It’s our last Whatcha Reading of 2018! And don’t worry, we’ll be continuing with this monthly tradition in the new year. This post is seriously too much fun to pass up.
If you’re new here, welcome! Whatcha Reading is where we talk about what we’ve read in the past month. The hits, misses, and all of the ehs in between.
Carrie: I just finished Last Chance Wife by Janette Foreman ( A | BN | K | AB ). Review pending, but basically it’s a quick, easy, light read, historical inspirational, good for a time like the holidays when you don’t have much time or brain power to concentrate on much.
I’m about to start Miss Kopp Just Won’t Quit by Amy Stewart ( A | BN | K | G | AB ). I loved book one in this series, thought book two was OK, didn’t like book three, so my fingers are crossed that this book will be a winner!
Sarah: I just started The Matchmaker’s List by Sonia Lalli. The heroine is an Indian-Canadian whose grandmother is trying to arrange a marriage for her, and she’s trying to balance everyone’s expectations, including her own.
Elyse: I just finished a book and I don’t know what to start next. Pout.
Amanda: I just finished The Wrong Billionaire’s Bed by Jessica Clare ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) for a reading challenge and it was okay.
But now I’m trying to select my travel reading. For sure, Polaris Rising by Jessie Mihalik is going with me. And I might pick up Never Seduce a Scoundrel by Sabrina Jeffries ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) before I leave because it’s my HEA Romance Book Club selection for January!
Redheadedgirl: I just finished The Gown ( A | BN | K | G | AB ), which is about women who did the embroidery on Queen Elizabeth’s wedding gown in 1947.
I am about to start reading Silence ( A | BN ), a 13th century French romance epic about a woman that was raised as a boy and became a knight (because of inheritance issues). I’ve read bits and pieces, but never the whole thing.
And I just got Appetites and Vices from Carina Press ( A | BN | K | G | AB ), which involves a fake engagement, Jewish heroine, and Philadelphia society. I am intrigued.
What about you? What have you read recently? What books rocked your world this year?
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My desktop computer died a few days ago, so I don’t have easy access to my list of books read.
I’ll just wish you all happy reading and all good things in 2019.
I loved actress Kirstie Alley as Rebecca Howe on Cheers, so I just finished her book “The Art of Men” – and it was everything I love about celebrity memoir: lots of name-dropping, forthright, and detailed (while still keeping private things private.) Having grown up in Kansas, she talks openly about her Hollywood wealth, her clothes, her cars, her houses – which I actually found refreshing. Even before her Hollywood years, Kirstie starts by telling us about her previous two marriages, her former drug use, and decision to join Scientology. Her career as an actress starts at Chapter 15 when she was hired by director Nicholas Meyer for a main role in Star Trek II. Kirstie’s chosen to frame her memoir around the men she’s loved (not all physically, but some.) This includes stories about: Tim Matheson, Patrick Swayze, Sidney Poitier, James Burrows, Ted Danson, Kelsey Grammer, George Wendt, John Ratzenberger, Woody Harrelson, John Travolta, Woody Allen, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Jonathan Knight (from New Kids on the Block!), Burt Reynolds, Carl Reiner, and Prince. The photo section at the back of the book also included pictures of Tom Selleck, Mark Harmon, David Crosby, Patrick Dempsey, Gil Bellows, Craig Robinson, and Steve Guttenberg. It was a terrific read! Wishing all of us more terrific reads in 2019! I am thankful for this community.
With the holidays came a major reading slump. I enjoyed reading a few of the Regency holiday anthologies, nothing memorable, then hit a wall. I also tried and DNF’d several stories in the Reindeer Games anthology but figured my money went to a good cause. I was struggling to get through The Good, the Bad, and the Duke by Janna MacGregor then the second half happened and I am looking forward to the last few chapters tonight. I am hoping a story set at a house party book will help me get over the slump while I am on vacation, so Mary Balogh’s Someone to Trust is next. Christmas house party stories are my favorite and there seemed to be few this year or I managed to miss them.
Kind of a weird reading month due to enormous family stress (I ended up taking medical leave at the insistence of my doc and my therapist). So, I re-read all of Anne Bishop’s Others series as comfort reads. And they did help. I need a Simon but I will happily settle for Ruby, my Great Dane.
