the books I read in September and October

 

Happy Monday, friends! I'm linking up with Sarah and Holly for this weekly blog post. I had a super low key weekend, which was nice after the last two weekends of me being gone. Todd and I went out to dinner together Friday night, to my favorite, La Perla Tapatia that I talked about Friday. He had steak street tacos, but I had sautéed chicken breast with onions and mushrooms and a margarita. It was SO. GOOD. He worked the rest of the weekend, and I stayed home. 

Because of the slow weekend, I thought I'd just share about the books I read in September and October. Because I took that last weekend of September off from blogging, I completely forgot about sharing the books I read, so I just saved them for this one post. The caption you'll read about each book is from Good Reads, and if you're interested in the book, I've posted a link to Amazon for each Kindle book. Just click on each picture and you'll be re-directed. I read eleven books in these two months, which brings me to sixty-one books for the year so far! Settle in and keep your phone handy, in case you want to order one of these! 

The Locked Door by Freida McFadden.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Some doors are locked for a reason…While eleven-year-old Nora Davis was up in her bedroom doing homework, she had no idea her father was killing women in the basement. Until the day the police arrived at their front door. Decades later, Nora’s father is spending his life behind bars, and Nora is a successful surgeon with a quiet, solitary existence. Nobody knows her father was a notorious serial killer. And she intends to keep it that way. Then Nora discovers one of her young female patients has been murdered. In the same unique and horrific manner that her father used to kill his victims. Somebody knows who Nora is. Somebody wants her to take the fall for this unthinkable crime. But she’s not a killer like her father. The police can’t pin anything on her. As long as they don’t look in her basement.

Personal thoughts: Every book by this author that I've read is gripping and shocking. I never see the end coming and some of them make me gasp out loud. She never disappoints! 

Gilded Girl by Pamela M. Kelley.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

A rags-to-riches saga set in the Gilded Age...When Eliza Chapman, a London ladies maid, learns that her real father is one of the richest men in New York City her whole world changes. He has sent a one-way ticket for her to join him, his mother and his two daughters at his palatial Manhattan mansion. Eliza suddenly has her own ladies maid and learns that she is expected to find a husband. As the social season gets underway she is swept into a whirl of teas, luncheons, balls and other events. But her sisters see her as unwelcome competition, which makes her feel even more like a fish out of water. And Eliza is in no rush to get married...to anyone. As Eliza settles in she meets new people--among them Minnie--a brilliant married friend, who is a gifted and driven investor. Perhaps Eliza can aspire to more than just finding a husband? A tragedy leads to a shocking turn of events and Eliza finds her world turned upside down, again.

Personal thoughts: I've never met a Pamela Kelley book I didn't love! I am not a fan of historical fiction, but this one read like a modern day love story. I would say it's perfect if you're a fan of shows like Downton Abbey. I highly recommend! 

The first Lady, James Patterson and Brendan Dubois.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

One secret could bring down the government when the President's memorable affair becomes a nightmare he longs to forget in this page-turner from James Patterson that will keep you up reading all night long. Sally Grissom is a top Secret Service agent in charge of the Presidential Protection team. She knows that something is amiss when she's summoned to a private meeting with the President and his Chief of Staff without any witnesses. But she couldn't have predicted that she'd be forced to take on an investigation surrounding the mysterious disappearance of the First Lady -- with strict orders to keep it a secret. The First Lady's absence comes in the wake of the scandalous, public revelation of the president's affair, so at first it seems as though she is simply cutting off all contact as she recuperates at a horse farm in Virginia. What begins as an innocent respite quickly turns into a twisted case when the White House receives a ransom note along with the First Lady's finger.

Personal thoughts: I love books by James Patterson! This one was no exception. One thing I love about his books is how the chapters are so short. 

The Most Likely Club by Elyssa Friedland.

⭐⭐

A hilarious, heartfelt story about four lifelong friends determined to change their lives, come hell (terrible bosses, ex-husbands living next door) or high water (laundry...so much laundry) from the acclaimed author of Last Summer at the Golden Hotel. Melissa Levin, Priya Chowdhury, Tara Taylor, and Suki Hammer were going places when they graduated high school in 1997. Their yearbook superlatives were Most Likely to Win the White House, Cure Cancer, Open a Michelin-Starred Restaurant, and Join the Forbes 400, respectively. Fast forward twenty-five years and nothing has gone according to plan. Reunited at their reunion, the women rethink their younger selves. Is it too late to make their dreams come true? Fueled by nostalgia and one too many drinks, they form a pact to push through their middle-aged angst to bring their youthful aspirations to fruition, dubbing themselves the “Most Likely Girls.” Through the ensuing highs and lows, they are reminded of the enduring bonds of friendship, the ways our childhood dreams both sustain and surprise us — and why it’s never a good idea to peak too early.

Personal thoughts: I loved the book The Last Summer at the Golden Hotel and had such high hopes for this one, but it was a huge letdown. I wouldn't have finished it, except that I paid full price for it and I didn't want to waste my money. Lesson learned. 

Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid.

⭐⭐

Everyone knows DAISY JONES & THE SIX, but nobody knows the reason behind their split at the absolute height of their popularity . . . until now. Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it’s the rock ’n’ roll she loves most. By the time she’s twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things. Also getting noticed is The Six, a band led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she’s pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road. Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes that the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend. The making of that legend is chronicled in this riveting and unforgettable novel, written as an oral history of one of the biggest bands of the seventies. Taylor Jenkins Reid is a talented writer who takes her work to a new level with Daisy Jones & The Six, brilliantly capturing a place and time in an utterly distinctive voice.

