These are all the books I read on my kindle this month (click the picture for the goodreads page)
1. Simple Perfection by Abbi Glines (re-read)
This is the continuation of the Perfection duology in the Rosemary Beach series, it continues the story of Woods and Della. I genuinely can't remember how I felt about this book except that I gave it a 3 stars.
2. Take a Chance and One More Chance by Abbi Glines (re-read)
This duology centers around Harlow (Kiro's daughter) and Grant (Rush's former step-brother in the Rosemary beach series). Harlow was one of the most annoying, whiny, and frustrating characters I have ever had the displeasure in reading, and I have read all of Abbi Glines' books. I don't understand why I gave it a three stars- in fact I'm dropping it down to two. Grant's true character was revealed in the first one, what I thought was a kind man who helped Blaire when she first arrived, was simply trying to get into her pants (like all the men in this sexed up town). And I know what people will say: "Boys will be Boys" , "Men will be Men" which funnily enough seems to be the recurring theme in both The Seabreeze and The Rosemary Beach series. These men do all sorts of atrocious things - treating women like sex objects, misogyny, hyper-sexualising practically every woman they see- yet they are perceived as these great guys and I can't fathom how or why. Not only that, but they are boring! What else do they do but drink, shag and work? lather rinse repeat, lather rinse repeat. How am I expected to fall in love with a character when the only redeemable thing about him is either his washboard abs or his eyelashes that make all of womankind jealous (as if all the women in the world nothing better to do than whine about the length of our eyelashes). Back to Harlow, her inner conflict between whether enjoying sex or not would make her a 'slut' or not just made me want to scream. How a woman feels ashamed for enjoying sex is beyond me, it is clearly the by-product of America's sex-education - or lack thereof. This book and all other Abbi Glines novels don't sit well with me because of the blatant misogyny that just seems to be accepted by everyone. More fool me because I continue to read and re-read her novels, like it's crack.( Excuse the massive rant I just went on)
3. Breathe by Abbi Glines
Funnily enough, I actually enjoyed this one. It was summery and romantic with a hint of sexiness. I loved it. I gave it a 3 stars. This book is about Sadie White who had to care for her pregnant mother while working as a maid. She incidentally is a maid for one of the biggest rock stars- Jax. They fall in love during the summer but Jax's life as rock star puts a heavy strain on their relationship
4. You Were Mine by Abbi Glines re-read
This was another re-read and it is also apart of the Rosemary beach series and it is about Tripp and Bethy. I really liked Bethy in the previous novels so I liked that we were finally getting a story about her. And I enjoyed this one, especially seeing what she was like when she was younger. The only thing that bugged me was as said previously, the misogyny. It wasn't as bad, but there were tiny micro-aggressions that really got on my nerves
Exhibit A: When Tripp asks Bethy to dance and she accepts, then Dean says "Smart girl" like what in god's name was that supposed to mean? (This sounds like nothing when it's out of context but while reading I got the impression it was the fact that she was being obedient to a man that caused him to day such a thing)
Exhibit B: When the story flashes back to Tripp and Bethy's first time and Tripp says: "All the other girls I had been with were tense and dry" WHAT?! That literally means that they were not in a state of arousal and that is queue for you to either stop or get some lube you selfish prick. He acted like a women self-lubricating was some new thing invented by Bethy, NO! it is a necessity in order for a woman to enjoy sex. It's so funny how these men are supposedly experienced sex-gods yet they don't even know simple facts like this.
Exhibit C: This is a trend in most New Adult novels so I don't want to single this book out (you know what ,I'm going to make a video about this because there is so much that needs to be said), but God forbid a woman wants to dress up, which throws their men into hysterics begging them to put some clothes because men and their sexual urges cannot be controlled. And this weird caveman analogy that Glines likes to use is freaking weird! " In that moment I wanted to beat my chest and growl like a caveman" or the "caveman in me growled". How is this attractive?! This of course is said after their partners does something really submissive. This Alpha male thing has taken a step way too far and it's borderline abusive. There is a huge difference in a person being dominant and a person controlling every single move their partner makes.
5.While it Lasts by Abbi Glines re-read
*Sigh* This blog post is becoming repetitive. Blah, Blah, Blah,misogyny,Blah, Blah, Blah,annoying characters,Blah. Blah, Blah. I gave it a three stars though.
6.. When Your're Gone by none other than Abbi Glines
Why do I do this to myself? Better yet, why does Abbi Glines have duologies when they so easily could have been a stand alone? Why does the main character always have create problems for her self? Why does the main character not attempt to resolve the problem by communicating? These are all questions I ask myself every time I read an Abbi Glines novel. Why can't I stop reading her books? What is so incredible about her novel that causes me to spend money purchasing the novels just so I can weep in frustration. *sigh* This book is about a girl called...I can't remember. Who has escaped the torment of her sexually abusive step-father and her good-for-nothing mother as well as trying do overcome a learning difficulty. She meets Mase (Harlow and Nan's brother) who instantly takes a liking to the freckle under her left buttock *sigh* I gave this three stars.
7. Fall With Me by J. Lynn
I actually enjoyed this book (hurray!) It was great seeing familiar faces in the previous novels of this series. In the fourth installment of this series, the main character is Roxy, a nerdy bartender with a massive crush on the local policeman, Reece. On top of that her best friend since birth has been in an intensive care unit following a hate crime that occurred when they were teenagers. The perpetrator has been released and creepy things start happening to her
I gave this one a 3.5 stars. I thought it was pretty predictable who was the stalker, but I love how the story was on forgiveness and letting things go. My only major gripe was the secret that Roxy kept from Reece was so minor I don't understand why she was so afraid to tell him.
8. Archer's Voice by Mia Sheridan
My favourite romance novel of all time! 5 out of 5 stars hands down! This book is about a woman called Bree who decides to leave town, after a traumatic incident. She finds herself in a quaint town where she rents a home and begins to start a life there. Then she meets a man called Archer, who has been ostracized from the community, we soon learn that an accident left him unable to speak. I just love this book so much! I could read it over and over again and never get bored, I love how they spoke in sign language, it was so sweet!
9. In Time (1.5) and Sparks Rise (2.5) form The Drakes Minds Trilogy by Alexandra Bracken
In Time was my favourite books this year and it was under 90 pages! I can't say too much about these two novellas as they may spoil things for you guys but I highly recommend that you don't skip these novels out and read them! I gave In Time a 5/5 and Sparks Rise a 4/5.
Thank you guys for reading this post, it was very rambly ad ranty and very cranky, it's nearly 2:00 am and it's exam season so please forgive me. I hope you enjoyed this, I'd love to hear your opinions on these books if you have read them. Until the next post!
