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Books March 2021

Hello sassy people!
Today, I’m here again to tell you guys all about the books I read this month! This was a slow month, I wanted to read more books, but college demanded a lot of my time, so I’m proud of the 5 books I was able to read, and they were all amazing, so it was a really good month.

So, last month I found this amazing author named Emma Chase, and I read, frantically, all the books in her “The Legal Briefs” Series. When the 3 books of the series were over, I was sad and lost looking for more of those characters, when I found:

Sidebarred - cover

1- Sidebarred 

Author: Emma Chase 

Series: The Legal Briefs #3.5 

Blurb: There was a time when Jake Becker had it all together. He was controlled, driven, ruthless—in and out of the courtroom.

Then, six irresistible orphans and their heartbreakingly beautiful aunt crashed into his perfectly ordered life. They changed everything. They changed him. Now he’s a husband, an upstanding member of society, a father figure—a family man. And he’s pretty damn good at it.

Sure, he has to referee sibling smackdowns, re-learn algebra, ensure his clients stay out of jail, and keep his wife happy—but it finally feels like he’s got it together again….

So, of course something has to screw it all up. It’s huge. Life-changing. Kind of terrifying.

And it will be the most amazing, perfect thing he’ll ever do.

This was a book that made me really happy, it was one last piece I had from these amazing characters. There was just one problem…
It was too small. I read it super fast and then it was over.

But, let’s talk about the happy parts! This book is a glance at Jake and Chelsea’s life 2 years after Appealed (4 after Sustained, the book with their story), which means that the kids are bigger and they’ve been married for 2 years now. It was nice to see Jake living in their house and also taking care of those kids even more like they were his.

One thing that I absolutely love is how the communication between the two of them works now that they are married. They fight, yes; they have problems, yes; but they solve them by talking to each other and I just love how they cannot go to sleep mad at each other and how even while fighting they show the other that they still love them.
That alone for me is a scene and a moment that makes this book amazing.

And also I love reading stories about couples that are already married and how even after the happily ever after, the couple still has problems and how they deal with them with the person they love.

General grade: 4/5 (It is small, most of the time is summed up in one scene and then is months later, there is not exactly a plotline, it is just a glimpse of their life after their book) 
Feminist grade: 5/5 (great role model of how problem-solving and relationships work in a healthy situation) 
Final grade: 9/10 (small, but incredible) 

After all the amazingness of Emma Chase, I was lost, without knowing which book to read next, when Kindle recommended this book to me, and just the synopsis rooked me, and since I was sad for The Legal Briefs, I decided to give this book a chance on lifting my spirits.

2- The Perfect First 

Author: Maya Hughes 

Series: Fulton U #1

Blurb: “How long do you last in bed?” Those were her first words to me, swiftly followed up with, “And how big would you say you are?”

Persephone Alexander. Math genius. Lover of blazers. The only girl I know who can make Heidi braids look sexy as hell. And she’s on a mission. Lose her virginity by the end of the semester. I walked in on her interview session for potential candidates (who even does that?) and saw straight through her brave front. She’s got a list of Firsts to accomplish like she’s only got months to live. I’ve decided to be her guide for all her firsts except one. Someone’s got to keep her out of trouble. I have one rule, no sex. We even shook on it. I’ll help her find the right guy for the job. Someone like her doesn’t need someone like me and my massive…baggage for her first time. Drinking at a bar. Check. Partying all night. Double check. Skinny dipping. Triple check.

She’s unlike anyone I’ve ever met. The walls I’d put up around my heart are slowly crumbling with each touch that sets fire to my soul. I’m the first to bend the rules. One electrifying kiss changes everything and suddenly I don’t want to be her first, I want to be her only. But her plan was written before I came onto the scene and now I’m determined to get her to re-write her future with me. 

The Perfect First - cover

So, this book had the potential to be really cheesy and cringy, but it turned out to have so much depth! Reading the synopsis, I had no idea this book would have so much development and touch on such serious topics.
It sounds like a typical story, virgin girl, meets hot athlete, bla bla bla…
But it is so far from that! Reece’s story has more depth than what I expected. His father never watched him play, and doesn’t want him playing football, so even though his family seems like a normal, happy, no problems family, he still deals with his fathers disapproval, and he makes a hundred assumptions about why he doesn’t want him to play since he was a pro football player.

This was my first football romance and it brought something I had never seen in any other sports romance: the harms and dangers of being an athlete (I’ve read players who got hurt, but the subject was never treated with such seriousness and as a hindrance to play), which made the book even more real and serious.
Meanwhile, Seph has one of the most well-developed pasts I’ve ever seen. Her life and her relationship with her family, but especially with her father are so real. And the seriousness of the situation grows while the book continues.
Seph suffers physicological abuse growing up, but they are subtle at first, and it’s all disguised behind paternal love. “He is doing that because he wants what is best for her”, she believes that, and for a brief, very brief moment, I did too.

