My reading life slowed down a bit so far in September. I tackled a 5 book series that was wrapped up into one large edition – The Mindf*ck Series.
I’ve made quite a jump into my fall tbr. So far every book I’ve read this month is off that list!
We enjoyed a few days of thunderstorms here and the temperatures are dipping below 70 in the early mornings! It’s only putting me further in the mood for fall reading!
I have 6 reviews to share with you today in my mid September reading recap including 2 5-star reads!
My dad is coming to visit next week so I’m betting my reading life will slow down even more for the rest of the month. Which is totally ok.
I can’t tell you how excited I am to show him in person our new house and town! He will also be here for a very important event – Mr. O’s 2nd birthday!
So the rest of September will likely be filled with special but non-book related things.
Here’s what I’ve read so far in September.
Mid September Reading Recap:
Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen
Rating: 4 stars
This book was on my fall tbr last year when it released but I never got around to it. After asking bookstagram if I should give it a second chance, the majority said yes so it made it onto this year’s reading list too.
I love Sarah Addison Allen’s writing. Garden Spells is one of my all time favorite books!
I wanted to tackle this book first because I knew some friends had mixed feelings on it and if it did disappoint me, I wanted to have it out of the way.
From goodreads:
“An enchanting tale filled with magical realism and moments of pure love that won’t let you go.
Between the real and the imaginary, there are stories that take flight in the most extraordinary ways.
Right off the coast of South Carolina, on Mallow Island, The Dellawisp sits—a stunning old cobblestone building shaped like a horseshoe, and named after the tiny turquoise birds who, alongside its human tenants, inhabit an air of magical secrecy.
When Zoey comes to claim her deceased mother’s apartment at the Dellawisp she meets her quirky and secretive neighbors, including a young woman with a past, two estranged middle-aged sisters, and a lonely chef, and three ghosts. The sudden death of one of Zoey’s new neighbors sets off a search that leads to the island’s famous author and to a long-estranged relative of the sisters.
Each of them has a story, and each story has an ending which hasn’t yet been written.”
My Thoughts
I understand why this book didn’t work for some readers.
The first half of the novel felt like it was written by a completely different author. I couldn’t quite get my footing in the story. Some parts felt almost like a thriller.
Some parts also felt oddly young adult. I couldn’t get a read on the age of our main character, Zoey, for quite awhile. She came across as an eye rollingly naive spoiled socialite for a good chunk of the beginning.
Then throw in multiple POVs – some telling their story from the afterlife – and I wasn’t sure where this was going.
At about the halfway point though Allen’s beautiful style of magical realism took center stage and some of the mystery unraveled to the point that the reader could start to see the connections she was making.
From there it had the touch of magic I love in Allen’s writing particularly in her descriptions of food and feelings. The way the island setting near Charleston, South Carolina and the Dellawisp apartments were brought to life was very atmospheric.
I enjoyed getting to know many of the characters and seeing how they all tied back together. By the end I teared up and I don’t cry easily at books.
Here are two of my favorite lines, one about regrets and one about stories:
“Once you accumulate enough regrets in life, they cease to hurt you. They’re simply one more thing to collect. Like age spots or figurines, you barely see them anymore.”
“If you never share your stories with at least one other person, does that mean they weren’t real? That they never existed?”
While this one took awhile to get into and ultimately was not my favorite of Allen’s books, I’m glad I read it and I look forward to more if she continues publishing again.
That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming
Rating: 3 stars
Steam Level: 3
This was September’s pick for A Dose of Romance Book Club.
I’ve been holding onto this book in my Kindle Unlimited library for a long time. Since it’s no longer available through KU and I knew I wanted to read it this month for book club.
That turned out to be unnecessary since my library holds for both the ebook and the audiobook came through this month.
From goodreads:
“All I wanted to do was live my life in peace. Maybe get a cat, expand my spice farm. Really anything that doesn’t involve going on a quest where an orc might rip my face off. But they say the Goddess has favorites. If so, I’m clearly not one of them.
