Wrap Up| November 2023

After talking about what books we added to our shelves last month, it’s time to tell you what we read in November in today’s wrap up. What did we read? Did we discover any new favorites? Keep on reading to find out!

Candyce

November ended up being a really good reading month for me! I read 20 books (8 paperbacks, 5 audiobooks, 4 e-books, 2 eARCs, and 1 hardcover). I’m also really proud, because 5 of these books were backlist books. This month not all books were amazing, but I enjoyed a lot of them. Let’s take a look at what I read in November.

Two Twisted Crowns – Rachel Gillig

The sequel to One Dark Window is one I was really excited about. I was grateful I read this a lot closer to its release and Two Twisted Crowns delivered. It was dark, intense, magical, and there was a little romance. I loved that we got multiple POVs and while I’m sad we don’t get more in this world, the story wrapped up nicely.

Four Aunties and a Wedding – Jesse Q. Sutanto

Dial A for Aunties was over the top and very dramatic, but I loved every second of it. So needless to say I was very excited about Four Aunties and a Wedding to see what would happen now. Once again, the aunties are over the top, but they mean well in their own ways. That being said, unfortunately, I didn’t love this one as much. For me it felt like not much happened and the drama didn’t really balance with everything else. It all wrapped up really quickly.

After I Do – Taylor Jenkins Reid

Taylor Jenkins Reid is an author I love and I’m slowly working on her backlist of books. After I do had an interesting concept. A couple that takes a year long break from their marriage when both have come to the conclusion they’re both no longer happy. Our main character goes from heartbroken to discovering new sides to herself and to not even being sure if she can go back to her husband after the year is up. After I Do is quite emotional and the only thing missing for me was a few chapters from his POV. I would’ve loved a little dive into his experiences during that year.

The Graham Effect – Elle Kennedy

The Off Campus series is still my favorite sports romance series. I can’t tell you how excited I was when I read we were getting the next generation. Gigi and Ryder’s story was so genuine and emotional and I loved every minute of it. I also loved seeing some of the characters I grew to love in the first series.

Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date – Ashley Herring Blake

After loving Delilah Green Doesn’t Care and Astrid Parker Doesn’t Fail I had high expectations for this third and final book in this story. It had my favorite trope: fake dating! Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date met all of my expectations and then some. Iris and Stevie were so cute together and helped the other in so many ways. I’m sad this trilogy is now complete.

Wreck the Halls – Tessa Bailey

Tessa Bailey is an author that tends to be hit or miss for me, but Wreck the Halls sounded so cute. I ended up really loving this book. I can’t imagine what it’s like growing up with your mother being known from a really popular music duo. This book is filled with humor, character development, some spice, and definitely gets the happily ever after any holiday themed book needs.

If the Shoe Fits – Julie Murphy

As a fan of retellings, If the Shoe Fits sounded like a book right up my alley. I also really appreciated this Cinderella retelling not having an evil stepmother and stepsister. The reality dating show was a nice twist and I really enjoyed Cindy’s story and all of the little hints to the original story.

Perfect on Paper – Sophie Gonzales

In Perfect on Paper our main character uses a locker to collect letters from people searching for love advice. No one knows she’s behind the answers and she needs to keep it that way. Things happen and she thinks someone is trying to use the locker against her for advice. Darcy definitely thinks she knows it all, but learns a lot while helping Brougham. There are some consequences to her actions and she learns a lot about herself along the way. I’m glad I finally read Perfect on Paper.

Grace and Glory – Jennifer L. Armentrout

Jennifer L. Armetrout is one of my favorite authors and I thought it was time to finally finish The Harbinger trilogy. It’s been two years since I read the second book, so it took a little for me to understand everything. After loving the first two books, I have to say that this third one was a little disappointing. While I loved being back with the characters, it took too long for things to really start happening in my opinion. I’m sad I didn’t love this one as much as I had hoped I would.

