Books I read in July 2021

THIS POST MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!!!! 

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Hello sassy people! Today I’m going to tell you guys about all the books I read in July 2021! I continued on my Penny Reid obsession this month, so get ready to hear a lot about her in the next months…

I have to say that I was waiting for this book for a long time! But I also have to say that it was not what I expected. Billy and Claire’s story was so epic and the suspense about it and the really long wait made it really special, but in the end, it was not my favorite. That is not to say that I didn’t like it, I liked it really much, it was just not all the hype I had in my head and it pales in comparison with other books in this series. Scarlet and Billy are a really cute couple, but they are both stubborn and not so great at communication. They are great at assuming things about the other, punishing themselves, and hiding things to protect the other person’s feelings. And let’s just make it clear that I don’t love 10-year separations, I don’t believe in them and I don’t like them, especially 10 years celibacy.
We have a really cute and emotional story, that at some points it’s really funny (those scenes often include Cletus or another Winston brother) and the ending is the perfect wrap-up for this amazing series.

I was also anxious about this book, since Ashley and Drew are present in most of the “Winston Brothers” series, and I already knew a bit about their personality and their relationship, but I have to say, this book was not what I was expecting. Drew is a big, quiet guy, he is a man of few words, cute moments with Ashley, and some poetic inspiration. While Ash is just an amazing, strong, opinionated woman. However, I still can’t understand the problem in their relationship. The main problem, your image, would be that she lives in the city, she loves Chicago, while Drew is a countryman, a Game Warden and nature is the place where he belongs. But that is not a major problem up until 60% or something. Before that, they simply don’t like each other, and that is a kind of problem for me, these are two people who are attracted to each other, and the way they deal with it is by antagonizing the other. Now, the situation they are in has a role in it, being that Ash’s mom is sick and Drew has a big role in her family’s dynamics, so that is a problem, but despite all the situation I still can’t understand where all the conflict is coming from. If you put that aside, the book has some amazing scenes, some truly funny and incredibly emotional scenes, all the characters, main or (especially) secondary, are amazing and the friendship and family moments are inspiring. I truly believe that Penny Reid’s biggest talent is building the relationships in her books, that being a romantic relationship, a friendship, or a family dynamic, her characters and their bond are always super developed.

I have to be honest, I thought about quitting this book at least 4 times. Now, don’t get me wrong, it was not the writing or any problem with Penny Reid, but I just disliked Quinn so much, I wasn’t even excited to read his story anymore. In the beginning, he was quiet, but not in a cute wait, more in a sulky way, and he was always invading Janie’s personal space, had some small problems with consent, and was giving me too many Christian Grey vibes. I couldn’t stop thinking that most of the things he was doing with Janie would not be okay in the real world. He had no explicit consent from her, he did not know if she wanted to be close to him, so if we were not inside Janie’s head, and knew that she liked this guy, I would be accusing him of harassment. The things he did were not sexual, just being too close, touching her without asking, cornering her, taking her (uncontended) to his apartment, and also lying to her, they were all big red flags for me, and also Janie thought in more than one occasion that she was uncomfortable with his closeness but at the same happy about.
For all of those reasons I wanted to stop reading, but I loved other Penny Reid books, and I really wanted to continue reading the “Knitting in the City” series, and I was so excited about this book I decided to push through, and I have to say that I was happy I didn’t DNFed because it got better. We got to know Quinn more, and as he was falling for Janie he became better and better, cutter and cutter, and became an almost cool guy. But what makes up for all of Quinn’s flaws is Janie. She is just amazing, in a quirky, smart, real, and adorable way. She has personality to spare and she, alone, makes this book worth it. Of course, the rest of the book has positives too, but Janie is just precious.

Remember all the bad things I said about Quinn five seconds ago? He made up for it in this book. He is just so cute and adorable, we get to know him more and he loves Janie so much, and since I love Janie so much, I started liking Quinn more too. And you know, Janie is her amazing, frenetic, quirky, smart, adorable self, so all is good in the world.

Now, this was an interesting book. I love a female doctors, they are rare in romance and should appear more! I also love a comedian and these two are just amazing. They have a deep story, that affected both of them in really deep ways, a real problem to solve and some amazing scenes, incredible banter, and just the cutest moments. I honestly don’t have much to say, since it was simply great, had a simple but organized plot, we understand everyone’s motivations and emotions and the struggles they are going through, it was simple and lovely.

I really truly loved and enjoyed this book! If you haven’t noticed yet, I love books that talk about mental issues and therapy, so it was amazing to be in the POV of an actual psychotherapist, see how that affects her life and how she deals with her own emotions. Also, Alex is the cutest, just an amazing man, who is 7 years (if I’m not mistaken) younger than Sandra, which I absolutely love. The Romance genre is full of age gaps, but most of them are Older Male/Younger Female, which, let’s just say, it is not my favorite. But I LOVE Female Age Gaps, and this one was amazing!
Lovable characters, not only the hero and heroine but also the secondary characters on this series (and most of Penny Reid’s books) are just incredible.