Personal thoughts: I know this will be controversial, but I HATED this book. I didn't like the setting, the characters, the way it was told, the story line, anything. It was such a letdown for a TJR book! I read it and finished it only because I paid full price for the book. I will not hold this book against her and will continue to read her books, this one was just not any good for me, which is the opposite of what I expected, thanks to book reviews I read on blogs!

The River's End series by Pamela M. Kelley, which was four books in one. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Discover River's End Ranch, a gorgeous "destination" ranch and resort in Riston, Idaho, that is run by the six Weston siblings and their well-meaning, semi-retired parents. Five bestselling western romance authors have created a world like no other--full of fun outdoor activities, a huge family in need of love, and side characters you will never forget. Join us in a world where our characters learn, laugh and love. In Veterinarian's Vacation, Jess Weston is about to graduate from veterinarian school when Jake, her cousin Wade's best friend from high school, comes back to town for a two-week vacation and Wade puts him in the cottage next to hers. It was bad enough that she'd had an embarrassing and totally unrequited crush on Jake when she was younger, but now he is even more attractive, and he might be sticking around for longer than two weeks....as her new boss, which puts him firmly off limits. 

Charming Chef--Barbi Johnson's first love is back in town. Ryan is now a celebrity chef and he just inherited the house that Barbi wanted to buy for her yoga studio--her lifelong dream. Too bad, she also broke Ryan's heart years ago when she dumped him and he's not too keen to help her or fall for her again. 

Cute Cowboy--Lily Donahue has her hands full, between her fun, busy job as an event planner for River’s End Ranch, moonlighting in a local country music band and writing songs. But then she meets reserved rancher Cody Jamison who is also her new landord. He thinks she's loud, she thinks he's stuff. But you know what they say about opposites attracting?

Merry Manager--The only woman busy general manager, Wade Weston is interested in, is the one he can't have, widow Maddie Johnson. Wade was the best man at her wedding and Maddie works for him at the spa as a masseuse. There's absolutely no way this could ever work.

Personal thoughts: There are more of these books, and I love them all! I needed these after the two duds before these. They were sweet and predictable, but the fluff I needed. I'm taking a break from them to start my Christmas books, but I'll go back and read the last four after the new year.

The City Baker's Guide to Country Living by Louise Miller.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

When Olivia Rawlings—pastry chef extraordinaire for an exclusive Boston dinner club—sets not just her flambéed dessert but the entire building alight, she escapes to the most comforting place she can think of—the idyllic town of Guthrie, Vermont, home of Bag Balm, the country’s longest-running contra dance, and her best friend Hannah. But the getaway turns into something more lasting when Margaret Hurley, the cantankerous, sweater-set-wearing owner of the Sugar Maple Inn, offers Livvy a job. Broke and knowing that her days at the club are numbered, Livvy accepts. Livvy moves with her larger-than-life, uberenthusiastic dog, Salty, into a sugarhouse on the inn’s property and begins creating her mouthwatering desserts for the residents of Guthrie. She soon uncovers the real reason she has been hired—to help Margaret reclaim the inn’s blue ribbon status at the annual county fair apple pie contest.
 With the joys of a fragrant kitchen, the sound of banjos and fiddles being tuned in a barn, and the crisp scent of the orchard just outside the front door, Livvy soon finds herself immersed in small town life. And when she meets Martin McCracken, the Guthrie native who has returned from Seattle to tend his ailing father, Livvy  comes to understand that she may not be as alone in this world as she once thought. But then another new arrival takes the community by surprise, and Livvy must decide whether to do what she does best and flee—or stay and finally discover what it means to belong. Olivia Rawlings may finally find out that the life you want may not be the one you expected—it could be even better.

Personal thoughts: This is one of the books I kept hearing about online, so when it finally came available through my Libby app, I jumped on it. I loved it! It was very Hallmark-esque, but a little more juicy than one of those movies. The description of where the story occurred was so beautiful that it has me wanting to go to Vermont at Christmas. I love it when authors are able to do that!

The One You're With by Lauren K. Denton. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

High-school sweethearts Mac and Edie Swan lead a seemingly picture-perfect life in the sleepy-sweet community of Oak Hill, near Mobile, Alabama. Edie is a respected interior designer, Mac is a beloved pediatrician, and they have two great kids and a historic home on tree-lined Linden Avenue. From the outside, the Swan family is the definition of “the good life.” And life is good—mostly. Until a young woman walks into Mac’s office one day. A young woman whose very existence threatens all Mac and Edie have built and all they think they know about each other.

Nineteen years after a summer apart, with a family and established lives and careers, the past that Mac and Edie thought they left behind has come back to greet them. For the first time, constants in their lives are called into question: their roles as parents, their reputation as upstanding members of the community, and the very foundations of their marriage. As they wade through the upheaval in both their family and professional lives, they must each examine choices they made long ago and chart a new course for their future.

Personal thoughts: This is a new author to me! I read her based on the recommendation of Boo Mama Sophie Hudson that I follow on Instagram. Lauren Denton is one of her favorite authors, and based on what I read, I will be reading more books by her in the future. This one went back and forth between present day and past, but it was interesting and held my attention until the very end. 

What did you read that you loved this month? I'd love to hear! I'm reading only Christmas books from here on out, so I'll keep you posted on the ones I love. Make sure and check back often, because I may share them weekly, instead of in a monthly post. These types of posts are super time consuming and not my favorite...I love reading blogs on books people have read, but I haven't found the way to do that yet that seems right for me. I always appreciate your feedback, though, so let me know your thoughts, if you have them. Thanks for reading my blog, friends! Love to all.