Hello friends! I feel like I am already doing well for August by having my first round up ready for the month! I have been mixing my reading up with ARCs, re-reads and random books that I am finding. Im hoping to get through a lot of my ARCs this month so I can mood read the next couple of months. I have some reading plans but can’t do them if I still have a lot of books that I need to get to instead of want to. Hope your month is gong well!
Stay Awake by Megan Goldin – 4 Stars This was my first Megan Goldin and I am so excited to read some of her backlist because this book was a fun one to read. I always like when thrillers are slightly unique and maybe this premise has been done before but I haven’t read anything like it. Liv wakes up in a taxi with no memory of how she got there only to discover that two years have passed since the last thing she remembers. The story is told in alternating timeline with the present where Liv is covered in writing telling her not to go to sleep and to the past leading up to her last memories. I enjoyed this thriller and was surprised by the ending. I liked both timelines and wasn’t distracted when we switched which is the case for me sometimes. Liv was an interesting character to read about and I felt really bad for her, especially when you get towards the end of the book. At times it was a little hard to read because losing ones memory is a fear of mine but I thought the author handled it well. Highly recommend this one! Thank you St. Martin’s Press for my #gifted copy for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Real by Katy Evans – ReRead – I read this book 8 or 9 years ago when it first came out and I loved it! I went through a period where I wanted to read all the sports romance books that centered on fighters. My first read of this one I gave it 4 stars and while I still really enjoyed the story of Remy and Brooke, I am just don’t gravitate to these stories like I used too. Still highly recommend this series but there are numerous trigger warnings.
Waking Olivia by Elizabeth O’Roark – 4 Stars I picked this one up after seeing a few booktubers talk about it and I am so glad I did! It did give off a little Kulti vibes and I am always here for books that are compared to any Mariana Zapata book. This is a slow burn about a cross country runner who switches schools and tries not to fall for her coach Will. If you like slow burns and a grump/grump? trope than you should look into this one! Major trigger warnings for this one though.
Built To Last by Erin Hahn – Stars This is a story about two childhood stars who reunite years later to film a reality show about fixing up houses. Shelby and Cameron met on set of a tv show when they were 10 years old and played best friends but off camera were hiding a relationship from fellow costar Lyle. Not having spoken in over a decade Lyle brings in Shelby and Cameron to pitch a tv show where they would fix up houses in their home state of Michigan. Shelby is now owner of her own business where she restores furniture and helps her father fix and flip houses. Cameron left Hollywood at 18 to go to college and has since been working for National Geographic filming documentaries. The two are reluctant at first but decide to give it a try. Overall I enjoyed this one, I especially liked the parts on rehabbing the house. I am usually a sucker for a book about home renos. I did struggle a bit with their relationship, at times I felt it was kind of forced and not always natural. I also hated Shelby’s mother and it makes me sad to know that there are people out there just like her. If you are a fan of second chance romances than I think you should try this one. I thought the authors writing style was great but just didn’t connect with the characters. Thank you St. Martins Griffin for my #gifted copy for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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