Another month down in 2024! We had a wide variety of books that we read this month! Finally got back to adding in some fantasy after reading a lot of romance. My non-fiction book this month was Cultish and honestly, I loved listening to it. It was really insightful on how Cults or cult-like communities get people to join them. I also read one of my most anticipated books over the year with Heir by Sabaa Tahir, which is a book that takes place after An Ember in the Ashes. We also had some fun paranormal romance books as well, just in time to start spooky season!
Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
With ailing family to support, Evie Sage's employment status isn't just important, it's vital. So when a mishap with Rennedawn’s most infamous Villain results in a job offer—naturally, she says yes. No job is perfect, of course, but even less so when you develop a teeny crush on your terrifying, temperamental, and undeniably hot boss. Don’t find evil so attractive, Evie.
But just when she’s getting used to severed heads suspended from the ceiling and the odd squish of an errant eyeball beneath her heel, Evie suspects this dungeon has a huge rat…and not just the literal kind. Because something rotten is growing in the kingdom of Rennedawn, and someone wants to take the Villain—and his entire nefarious empire—out.
Casket Case by Lauren Evans
Nora thought she was finished with Rabbittown, Alabama, for good. But an unexpected tragedy turned her life upside down, and she's found herself back in her tiny hometown running the family casket business.
Until Nora Clanton's ordinary, casket-selling day is interrupted by a handsome stranger wandering into her shop and asking for directions--as well as a date.
Garrett Bishop seems like the ideal guy. He's thoughtful, he's kind, and he has a lucrative job as a logistics coordinator, for which he seems to have a passion. She's not totally sure what "logistics" entails, but she knows it means long hours, lots of travel, and urgent calls in the middle of the night. When a few of Rabbittown's residents suddenly pass away--a heart attack here, a car crash there--and Garrett is spotted at the scenes of, well, all of the deaths, his frustratingly vague job description starts to become increasingly . . . suspicious. What is it that Garrett actually does for a living?
Body Check by Elle Kennedy
After a childhood spent being dragged around the country by her hockey coach father, Hayden Houston intends to take some time to figure out her future. Whether that future will include her currently off-again boyfriend remains to be seen. What it certainly won’t include is the for-one-night-only guy she just met at a bar.
It seems hockey star Brody Croft did not get the memo about being temporary. Big, bold and driven, he’s dedicated in everything he does. Up till now, that’s been his team—the one owned by Hayden’s dad. But his night with Hayden has sparked something he didn’t expect. The two of them are good together. Really good. There’s a connection he’s never experienced before, one he knows they’d be wrong to ignore. Even with a game-fixing scandal testing both their loyalties—to teammates, to friends…to family.
Off to the Races by Elsie Silver
Keeping things professional with my employees has never been an issue… until Billie waltzes onto my property.
She’s talented, feisty and so damn tempting. We clash from the moment we meet, and I can't stop thinking about all the ways I could take her down a peg. I can't stop thinking about her, period.
And in a small town, on an even smaller farm, it’s hard to keep my distance. Billie is the whole package: whip-smart with a body I fantasize about, and quite possibly the only woman who can save this business – and me. She drives me crazy, but the more time we spend together, the more I crave her: her lips, her trust, her heart… I want it all.
But at what cost? Because suddenly I don’t just want to win races, I want to win the girl.
When the World Tips Over by Jandy Nelson
Years ago, the Fall kids’ father mysteriously disappeared, cracking the family into pieces. Now Dizzy Fall, age twelve, bakes cakes, sees spirits, and wishes she were a heroine of a romance novel. Miles Fall, seventeen, brainiac, athlete, and dog-whisperer, is a raving beauty, but also lost, and desperate to meet the kind of guy he dreams of. And Wynton Fall, nineteen, who raises the temperature of a room just by entering it, is a virtuoso violinist set on a crash course for fame . . . or self-destruction.
Then an enigmatic rainbow-haired girl shows up, tipping the Falls’ world over. She might be an angel. Or a saint. Or an ordinary girl. Somehow, she is vital to each of them. But before anyone can figure out who she is, catastrophe strikes, leaving the Falls more broken than ever. And more desperate to be whole.
The Slowest Burn by Sarah Chamberlain
Kieran O'Neill should be on top of the world. He's just won a cooking reality TV show, he's on track to open his own restaurant before he turns thirty, and he's even got a high-paying cookbook deal. Still he can't impress his stuck-up family, his ADHD makes planning ahead impossible and, worst of all, his ghostwriter is the most uptight, humourless woman he's ever met. But to be seen as a serious chef like he's always wanted, he needs to finish this book...
Ellie Wasserman is barely holding it together. She's a thirty-year-old widow living with her needy in-laws, her little brother won't adult without her help, and instead of working on her own cookbook, she's ghostwriting one for the chaotic, impulsive Kieran O'Neill. Or would be, if he'd ever answer her emails. But to own her own home like she's always dreamed of, she needs to finish this book.
Haunting Melody by Chloe Spencer
The only child of an acclaimed ghost hunter couple, Melody’s First Sacred Hunt should have been a walk in the park. All she needed to do was catch a ghost, like she’s done all her life. But when an unexpected wraith showed up causing havoc, Melody was left scarred and embarrassed.
Suffering from depression and PTSD post-hunt, Melody relocates to the sleepy island town of Murkmore, where her parents have been tasked with capturing the ghost responsible for a series of grisly deaths. Determined to prove herself, and despite her parents' protests, Melody sets out to capture the specter on her own.
When a haunting song lures Melody to an abandoned theater, she encounters a recently deceased musical prodigy by the name of Cyrus. All signs point to Cyrus being the killer, but Melody isn’t so sure, suspecting something more discordant is afoot.
Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell
What makes “cults” so intriguing and frightening? What makes them powerful? The reason why so many of us binge Manson documentaries by the dozen and fall down rabbit holes researching suburban moms gone QAnon is because we’re looking for a satisfying explanation for what causes people to join—and more importantly, stay in—extreme groups. We secretly want to know: could it happen to me? Amanda Montell’s argument is that, on some level, it already has .
Our culture tends to provide pretty flimsy answers to questions of cult influence, mostly having to do with vague talk of “brainwashing.” But the true answer has nothing to do with freaky mind-control wizardry or Kool-Aid. In Cultish, Montell argues that the key to manufacturing intense ideology, community, and us/them attitudes all comes down to language. In both positive ways and shadowy ones, cultish language is something we hear—and are influenced by—every single day.
Heir by Sabaa Tahir
Growing up in the Kegari slums, Aiz has seen her share of suffering. An old tragedy fuels her need for vengeance, but it is love of her people that propels her. Until one hot-headed mistake lands her in an inescapable prison, where the embers of her wrath ignite.
Banished from her tribe for an unforgiveable crime, Sirsha is a down-on-her-luck tracker who speaks to the earth, air, and water to trace her marks. Destitute, she agrees to hunt down a killer who has murdered children across the Empire. All she has to do is carry out the job and get paid. But then, she falls for a charismatic and inconvenient fugitive who keeps getting in her way.
Quil is the crown prince of the Empire, nephew of a famed and venerated empress, but he’s loathe to pick up the mantle when his aunt steps down. As the son of the most hated emperor in the history of his people, he, better than anyone, understands that power corrupts. When a vicious new enemy threatens the survival of the Empire, Quil must ask himself if he can rise above his tragic lineage and be the heir his people need.
What were some of your favorite reads of this month?
Let me know in the comments!
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