friends from the Manor Park Schoolโ€”among them two politicians, a rock star, and a famous actress. But then, shockingly, one of them, Garfield Rice, is found dead in the school bathroom, supposedly from a drug overdose. As Garfield was an eminentโ€”and controversialโ€”MP and the investigation is high profile, itโ€™s headed by Cassieโ€™s new boss, DI Harbinder Kaur, freshly promoted and newly arrived in London. The trouble is, Cassie canโ€™t shake the feeling that one of them has killed again.

Is Cassie right, or was Garfield murdered by one of his political cronies? Itโ€™s in Cassieโ€™s interest to skew the investigation so that it looks like it has nothing to do with Manor Park and she seems to be succeeding.

Until someone else from the reunion is found dead in Bleeding Heart Yardโ€ฆ

๐—พ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ฑ: ๐—ฑ๐—ผ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—น ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ธ๐—ฒ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ ๐˜ƒ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ฎ๐—ณ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ธ๐˜€๐—ด๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฏ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ธ ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ท๐˜‚๐˜€๐˜ ๐—บ๐—ฒ?

*๏ผฉ๏ฝŽ๏ฝ“๏ฝ๏ฝ: I adored this layout from and had to replicate it for this feature. Big shout out to her for the inspiration.

23/11/2022

๏ผข๏ฝ๏ฝ๏ฝ‹ โˆ™ ๏ผฒ๏ฝ…๏ฝ–๏ฝ‰๏ฝ…๏ฝ—

Say You Still Love Me
K.A. Tucker
Romance
4โ˜…

Read if you like:
โ€ขsecond chance love
โ€ขdual timelines
โ€ขsingle, first person narration
โ€ขopposite sides of the track
โ€ขforced proximity
โ€ขsummer camp setting

Yโ€™all! I finally did it! I read a K.A. Tucker book! I l know I know, where have I been? And while I assumed my first was destined to be The Simple Wild, the second chance love trope combined with the beautiful cover, convinced me to start with Say You Still Love Me and Iโ€™m glad I did.

There is just something about second chance romance that pulls at my heart strings and Piper and Kyle were no exception. I loved the opposites sides of the track trope in this one combined with the family drama presented on both sides. This story had such a great modern day Romeo/Juliet feel to it throughout.

My only criticism is that the camp chapters/scenes felt a bit repetitive and slower than the present day chapters. I still really enjoyed getting that split perspective between their romance at the camp and their current day relationship though.

If you love romance with a lot of depth and heart behind it, definitely give this one a read. I cannot wait to binge the rest of K.A. Tuckerโ€™s backlist. Next up is The Simple Wild series.

๐ช๐จ๐ญ๐: ๐ญ๐ก๐š๐ง๐ค๐ฌ๐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐จ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐š๐ญ:
โฅ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ ๐š๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐จ๐ซ ๐›๐ข๐  ๐ ๐ž๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ๐ ๐ž๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ซ
โฅ๐จ๐ง๐ž ๐œ๐จ๐จ๐ค ๐จ๐ซ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐œ๐ค
โฅ๐ฉ๐š๐ซ๐š๐๐ž ๐จ๐ซ ๐ฌ๐ฅ๐ž๐ž๐ฉ ๐ข๐ง
โฅ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐š๐ฒ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐จ๐ญ๐›๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ซ ๐ฐ๐š๐ญ๐œ๐ก ๐Ÿ๐จ๐จ๐ญ๐›๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ
โฅ๐ž๐š๐ซ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐ข๐ง๐ง๐ž๐ซ ๐จ๐ซ ๐ฅ๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ซ ๐๐ข๐ง๐ง๐ž๐ซ
โฅ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ค๐ข๐ง ๐ฉ๐ข๐ž ๐จ๐ซ ๐š๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ž ๐ฉ๐ข๐ž

22/11/2022

๏ฝ”๏ฝ—๏ฝโˆ™๏ฝ†๏ฝ๏ฝ’โˆ™๏ฝ”๏ฝ•๏ฝ…๏ฝ“๏ฝ„๏ฝ๏ฝ™ โ˜ƒ๏ธ

As we head into Thanksgiving weekend, we are putting up our decorations, putting the Xmas tunes on repeat and grabbing all the holiday books we can get our hands on (oh who are we kidding, weโ€™ve probably been doing all of this since Nov 1).

Here are a handful of Two for Tuesdays featuring authors who write holiday/winter books.

๐Ÿ“– White Out -> an anthology

๐Ÿ“– Black Out -> an anthology

๐Ÿ“– Eight Perfect Hours-> Lia Louis

๐Ÿ“– The Key to My Heart ->

๐Ÿ“– The Matzah Ball -> Jean Meltzer

๐Ÿ“– Mr. Perfect on Paper ->

๐Ÿ“– Meet Me Under the Mistletoe -> Jenny Bayliss

๐Ÿ“–A Season of Second Chances ->

๐Ÿ“– All I Want for Christmas is the Boy I Canโ€™t Have -> Chelsea Bobulski
๐Ÿ“– All I Want for Christmas is the Girl in Charge ->
๐Ÿ“– One Night Like This -> Lindsey Kelk
๐Ÿ“– The Christmas Wish ->

Qotd: what are some of the books on your holiday reading list?

Videos (show all)

โˆ™ ๏ผฎ๏ผฏ๏ผถ๏ผฅ๏ผฌ๏ผท๏ผฉ๏ผฃ๏ผซ๏ผณ โˆ™My favorite candles deserved a reel. They make the perfect gift for anyone from teachers to hostesses, par...