After saving the demon Fallon in a wine-drunk stupor, all he wanted to do was kill an evil witch enslaving his people.
I mean, I get it. Don’t get me wrong. But he’s dragging me along for the ride, and I’m kind of peeved about it. On the bright side, he keeps burning off his shirt.”
My Thoughts
If I did quarter star ratings, this would be 3.25 stars.
The majority of this story wasn’t for me and I wound up doing a tandem read with the audio because I was having such a difficult time focusing on it otherwise.
This is a short book – under 200 pages – and I needed more development all around.
I did enjoy Cinnamon and the fact that she loved cheese and really just wanted to be left alone safe on her family farm. She was not looking to be a hero or go on a quest.
It felt too short and rushed for all that the book was trying to do. Some parts were really funny and cute. Cinnamon had a few great one-liners. Then in other parts the humor felt forced like the author was trying too hard.
I never felt grounded in the world building or the magic system of the story and the adventure plot suffered for that.
The instalove in this book did not work for me. Maybe it would have gone over better if we had Fallon’s POV since he was instantly drawn to Cinnamon.
It felt like Cinnamon’s feelings went from attraction to marriage overnight with only Fallon’s hot body being a reason. Their connection never developed beyond lust for me to believe in a lasting love between these two.
Lastly this book was quite spicy but the spice didn’t work for me. It felt randomly thrown in (especially anything BDSM related) and not in line with the rest of the characters’ limited personalities. It didn’t come from a believable connection between this couple so I didn’t find it particularly sexy.
I don’t feel the need to continue with this series but I do know other readers who loved it.
The Kind Worth Saving by Peter Swanson
Rating: 4 stars
I read The Kind Worth Killing years ago for book club and really enjoyed it. It was twisty, thrilling, and had an amazing spooky New England atmosphere. Perfect for fall reading!
When this follow up released earlier this year, I knew I wanted to check it out.
From goodreads:
“There was always something slightly dangerous about Joan. So, when she turns up at private investigator Henry Kimball’s office asking him to investigate her husband, he can’t help feeling ill at ease. Just the sight of her stirs up a chilling memory: he knew Joan in his previous life as a high school English teacher, when he was at the center of a tragedy.
Now Joan needs his help in proving that her husband is cheating. But what should be a simple case of infidelity becomes much more complicated when Kimball finds two bodies in an uninhabited suburban home with a “for sale” sign out front. Suddenly it feels like the past is repeating itself, and Henry must go back to one of the worst days of his life to uncover the truth.
Is it possible that Joan knows something about that day, something she’s hidden all these years? Could there still be a killer out there, someone who believes they have gotten away with murder? Henry is determined to find out, but as he steps closer to the truth, a murderer is getting closer to him, and in this hair-raising game of cat and mouse only one of them will survive.”
My Thoughts
While I didn’t love this book as much as the first one, it still delivered on the premise of the title.
Most of the book worked for me. It was an entertaining twisty read full of interesting commentary on human nature. The connections between characters kept me guessing and the dark relationships creeped me out just enough.
I especially loved this line toward the end of the book:
“I think that romantic love, not family love, is the most destructive force on earth… I’m talking about what people do to the ones they love. They break each other’s hearts.”
Lily goes on to say even happy couples break one another because one of them will die first. That thought left an impression!
I think Swanson is a master of keeping characters on the line of likability or at least compelling until they aren’t necessary to the story anymore. He’s great at getting the reader to root for a character to get away with something and then root for things to come to an end at the right time.
The story was very well paced. It’s been several years since I read the first book and Swanson backtracked enough to recall the facts of that one without info dumping.
I wish we’d gotten more of Lily. It also took me a little while to get into the book – the beginning covers a whole storyline set in a past summer with new characters that I wasn’t crazy about.