Despite the heavy topics, the book is light, has really funny moments, and it brings a lot of other characters’ stories, which makes you want to read all the books.
Cute, hot, adorable, serious and deep, but never depressing, and most of all, real (not in the situations, but the life experiences)

General grade:  4/5 (Some parts are extremely well written while others are summed up or have drastic changes, of course, that makes us a little confused, but the development is amazing and the problems are real) 
Feminist grade: 5/5 (Great example of how abuse, physical and emotional/psychological, can affect a person’s life and personality, and shows a non-romanticized version of sports that I had never seen before) 
Final grade: 9/10 (Some non-realistic moments, however, in the majority it is real (in the serious moments) and really well written while having an amazing story) 

Following the series, next we have:

3- The Second We Met

Author: Maya Hughes 

Series: Fulton U #2

Blurb: Dear Jerk Across the Street, sorry for accidentally walking in on you and catching an eyeful of your—equipment. And hard pass on the open invitation to join you in the shower “anytime”, A-hole. That’s the note I should’ve written. Instead I sent a pleasant and apologetic version. Had I known Phoenix “Nix” Russo would’ve been the neighbor from hell, I’d have told him right where he could shove my words. Nix is the big man on campus with everyone lined up at his games to make sure he knows it. Sure, he’s got piercing blue eyes, abs that don’t quit and a smile that could set fire to a set of panties from a hundred yards away, but he’s also the biggest pain in my ass.

Dear Pink-Haired Menace, learn how to take a joke and stop being such a kill-joy… Elle Masterson called the cops on one of my parties—again. My sweet talking usually gets me out of trouble, but this time it got me into a nice pair of silver handcuffs. Now I’m on a reputation rehab tour with a stop at a spring break community service project. Guess who’s my new boss? Now we’re shoulder to shoulder, sweaty, tired, and…she’s not anything like I expected. There might just be a heart under that hardass exterior. She’s invading my dreams and I can’t shake the feeling she’s the key to unlocking a piece of me that I’ve hidden away. It’s only a matter of time until she finds out why I’m really here. Maybe I can break through her walls and into her heart before that happens…one screw at a time.

This couple is amazing, they fight so much, you just know they want into each other’s pants.

These two are going through some tough future decisions. Nix is supposed to go into the draft, and become a pro football player, just like his dad, and make his dad’s dreams come true. But he doesn’t want that, he doesn’t want to hurt his body so much and have a short but expensive career and spend his life limping like his father. He wants to be like his grandfather and work in a restaurant. Meanwhile, Elle has major money problems and a history of jerk boyfriends. She wants to win a charity prize from her college, to be able to pay for her classes, graduate, and decide how her life is going to be after graduation.

She has a lot of preconceived notions about Nix, and while he is a pretty nice guy, some of them are true and because she was hurt before, she won’t take her chances to be lied to again.

This book has a lot of depth too because it goes even deeper into sports injuries and also brings a whole new discussion about charity and motives, which I think is pretty amazing. Is Elle doing all this volunteer work because she is a good person who wants to help? Or is she doing it to win a prize? I honestly think she was both, but the question and discussion is a pretty interesting one, that doesn’t take a major role in the book, but it makes you think.

I loved this couple, their friendship, their problems, their friends. This book, like “The Perfect First” shows the other characters and their stories. This one brings so much of the story from “The Third Best Thing” I was wondering if there wasn’t gonna be any situations left for the other book (there was), but we get to know and understand the other stories a lot more, have more development and see their story from another angle, which is pretty great.

General grade: 4.5/5 (I’m gonna be honest, I don’t see any problems. Good development, normal plotline, with some surprises, which is nice, but at this moment, I don’t see anything exceptional, so 4.5) 
Feminist grade: 4.5/5 (The same goes for here, good story, didn’t detect any sexism, some interesting subjects, and awesome realism and non-romanticizing of sports, but nothing outstanding) 
Final grade: 9/10 (I loved the book, loved the characters, loved the surprises and subjects, it is pretty damn good) 

Continuing through the series we have:

4- The Third Best Thing 

Author: Maya Hughes 

Series: Fulton U #3

Blurb: Dear Letter Girl, I need to see you. When can we meet? Her response never came. My secret pen pal with a dirty mind has ghosted me. I’ve roped Jules, my sweet as pie next door neighbor, to help me track her down. There’s only one problem–I’m falling for her. The tortoise shell glasses, out of this world curves and delicious treats are making the search for The Letter Girl even harder.  My notes were supposed to be a one time thing. A little too much wine and naughty thoughts on a winter’s night. I never thought Berk would write back. I wanted to tell him it was me, but the fear of rejection kept my lips sealed. Now he’s enlisted my help to track down The Letter Girl and our search has him hot on my, ahem, her trail. She’s the girl next door. He’s my secret pen pal. Truth is on a collision course with their hearts and it’s only a matter of time before one of them gets wrecked…

I was truly excited about this book. Their story showed up a lot in “The Second We Met” and I was dying to see them. Jules, a shy, pole-dancing, backing goddess with Berk, the sweet and funny guy on the group, who started trading letters with a mysterious girl in the first book, it was too good to be true.

