It’s taken me forever to get around to this because I felt like I sort of lost my reading mojo over August and September but 17 books and 1 short story isn’t exactly a slump  although I had to immerse myself in a series before that feeling went away.

All Over But the Shoutin’ – Rick Bragg

This is a memoir of growing up poor and white in the South of the US. It’s not a happy read, Bragg is harder on himself than he is on his parents. I recognise some of that, you try to understand the ‘terrible’ parent, in this case his father and you idolize the one that stays and tries, his mother. He’s a talented writer and the book is worth reading but not very happy.

The Governess Game – Tessa Dare

This was typical Dare and I really enjoyed it and I liked it, but I was more interested in her friends than I was in her love interest!

One and Only (Canton 1) – Viv Daniels

Sweet and Wild (Canton 2) – Viv Daniels

Viv Daniels is another pen name for Diana Peterfreund, who wrote one of my favourite books ‘For the Darkness Shows the Stars’ so I wanted to see what she’d do in a different genre. And it was pretty good, no one is perfect, people are kind enough but the parents, ye gods the parents. I read them both on a lazy afternoon but they haven’t really stayed with me, except for the awfulness of the parent.

Made for Us (The Shaughnessys) – Samantha Chase

I didn’t mind it but it was familiar in a way that series that have big families are. I felt I knew all the beats of this story.

Delicious Temptation – Sabrina Sol

I just wanted to slap both the hero, the heroine and their families. Sorry bossy parents who walk over children isn’t my jam. I have a bossy parent, but I can’t bear overbearing parents.

Vox – Christina Dalcher

This started so well, the premise is extreme but it doesn’t feel that extreme given the trash fire that the world is right now. My discontent was caused by how tidy it was. The government is overturned, democracy is rescued and everything goes back to normal. Also the narrator gets a ridiculous happy ending, with a man who wouldn’t have put up with this treatment of his woman, while the husband dies heroically. It’s all too neat, there’s no damage and there would be damage.

Goody Two Shoes – Janet Elizabeth Henderson

I don’t know when this was written but it felt old fashioned. Another trope I couldn’t deal with is the controlling heroine, who has a heart of gold but just needs the love of a good man to loosen her up. I would have preferred to see the heroine learn or know herself a bit better.

Born to be Wilde – Eloisa James

I loved this, not as much as I loved the first one but Eloisa James is a one click buy for me. She publishes a book and I just give her my money.

A Trail Through Time (The Chronicles of St Mary’s 4) – Jodi Taylor

No Time Like The Past (The Chronicles of St Mary’s  5) – Jodi Taylor

What Could Possibly Go Wrong (The Chronicles of St Mary’s 6) – Jodi Taylor

Lies, Damned Lies, and History (The Chronicles of St Mary’s 7) – Jodi Taylor

And The Rest is History (The Chronicles of St Mary’s 8) – Jodi Taylor

An Argumentation of Historians (The Chronicles of St Mary’s 9) – Jodi Taylor

So I’d read and enjoyed the first three of these and started 4 and just read through all of them. They are funny (though some horrible stuff happened) and I love the idea of mad historians, marauding through history.

The Battersea Barricades: A Chronicles of St Mary’s Short Story – Jodi Taylor

There are short stories, I’m working my way through them.

Wallbanger (The Cocktail Series) – Alice Clayton

I finished this but only just, there was a story I wanted to read in here, but it was buried under nonsense.

Mister Hockey (Hellions Angels) – Lia Riley

Head Coach (Hellions Angels) – Lia Riley

Virgin Territory (Hellions Angels) – Lia Riley

I read all of these one after the other and all of them suffered (for me) with the same issue, it was too easy. Riley set up some nasty issues that the hero and heroine’s just shook off. No it’s not that easy and it annoyed me.