Also read A Curve in the Road by Julianne MacLean. Surgeon involved in head on collision with her drunk husband, the cardiologist, as the other driver. Life changes occur and secrets are revealed. I find her a consistently good read.
Also The Innocent Wife by Amy Lloyd. An English woman corresponds with a man in prison for being a serial killer, marries him, he is released. Interesting. You have to ask yourself who is innocent if anyone.
The Secret Orphan by Glynis Peters was more women’s lit than romance though definitely romance also. Interesting look at the lives of farm women in WWII. I enjoyed it.
Dance with Me by Heidi Cullinan, M/M, was good and did deal with issues of losing one’s career and with pain/depression.
Also read Thaw by Elyse Springer. Interesting in that it deals with the edge of what we normally see on the spectrum. Nicely done and I did also enjoy it.
Did not read anything I did not enjoy but that was just because, if it didn’t catch me in the first dozen pages, I put it aside. Too stressed to work at reading this month.
Oh, and I read The Poppy War. Trigger warning for reminders of pre-med and med school in the first third of the book.
This month I read:
Pulp by Robin Talley
Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren
My Favorite Half-Night Stand by Christina Lauren
One Day in December by Josie Silver
Marriage Vacation by Paulina Brooks
All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doer
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
My top two books this month were My Favorite Half-Night Stand and One Day in December.
I enjoyed The Nightingale more than All The Light We Cannot See.
–Breathe of Fire by Amanda Bouchet. It took a minute to get into the book but I did like it and I plan on continuing the series.
–The Crystal Whisperer by Camilla Monk. 3rd book in the Spotless series about a clean freak hitman. Ended in a cliff hanger.
–A Christmas Gone Perfectly Wrong by Cecilia Grant. A prequel novella in the Blackshear family books. Andrew Blackshear is trying to buy a falcon for his sister as a Christmas gift but ends up giving the seller’s daughter a ride to a house party. Or tries to. Despite it being a novella it was a good read.
–Gentleman Nine by Penelope Ward. Her friend is moving to town and needs a place to stay. She is interested in him but just got out of a relationship and doesn’t want to be in one so she tries to hire an escort. He finds out and intercepts the emails. I swear it doesn’t sound as creepy as what I just wrote.
–Matchmaker’s Replacement by Rachel Van Dyken. It’s the 2nd book in the Wingman series and I think I liked this one better than the first. Mainly because the main characters have a Hate/I’ve secretly loved you for years relationship and really like to argue with you.
–The Hitwoman and the Gold Digger. I like these books, mainly because of the talking animals, but I think it has been dragged on too long. The books are short and the series could be about half the number of books it actually is.
–An Inconvenient Wife by Natasha Boyd. 2nd book in the Charleston series but can be read as a standalone. Beau needs a wife to receive his inheritance but because he’s from one of the richest families in town he doesn’t want the hassle of marrying someone he doesn’t know so he turns to his best friend. She doesn’t want to marry him because of an inheritance because she’s been in love with him for years.
–Buy My Soul by Jade West. 2nd part of a trilogy. College student agrees to be dominated on film for money to help out her sister who is caught up in drugs and with the wrong people. I really like Jade West books.
–Punk 57 by Penelope Douglas. Pen Pals since the 5th grade, Misha and Ryen have never met. Tragedy hits Misha’s family and he stops writing Ryen. Ryen is trying to find out why he quit writing to her but is getting sidetracked by the new student and why he is treating he so horrible. I really liked this and since this is only my 2nd Penelope Douglas book (first was Birthday Girl) I need to read more of her books.
–Dirty Thoughts by Megan Erickson. Girlfriend from 10 years ago moves back to town and ends up in a temporary?? relationship with her ex but still has to deal with the same problems from years ago.
–Keeper by Amy Daws. Friend needing a place to live, ends up staying with her best friend since childhood. It was ok.
–Luna and the Lie by Mariana Zapata. Zapata + another slow burn book= happy me
Currently reading Heartbreak Warfare by Kate Stewart