But I could never have expected what they really were experiencing. We had the outside version of the facts, we didn’t know Berk’s heavy and sad past, or Jules’s emotionally abusive family and society. Jules has a twisted body image, created by her mom and sister, who “ganged up” on her after the death of her father. Berk was a foster kid, trained to live in the streets, with serious abandonment issues and habits he brings from the time he had nothing.

Can you see how amazing their story is, Jules works on accepting her body, while Berk never even though she went through horrible situations and emotional abuse because, in his mind, she is beautiful. Meanwhile, Jules stops the letters, without realizing what that causes Berk, and his abandonment issues, to have one more person leave him.

They grow a lot together and they are just the cutest!

General grade:  5/5 (Great development, especially with the development from the other books, great plot, and situations)
Feminist grade: 5/5 (I love books with strong women and Jules is definitely one, not only for her acceptance of herself, but for the moments where she put herself first, where she valued her mental health before Berk’s, she wouldn’t destroy herself to be with him, it is not such a romantic concept, but it is a much healthier one, a huge example for everyone) 
Final grade: 10/10 (Heavy, but cute and sweet and hot and funny, but it has also important subjects (there is even cyberbullying) and good examples of relationships and actions courses) 

Last but not least…

5- The Fourth Time Charm 

Author: Maya Hughes 

Series: Fulton U #4

Blurb: “Are you sleeping with my daughter?” Not a question I want to hear from my coach. The man holding my pro future in the palm of his hand. 

The answer: No. 

The real answer: I’d sure as hell like to be. 

Marisa’s been my best friend since third grade. And now she needs my help—and a place to stay. Senior year was supposed to be the year to keep some distance until the season finished and my draft prospects were safe. But resisting her is becoming impossible. Movie Thursdays under the blankets. Study sessions on my bed. Wild party nights where I kept any guy interested at bay with a single glare. Her dad can bench my ass for the entire season, so she’s off limits—for now. She’s the only woman I’ve ever loved. And one heated night, I can’t stop fighting every cell in my body and can’t stop myself from sampling her sexy smile, her sweet smell, and her sultry curves. We’re walking a tightrope with my future on the line. Let’s just make sure Coach doesn’t find out… 

This is another story that had a huge build-up. We see Marisa and LJ since the first book, and we just want them together already!
If I had to characterize this couple in two words, they would be communication issues!
They do not communicate. Ever.

They are the best friends in the world, know each other since they were little, but still, they don’t know major aspects of each other’s lives.
This lack of communication happens throughout the entire book, and only when they stop the bullshit and TALK, they figure things out.

The misunderstandings are painful, the hiding and omitting things is frustrating and in some moments, they omit so much, not even the reader understands what is going on.
They are cute, and amazing as friends, but they have a lot of baggage, which turns this into a very complicated situation.

The plot, overall, is simple, but the characters have huge development, and some situations that not even we know how to solve, which I love.

General grade: 5/5 (Really truly developed characters, simple plot, but intriguing and it keeps you, cause you need to know the outcome, how are they going to figure this out?) 
Feminist grade: 4/5 (Really cute couple, non-sexist characters, but the lack of communication is painful) 
Final grade: 9/10 (Great characters, with great stories and cute relationship, just not the most healthy one…) 

Okay, that was all. I gotta say, this month, despite slow (taking into consideration my annual goal) was really good bookwise. Amazing books, new sports romance series, and the fact that I read 5 books and was able to do everything for college makes me proud of myself. At this moment (April, 9th) I’m reading more of Maya Hughes, and gotta say, I found a new, awesome writer.  

Those were all the books I read this month, soon I’ll be posting individualized reviews for each of them where I tell in extreme detail (and some spoilers) why I loved all these books. 

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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Brazilian architecture student and book lover

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Ana en Noir is currently-reading

The Fourth Time Charm


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2021 Reading Challenge

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Ana en Noir has read 18 books toward her goal of 100 books.
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Books Ana en Noir read

The Fourth Time Charm
The Third Best Thing
The Second We Met
The Perfect First
Sidebarred
Appealed
Sustained
Overruled
Master Baker


Ana en Noir's favorite books »