I liked the setting descriptions better in the first book. This one had a little bit of that but it was a lot less atmospheric.
I’m hoping this series will remain a duet but I would definitely read Peter Swanson again!
Dark Lover by J.R. Ward
Rating: 3.5 stars
Steam Level: 2
This is the first book in J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series. It’s a very popular and long paranormal series involving vampires.
I dipped my toes back into paranormal romance this year starting with Kresley Cole’s Immortals After Dark series.
Fall puts me even more in the mood for this sub genre. It’s one of the top categories on my fall tbr.
From goodreads:
“In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there’s a deadly turf war going on between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other-six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Yet none of them relishes killing more than Wrath, the leader of The Black Dagger Brotherhood.
The only purebred vampire left on earth, Wrath has a score to settle with the slayers who murdered his parents centuries ago. But, when one of his most trusted fighters is killed-leaving his half-breed daughter unaware of his existence or her fate-Wrath must usher her into the world of the undead-a world of sensuality beyond her wildest dreams.”
My Thoughts
A couple bookish friends had strong negative opinions on this book so I wanted to read it early in the season because I really wasn’t sure where it would land for me.
In this case I think the book benefited from my low expectations. While I didn’t love it, I also didn’t hate it.
There was so much cringy 90s slang especially in the beginning of this book that it got a little distracting. That either mellowed or I just got used to it.
If you’re able to get past that and the rather absurd vampire names, this was a pretty interesting read. I was intrigued by the world Ward is building and the history and magic of the vampire species.
The romance itself was pretty eh and the book felt a little long. There was some steam with Wrath and Beth’s instalust connection but it wasn’t memorable for me.
I was definitely more into the world building and the action packed battle plot.
The side characters were also fun, crazy names and all. I’m especially curious about Butch, Marissa, Vishous, and Zsadist.
I know there are a ton of books but in this one there are only 6 members of the brotherhood so I wonder how that shakes out in the series. Maybe the brotherhood grows? I haven’t actually looked into the other books yet.
I will probably continue the series if the audiobooks are readily available and I’m in a vampire mood but I’m not rushing into the second book.
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
Rating: 5 stars
Steam Level: 1
Besides Hopeless by Elsie Silver (which releases in October), this was probably my most anticipated fall read!
I’ve been saving this title to read in fall since everyone fell in love with it last year.
From goodreads:
“As one of the few witches in Britain, Mika Moon knows she has to hide her magic, keep her head down, and stay away from other witches so their powers don’t mingle and draw attention. And as an orphan who lost her parents at a young age and was raised by strangers, she’s used to being alone and she follows the rules…with one exception: an online account, where she posts videos pretending to be a witch. She thinks no one will take it seriously.
But someone does. An unexpected message arrives, begging her to travel to the remote and mysterious Nowhere House to teach three young witches how to control their magic. It breaks all of the rules, but Mika goes anyway, and is immediately tangled up in the lives and secrets of not only her three charges, but also an absent archaeologist, a retired actor, two long-suffering caretakers, and…Jamie. The handsome and prickly librarian of Nowhere House would do anything to protect the children, and as far as he’s concerned, a stranger like Mika is a threat. An irritatingly appealing threat.
As Mika begins to find her place at Nowhere House, the thought of belonging somewhere begins to feel like a real possibility. But magic isn’t the only danger in the world, and when a threat comes knocking at their door, Mika will need to decide whether to risk everything to protect a found family she didn’t know she was looking for….”
My Thoughts
I’m happy to share this one lived up to the hype for me!
It had so many elements that I love – found family, a touch of whimsy, plus gorgeous and magical atmospheric descriptions. There was humor, lots of magic, and many heartwarming moments.
Almost every character is one the reader will fall in love with. There were amazing side characters!
There is a romance with quite a bit of chemistry, banter, and some sexual tension but little to no on page spice.