The Nanny – Lana Ferguson

The Nanny was a fast and fun read! Cassie and Aiden definitely had some chemistry and it jumped off of the page. This romance was steamy, emotional, and funny. There were some bumps along the road and I didn’t completely agree with the third act breakup, but all in all this was a great read. Wanda was my favorite character out of everyone. We all need a Wanda in our lives.

The Do-Over – Suzanne Park

The Do- Over honestly starts off with one of my worst nightmares: finding out that I actually didn’t graduate college. I’ve had dreams like this and believe me, I’m always grateful when I wake up and find out it was a dream, haha. Our main character has to go back to college and juggle the life she’s already created for herself. This was a fast and fun read with a little romance.

The Woman in Me – Britney Spears

Britney Spears was an artist that I loved as a teenager and I was 11 when she started becoming popular. I’ve followed the whole Free Britney movement and reading this book just proved how awful things were for her. It just proves that you really don’t know what’s going on behind closed doors.

Knot My Type & Love Flushed – Evie Mitchell

I’ve been wanting to read Knot My Type and Love Flushed for awhile and saw them both available to listen to on Storytel. They were both fast and fun reads, but I think I would’ve loved them more if they were just a bit longer. Some things went really quickly and I don’t feel we really got a lot of depth with the characters. I did love the rep in these books.

Book Boyfriend – Claire Kingsley

Book Boyfriend is the first romance I’ve read where the male main character is the romance author. That was quite surprising, but I loved the concept of this book. Our female main character is a pretty popular book blogger, but keeps her identity hidden. The love of books was really easy to find in this story and the romance was cute. I only wish that the reveal in this story came sooner in this story. It seemed like it was putting off the inevitable and created a little more drama than I like. All in all, I’m glad I read Book Boyfriend.

Holiday Romance – Catherine Walsh

I’m someone who loves everything Christmas, so of course I also read holiday books. Holiday Romance was such a feel good story and you want to be a part of both of our characters’ families. Holiday Romance had me smiling, but also shedding a few tears.

Rewrite Our Story – Kat Singleton

This second chance romance has been all over the place since it released, so I finally decided to see what it’s all about. Cade and Mare have always had a connection and even started their romance. Things didn’t go as planned, but when she comes home, can they find their way back to each other? I loved that we got flashbacks to get their full story. At times I thought if these two just sat down and actually talked things would be a lot easier, haha. All in all, I really did enjoy this one.

Running Into You – K.M. Gillis

Running Into You was a best friend’s brother romance and it was so much fun. Betty always had a crush on Josh, but once he was in a relationship she gave up that idea. After a bad relationship, she’s done with love, but she never expects Josh to move in next door or that he’s single. These two characters were so much fun and I loved them discovering and exploring their attraction. This was definitely a case where I thought a few times if they just talked things wouldn’t be complicated, haha. I’ll definitely be reading the next book in this series.

Christmas Cupid – Ilsa Madden-Mills

Around this time of year, I love everything Christmas, so I couldn’t resist a story called Christmas Cupid. I did enjoy this novella of two characters getting snowed in at a cabin both expected to have to themselves. Many moments of them together were heartwarming and this one had me laughing quite a few times. It did prove to me again why I loved full length books more though. Novellas can’t go deep into a story and sometimes they leave me wanting more. Even if they have a nice ending like this one. If you’re looking for a cute, steamy Christmas novella, definitely pick up Christmas Cupid!

 

Isabelle

I finally finished a book again! It’s still not much but it was great to finish a story again and I have been reading more thanks to that.

Godsgrave – Jay Kristoff

After reading Nevernight a couple of years ago, I really wanted to read the rest of the series. Somehow I didn’t…. But now I started the audiobook and was really captivated by the story again. I loved it a lot and immediately started the final book in the trilogy!

So that’s our November wrap up! Have you read any of these? Or did you discover any new favorite books last month? Let us know in the comments! We’d love to hear from you.

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