Books

Book 1,013: Make Me Stay (Safe Harbor #2) – Annabeth Albert

If there is a theme to Albert’s Safe Harbor series it is a little bit too much. Don’t get me wrong, they are not bad books, each one just has one or two too many elements for me. They’re still very well written character driven stories, there’s just too much going on for my personal tastes.

I’m not sure if this falls under the hurt/comfort or maybe (hurt/comfort)2, but it is somewhere in that category. Both main characters have trauma they start to overcome in this novel. Then you throw in the murder mystery and the kinky sex, it’s a lot.

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Books

Book 1,012: Bring Me Home (Safe Harbor #1) – Annabeth Albert

This is probably the novel I should’ve picked up to end my dry streak. Annabeth Albert has almost always given me a great read with wonderful character driven plotlines. Even on the few occasions that I wasn’t enamored, I was still impressed with the characters (especially the minor) and the humor. This book was no different.

It isn’t my favorite book by Albert, but it is a wonderful read opening a whole new friend group that she’ll explore in her Safe Harbor series. This is the story of Monroe, an ex-Navy investigator who’s come back to a small town in Oregon because his aunt left him a house. A childhood friend’s grown kid, Knox, needs somewhere to stay for the summer and of course it’s the guy who caught his eye at the club recently in Portland. The high jinks come fast and furious from there, as do the big emotions and the relatively low stakes drama Albert is best at.

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Books

Book 1,011: Catch Me If I Fall – Noah Steele

This book had so much that I wanted to love, but only just enjoyed. To be fair, a lot of the pressure was from me and if I would’ve read the book any other time, I probably would’ve been enamored. I picked this up after not reading anything for leisure for almost 6 weeks and after I finished this it took another almost 12-weeks to pick up another, even though it was summer, and I didn’t have as much school or heavy workload at work.

It’s not a badly written book, it’s well written and copywritten, which is an even better bonus. It just wasn’t the right time for me to read it. There were moments that the story felt stretched too thin and went on too long, especially looking back at it. Somehow how though, it didn’t end cleanly enough so much so that I picked my Kindle up a week or two after finishing it thinking I still had quite a bit to read.

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ARC, Books

Book 983: Unexpecting – Jen Bailey

When someone in the marketing department reached out about this back in December, I wasn’t I was going to read it as I’d had a very stressful fall with a new puppy and school and work, but the blurb stayed in my mind, and after a couple of days deliberation I finally said yes.* I mean I had months to read it so may as well say yes and then plan around my schedule.

Unexpecting was unexpectedly (hardy har har) charming. Was it perfect? No, but that’s okay. It was a fun easy-to-read debut with unique and memorable characters (main and supporting). The book brought a lot of emotions out of me from hating and then understanding Maxie’s parents to my wanting to shake some sense into Ben but also wanting to give him a big hug for trying so hard and finally seeing reality. It was definitely a whirlwind.

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ARC, Books

Book 960: With Love from Wish & Co. – Minnie Darke

The recommendation for this book arrived from the publisher way back in April and me being me assumed I’d have PLENTY of time to read it before it was published.* But then I didn’t read it early, we got a puppy and I started school, so yeah needless to say it took me a lot longer to read than expected.

Thankfully it wasn’t the writing or the story that forced the long delay! For the most part, the story kept me engaged and moving forward with only a few slower spots or wait what moments.

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