I adored the setting but I do wish we’d spent some time in Mika’s teashop whether on her YouTube channel or in the real world. I’d love to find an ASMR room like this!
This was a perfect fall read! I finished it on our first rainy day which helped me feel the magic as well as the fall vibes. This is one I’d love to reread!
Also a reading sidenote: I read The Lost Girl back in 2016 also by Sangu Mandanna. I think it may have been her first book. All I recall is it was a trippy futuristic sci-fi story. I believe it was also YA. On goodreads I can see I gave it 3 stars – I used to be stingy with my 5 star ratings and 3 signified a positive rating for me back then.
The Mindf*ck Series by S.T. Abby
Rating: 5 stars
Steam Level: 2
I ventured into the world of dark romance again with this one. It’s one of the categories on my fall tbr. Bookstagram picked this book to be my first dark romance of the season.
This is a series of 5 books rolled into one. Some of the books are short and most end on a cliffhanger so you’ll definitely want to read it all in one go.
The series is available on KU but you do need to check out each book individually.
From goodreads:
“They took too much.
Left too little.
I had nothing to lose…until him.
*****************
I didn’t expect him.
I didn’t want to fall in love.
But I can’t let him go.
Logan Bennett makes the world a safer place.
He’s brilliant.
He’s a hero.
He locks away the sick and depraved.
But while he’s saving lives, I’m taking them. Collecting the debts that are owed to me.
Ten years ago, they took from me. They left me for dead.
They should have made sure I stayed dead.
Now I’m taking from them.
One name at a time.
I’ve trained for too long.
I’ve been patient.
I can’t stop now.
Revenge is best served cold…
They never see me coming, until I paint their walls red.
Logan doesn’t know how they hurt me. He doesn’t know about the screams they ignored. He doesn’t know how twisted that town really is.
Logan just knows people are dying.
He doesn’t know he’s in love with their killer.
No one suspects a dead girl.
And Logan doesn’t suspect the girl in his bed.
They’re looking for a monster.
Not a girl who loves red.
Not a girl in love.
I’m a faceless nightmare.
At least until I tell them the story they’ve pretended never happened.
But in the end, will Logan choose them? Or will we watch them burn together?”
My Thoughts
This was my first serial killer romance and coming off really disliking Sea of Ruin (a dark historical romance I read last month), I was nervous about how this would go.
But I loved it!
And when I think about what I read and how dark it was, I’m surprised by that.
This gets really really dark so check your trigger warnings carefully.
At first I thought this series was like the show Criminal Minds meets spicy romance but to be honest there isn’t a lot of steam after the first book. There’s still a romance happening between Lana (our serial killer) and Logan (our FBI agent) but most of the steam is vague or fade to black.
However I got very into the FBI profiling, the forbidden love, and the revenge plot. This book definitely brought out my vengeful side.
The way S.T. Abby wrote this book is fascinating! She really eased the reader into things both with Lana’s past trauma and the graphic nature of her revenge. The mystery of what happened to Lana unraveled slowly throughout all 5 books alongside the case of the original serial killer. There were many reveals, twists, and discoveries to keep the reader guessing.
Lana was so compelling and what happened so horrific that you couldn’t help but root for her to end every monster – in most cases as painfully as possible. That pacing made it’s satisfying when more of those scenes made it on page.
It sounds strange but the slow unravel also worked to allow me to handle most of the dark content.
The bits and pieces the reader got were enough to foreshadow what was to come but not to bury them in devastation. The second book was actually the hardest for me to read – Lana goes after a child abuser and murderer. Thankfully that content was steered away from there on.
I was so sad to discover in the author’s note that S.T. Abby passed away in 2021. I believe this is the only series she wrote under that pen name. She has two others – Kristy Cunning for reverse harem and C.M. Owens for all sorts of romance.
I really loved her emotional development of Lana and Logan’s relationship so I may try some of her backlist.
What’s on your mid September reading recap?
