Recently Read October Edition

Happy Monday, friends! Hope you are coming off a wonderful fall weekend! We had a fun filled Saturday with gymnastics class for Sophia and a birthday party at a farm followed by a very and I am very low key Sunday! It was very welcome! I have been having pretty good luck with books recently and all of my loans from the library are finally starting to become available so I’m ready for a few more good reads!

Made in Manhattan || Classic boy meets girl, boy and girl clash. Boy is forced to work with girl if he wants to take over a company. Only catch, girl needs to transform boy into the “right type” of Manhattan guy that everyone expects him to be. It was predictable and cute – if you need something light to read, this is it. I love Lauren Layne’s writing style because it’s like watching a movie to me.

That Summer || Daisy & Diana could not be more different, in fact the only thing they have in common is their name and a misplaced punctuation mark in their email. An email mistake that makes its way to Daisy and she can’t help but think Diana is leading the life she wishes she had. The twists this book had, I was not expecting. The trigger in the book is assault and it gets a little graphic, so just fair warning there. I really enjoyed the book and anything that takes place in New England has me engrossed, always!

It Ends With Us || This is the second time that I have read this Colleen Hoover book and I did so because I wanted a refresh before reading It Starts With Us and I finished it the day before the second book came out! I’m pretty sure I read this book in 2016 or 2017 and it haunted me for a long time – in the best way possible. This time around, I feel exactly the same way about it and I still love the strength that Lilly has, the hurt that Ryle lives with and the hope that Atlas has! I love the characters so much even with their flaws and I was so excited to get started on the next book. I’m even more excited that they are making this into a movie! This book isn’t for everyone – it has abuse triggers and is a hard topic to read, especially if you are someone that has suffered any type of abuse, so I can see why it’s not for everyone. But for me, this will always be one of my all time favorite reads!

It Starts With Us || If It Ends With Us wrecks you, then It Starts With Us puts you back together in the best way possible! There isn’t as much trauma being shared in this book and you get SO MUCH MORE OF ATLAS!! Lily is navigating her new normal and the books picks up right where the first book left off. I could not recommend reading the first book immediately (again) before you read the second book so that you get everything you have been waiting for. If it tells you anything about how much I loved this second book, I read it in less than 24 hours and while I value sleep, I could not put this book down! While I don’t think there is a reason to have a third book, it’s kind of like a show and you want there to be more seasons, so I’d be happy with a third book! I also think that had it not been for the fans of It Ends With Us, this book would have never happened.

Beach Read || I had this on my list from the library for ages and when it finally became available I tore through the book. I love the premise of a writer that has a main character as a writer themselves – it feels like in someways they are writing about what they know. You have a romance writer who is now jaded and doesn’t really believe in happy endings anymore, living next door to her college nemesis for the next three months who is also a writer and also doesn’t believe in happy endings, which is about the only thing they have in common. One night they strike up a deal and find out that they might not be all that different. This was different than your usual rom-com, chick lit book – it had some trauma, it had real life issues and a happy ending is always something I look for – it wasn’t guaranteed.

There was one book I returned early because no matter how many times I tried to get into it – just fell flat for me and that was The Club. It was just too slow…

What are you reading now?