WHAT I READ: NOVEMBER 2022
November spoiled me! I thoroughly enjoyed every book I picked up this month, and with several five-star reads in the bunch, let's get into what made these books so great!
Drunk on Love by Jasmine Guillory
I always love Jasmine Guillory’s characters and this book is no different. Set in Napa Valley, Luke and Margot’s chance meeting at a restaurant bar leads to fireworks, but when he finds out the next morning that she’s his new boss and the owner of the winery he just started working at, things get complicated. The setting and characters are really fun, I especially loved Sydney and Elliot, but I wanted a bit more from the plot. I think I’m a little sick of secrets and miscommunications being the main obstacles before the HEA— maybe time for me to take a romance novel break!
Bloodmarked by Tracey Deonn
This series is layered with so many interesting and important elements, somehow juggling them with ease and telling an incredible story that I can’t wait to see continued. It’s an Arthurian legend set in the modern world but it’s so much more than that. It’s a unique examination of generational trauma and grief with queer and BIPOC characters and deep connections to both mythology and history. I think literally everyone should read it, I think it should be studied in schools as both a masterclass in writing and an entry point to discussing race, identity, history, myth, and so much more. I’m so excited for book three, I know this story is going to once again take me in a direction I can’t see coming and I’m so ready for it.
Partners in Crime by Alisha Rai
If you loved bingeing Indian Matchmaker but found yourself wishing for a car chase, kidnapping, interrupted heist, or other fun and dramatic action sequence or two, this is the read for you. Fun, spicy, romantic, and thrilling, this second-chance romance brings together an accountant with a family full of criminals and a lawyer for a rollercoaster of a night in Vegas. I devoured it in one sitting!
Maggie Moves On by Lucy Score
This book is like an HGTV rom com with a Stars Hollow-esque cast of characters and also a treasure hunt? It maybe shouldn’t work but it’s delightful. Small town landscaper Sy’s love-at-first-sight reaction to YouTube house flipper Maggie should be cheesy but instead it’s the charming start to a story with heart, great characters, and fun banter. Thoroughly enjoyable— and my third five-star read in a row? I’m feeling spoiled by my TBR list, hope this streak continues!
Two Wrongs Make a Right by Chloe Liese
A reimagining of Much Ado About Nothing with relatable and charming neurodivergent lead characters, this book was very cute. Jamie and Bea’s love story was spicy and sweet and I alway love the fake dating trope. I love books with neurodivergent characters and this one touches on Bea’s autism but more on a surface level that sometimes left me wanting more insight into her experience of the world. Bea’s clutziness is hammered home as such a major part of her character that it feels like a bit of a shorthand so that we see her as quirky or marching to the beat of her own drum. It also felt like we might see a Christopher/Kate follow up book, which I would read the heck out of, so I hope I was right about those hints towards the end of the story!
Every Summer After by Carley Fortune
This book made me nostalgic for the version of Canadian summertime that can only be experienced as a teenager. It’s a love letter to cottage country and paints a perfect picture of the feeling of being young and having a crush on the boy next door. Percy and Sam’s story reminded me a bit of Love & Other Words with a hint of The Summer I Turned Pretty, but it still managed to be unique enough to keep me captivated. I really felt the heartbreaking moments, and smiled anytime a Canadianism or familiar neighbourhood popped up. Seeing my Alma Mater pop up as Sam’s university was especially fun.
I read pretty much exclusively on my phone these days, but at the beginning of this summer I picked up this book in paperback to have for beach days and pool time and other moments when I wanted to not be staring at my screen. It made for a different sort of read for me— I don’t usually have multiple books on the go, but this one I read sort of in fits and starts all summer. Every time I jumped back into the story it felt like I was escaping on a trip to a cottage, just like Percy was, and I loved that.
