LIFE'S A PEARL

Hi all!

Welcome to my mid October Reading Recap!

I’m going back to sharing two book review posts a month. Putting all those September reads into one post at the end was daunting for me. Likely for you as well – that was a lot of words to read!

So far this October, I’ve checked 4 more books off my fall tbr. I have several more sitting on my shelf from the library and waiting on my libby app.

I also completed my Goodreads challenge this month, after finishing my 100th book this year! Yay!

My lineup consists of 2 witchy romances, a women’s fiction, and a thriller. Two books were from authors I previously enjoyed and 2 were new to me authors.

I enjoyed the majority of them but have one unpopular opinion – see my no spoiler rant at the end!

Here’s what I read in the first half of October.

Mid October Reading Recap:

The Bodyguard by Katherine Center

Rating: 4.5 stars

Steam Level: 1

When most people meet Hannah Brooks, they find it hard to believe she’s a bodyguard. That makes her the perfect candidate for protecting mega movie star Jack Stapleton from his latest stalker.

Jack is relocating back to his family’s Texas ranch to be with his sick mom and he doesn’t want anyone to know about the danger or his protection detail so Hannah must play the role of a lifetime – his girlfriend.

The more time they spend pretending though, the more real things seem. While Hannah has no doubt that she can protect Jack, she can’t say the same for her own heart.

This one is a popular new release and I’m relieved it lived up to the buzz. I’ve enjoyed two of Katherine Center’s previous books, Things You Save in a Fire and Happiness for Beginners – which I had no idea was being made into a movie. I’m savoring her backlist!

The Bodyguard was a hybrid reading experience. I found myself really enjoying the audiobook so I read most of the story in that format. I did go back and reread the end via the ebook to better take it in.

There I found a beautiful author’s note that gave me all the feelings all over again. This was her pandemic book and she went as light with this story as was possible. I could feel that balance throughout the book. It was fun and borderline unbelievable with substance.

I loved the role reversals, the Texas setting, the family dynamics, the natural teasing between our lead characters, and the way that Hannah addressed the reader throughout the story like of course we all know who Jack Stapleton is and have seen all his movies. After a few unexpectedly heavy hitting books this summer, I appreciated that there was grief in this story but it didn’t get bogged down in sadness.

It lost that half star for a few predictable (not in a good way) moments in the beginning. I also wasn’t really a fan of the cattiness in several scenes between female characters.

The Kiss Curse by Erin Sterling

Rating: 4 stars

Steam Level: 3

This is the follow up to The Ex Hex, which was on my fall reading list last year and wound up getting 5 stars from me.

We met Gwyn and Wells in the first book and it’s no surprise they start out as enemies in this one. Gwyn is happily single living her life in Graves Glen, running a magic shop, mentoring baby witches (also known as college students), and being a mama to her talking cat, Sir Purrcival.

Wells comes to town to make a new life for himself after years spent in Wales playing the dutiful son. He decides to open his own magic shop and the competition, shenanigans, and chemistry go from there.

I listened to this book on audio and it was a fun fall read. I loved Gwyn, Sir Purrcival, and seeing two of my favorite characters from the first book – Jane and Bowen.

The enemies to lovers set up worked well and the chemistry between Gwyn and the sweet but naughty Wells was great. I enjoyed the twists in the story, the introduction of new characters with Gwyn’s baby witches, and the mix of rivalry and love between the Penhallow brothers.

A couple of things were missing for me though. While I loved the ambience of Wells’ store, the magic of the town and the Halloween festival in the first book didn’t make it into this one. It didn’t feel as atmospheric or immersive as a result

I also really missed the presence of some characters. Although I understand why Gwyn’s mom and her cousin, Vivi, had to be absent for a big chunk of the story, I missed those dynamics.

I have my fingers crossed for Bowen’s story next!

Payback’s A Witch by Lana Harper

Rating: 3.5 stars

Steam Level: 2

When Emmy Harlow returns to Thistle Grove for a spell casting tournament, she never expects her best friend, Linden Thorn, and bad ass witch, Talia Avramov, would want to team up to take down the powerful Blackmoore family.

Gareth Blackmoore has crossed one too many witches in town including Emmy herself. As they work together to get revenge, Emmy finds herself drawn to Talia and forgetting the reasons why she wanted to escape the magical town and her heritage in the first place.

This was another hybrid read for me. I mostly listened to it on audio, following along in my ebook copy and reading a few of the chapters before bed.

Payback’s A Witch was surprisingly atmospheric. There are funny parts but it nothing like the rom com feeling of The Kiss Curse.

I adored the detail that Lana Harper put into building this world of magic from the setting to the history of the magical families. There was so much to love about Thistle Grove with all of its stores, businesses, and magical locations. I also enjoyed the love story between Talia and Emmy and how their relationship progressed.

There was a lot of world building and detail to take in but now that I’m in it, I’m very excited to see what the next book in this series has in store. If you’re looking for a mystical world full of fall atmosphere this is a great one!

56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard

Rating: 2.5 stars 

I’ll start by saying this author has been raved about and applauded constantly on one of my favorite podcasts, Currently Reading, so I’ve been looking forward to picking up one of her books for awhile.

I had high hopes. And I feel so utterly betrayed for several reasons but I’ll try to keep my ranting to a minimum.

Set in Dublin in March of 2020, Ciara and Oliver are strangers who just began dating. When the country is on the brink of lockdown, Oliver suggests Ciara move in with him so they can keep seeing each another.

Ciara accepts the unique opportunity to get to know one another without outside influences. Soon they both begin to wonder what the other is hiding. From the beginning, in the present day timeline we know one of them is dead.

This story is told from three perspectives – Oliver, Ciara, and the detective in the present day. Oliver and Ciara’s chapters jump all over the before timeline and often overlap. It could be confusing but I was there for it. I was totally there for it even with a visceral decomposing body description that made me set the book aside so I could eat lunch.

A Pretty Much No Spoilers Rant!

I was completely invested until 75% into the book (I read this as an ebook) when the story turns into a completely different story. One that I absolutely did not sign up for. This was marketed as a domestic thriller and the twist reveals that it is definitely not that. Check the trigger warnings for this one if you are a highly sensitive person. I was completely blindsided and I was furious! At 75%!!!

I’m not sure I’ve ever felt so betrayed by the author. I had to skip over a few chapters because I could not stomach that type of story. I did finish reading it and the end came full circle redeeming it from the 1 star I was going to give.

But I also roll my eyes at anyone in that group who talks crap about Gone Girl because that twist is basically what CRH is trying to pull off in this one but way too late in the story and with such a bait and switch she totally lost the trust of this reader. I don’t plan on ever picking up another book from her.

I have calmed down a little from my initial reaction of anyone who ever recommended this book is dead to me. After all, I did learn a valuable lesson that seasons of life can affect how sensitive I am to certain content. From now on I’ll be checking my thrillers for trigger warnings no matter how a book is marketed.

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What’s in your mid October reading recap? Any fall favorites to share?