I have to say I was disappointed in this book because there was not as much cool content in it as I expected. Of course, it is always amazing to see how the writing process works, but a deleted scene (that is completely different from the reality portrayed in the Penny Reid Universe) it’s sometimes tiring to read. I honestly got tired of seeing these scenes pretty quickly, but I’m sure that for a lot of people they are gold. What I loved about it was Penny talking about how she became a writer, how her process works, and all of that, I think that is a side of the books we don’t see or hear much, so for me, that was super cool.

General grade: 4/5 (Simple and sometimes tiring, it can make us confused about some facts of the story, but at the same time it is cool to see these scenes and processes.)

Feminist grade: 4/5 (Despite not being a book that has a story, some of these deleted scenes had some red flags for some characters that I really loved, so it’s not a perfect book in this category)

Final grade: 8/10 (This book is pretty much a gift for Penny’s fans and it serves that purpose, of giving you just a tiny bit more of that character that you loved, so it is pretty cool, and I admire Penny for doing things like this)

This is, no doubt, one of my FAVORITE couples in the series. I love them separately and together. Fiona is just so strong and wise, and I (not to flatter myself) identify a lot with her personality, and I just loved to see their origin story. Greg is amazing, funny, and smart, and let’s admit, arrogant, in a very endearing way, they are the perfect couple!!!

This was AMAZING, I love marriage in trouble books, love love love love, because it is the story after de HEA (Happily Ever After), it is the story about a couple that is in love and is already committed to each other, but you know, love does not always fix everything, and relationships are hard work, and these kinds of books remind us of that.
So in Happily Ever Ninja, we get to know more about Fiona, a mom, and wife, and friend who is pretty much a superheroine, she does everything for everyone, never asking for help and she is always there for whoever needs her. Greg is most of the time working abroad, which means that he is mostly not there for Fiona and their children. Also, Greg has a lot of ideas, a lot of very specific ideas about how to raise their children, which is awesome, but sometimes also tiring for Fiona and the kids, I absolutely loved it.
Like most of Penny’s books, there is external conflict, but I’m not going to talk a lot about it, just that for me, this is the conflict that was indispensable for the story, unlike some of her other books. But focussing on their relationship, Fiona is a bit upset, because they had goals and ideas about their lives, and how it was going to be, but she was living them all alone. So for me, this is a book and a couple of goals.

This book was so CUTE. I love how quirky it is, how nerdy it is, and also I love the amount of information I learned in this book. Every chapter has the definition of a different AI and I just loved that. (My boyfriend studies computer science, so this was also an incredibly interesting topic to talk about with him). But leaving all of that aside, I love how independent and driven Marie is, she just knows what she is doing and she gets what she wants. At the same time, I love geek and nerdy characters, and Matt is just perfect, shy and cute, but so lovable and we know there is a tiny bit of alpha in him. So it was just a cute, adorable, and simple story, with a LOT of interesting tidbits.

I was waiting for this for so long!!! And in this particular book, I have to say that I was disappointed. Their meet-cute is not amazing, it is fairly simple and their morning after of Vegas is also not all the hype I had in my mind. It is not bad, but I had a lot of expectations.

General grade: 4/5 (Simple, and short, it hurts to say that it has nothing truly special)

Feminist grade: 4/5 (The morning after in Vegas gives us some insight into Kat’s mind and that, for me, is the only great part of the book, the rest is okay)

Final grade: 8/10 (As a very short prequel, that, for me, could be a prologue, it is okay, as a separate book, that promises more, in my mind, it’s too simple)

I love a good fake relationship book and this put together this awesome trope with mental and emotional troubles, a woman who is richer and more successful than her partner, a female CEO, and some amazing character development and analysis of the past.
Kat is just super strong, and she is driven, she is determined and just the perfect CEO heroine. She is filthy rich but compassionate and lovable, and she has attitudes that would get her to be called a bitch in the office, but she is just so lovable and adorable, that is impossible. She and Dan are just the cutest, and they have a good, honest relationship, I love how quick it is, for them to be open about their feelings and their intentions with one another.

These were all the books I read in July! Because of vacation, I managed to read a lot of books, so I really enjoyed this month. Have you read any of them? Did you like them? Do you agree with me? If not you can tell me so too! 

Well, that is all for today, I hope you like this post, hope you enjoy these books if you decide to read them. Feel free to leave your opinion about it in the comments and I will see you next time! 

Bye sassy people! 

• I know that some comments I make about decent guys on my posts are the bare minimum a guy should do, so no, they don’t deserve to be treated like gods for doing the minimum, but at the same time, I’ve read a lot of sexist books and I appreciate authors who make characters that can serve as role models and examples of how a decent guy acts and what a loving and respectful relationship looks like. I believe we should always encourage these authors and bring attention to the ones that still write sexist characters and stories. 
• I make a lot of comments about sexism and healthy role models in books, but a lot of times these characteristics don’t make the book a bad book and definitely don’t make the author a bad author. Please never shame these authors and these books for these comments, I simply feel that we need to have awareness of the less than ideal situations some books bring us, and not use the romanticized problem as examples of what a relationship should be. Most of these authors are still amazing, and the content they write doesn’t reflect directly with their personal views and opinions. Always make sure to respect and be kind to everyone, even while criticizing their content. 

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