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Hello sassy people!
Today I’m going to tell you guys about all the books I read in September of 2021! I discovered a new author and I read all the books I could find by her!!!
For the Record
(Record #3)
by K.A. Linde
With Congressman Brady Maxwell up for reelection and journalist Liz Dougherty about to graduate into a promising career, the ambitious couple’s future is brighter than ever. They share a passion for their work…and for each other. But when Brady holds a press conference to officially introduce Liz as his girlfriend, reporters hungry for a scandal bombard her. Now, her every move is under a vicious magnifying glass, and her life feels like it’s falling apart.
On the road to reelection, the passionate bond between the congressman and the journalist gets tested at every stop. Threatened by shameless media sensationalism and jealous exes, Brady and Liz now have to learn to trust each other despite what they read in the papers.
I started the month by finishing the “Off the Record” trilogy. There are two more books, but they were about other couples, and I had gotten in a reading slump over this series, so I decided to read something else and come back later.
Genre: Romance
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Year: 2014
Nº of pages: 352
Goodreads rate: 4,25
Tropes: Age Gap Romance, Political Romance, Reporter Romance, Secret Relationship
Smut factor: 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 4/5 (steamy)
TRIGGER WARNINGS (Based on StoryGraphs): No content Warnings According to StoryGraph
Main characters: Brady and Liz
Main conflict: Braddy is up for re-election and his relationship with Liz can put everything that they both worked hard for at risk.
Pacing: Slow
Mood: Hot and complicated
Hero: Alpha Hero
Plot or character-driven: Mix
P.O.V.: Single P.O.V., Third-person narration
Character development: Shallow
Diverse Cast: Nope
Read in: 2021
My Rate: 4/5
Feminist rate: 3/5 Through out this whole series I felt that Liz and her job, was shadowed by Braddy, and that is not exactly Braddy’s fault, I sincerely liked him in this third book, but there is a very big power imbalance between the two of them.
Adjectives and general thoughts: Interesting, a good ending to the trilogy
Recommend this to People who like cliffhangers (since is a trilogy), and who like alpha males who bend for their heroines.
Repeat
(Larsen Bros #1)
by Kylie Scott
When a vicious attack leaves 25-year-old Clementine Johns with no memory, she’s forced to start over. Now she has to figure out who she was and why she made the choices she did – which includes leaving the supposed love of her life, tattoo artist Ed Larsen, only a month before.
Ed can hardly believe it when his ex shows up at his tattoo parlor with no memory of their past, asking about the breakup that nearly destroyed him. The last thing he needs is more heartache, but he can’t seem to let her go again. Should they walk away for good, or does their love deserve a repeat performance?
I found this book because of a photo challenge I participated in on Instagram and when I read the synopsis I had to stop everything and read this book! I’m glad I did because it was worth it!
Genre: Romance
Publisher: Indie
Year: 2019
Nº of pages: 304
Goodreads rate: 4,11
Tropes: Amnesia Romance, Second chance romance, Tattoo Artist, Tattooed hero
Smut factor: 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 4/5 (steamy)
TRIGGER WARNINGS (Based on StoryGraphs): Blood, Sexual Content, Violence
Main characters: Clementine and Ed
Main conflict: Clem lost her memory and is now trying to get back to her normal life, with the help of Ed, her ex-boyfriend. Problem is, they broke up for a reason and Clem is finding out more and more that she is not who she was anymore. There’s also someone attacking Clem, so that’s scary for her too. (the small sub-plot about the attacker gives a lot of balance and justifications to the whole story)
Pacing: Medium
Mood: Hot and complicated
Hero: Ster Brunch Daddy
Plot or character-driven: Mix
P.O.V.: Single P.O.V.
Character development: Good
Diverse Cast: Nope
Read in: 2021
My Rate: 5/5
Feminist rate: 5/5 I love Clem’s search for independence and of who she is. I love the deep meanings in this book and the parallels we can make with this crazy (not so realistic) story. I love that she doesn’t want to only believe what her sister tells her and goes after her own pieces of information. She wants to defend herself, she takes self-defense classes! I love that! And I loved to analyze her former self and her new self, how she can observe her own life and judge her life choices, almost like an outsider. I also loved that she was able to set boundaries for Ed at the beginning of their relationship, we don’t see a lot of boundaries in romance/real life! (It was a mistake to go back and read my notes and highlights for this part, because now I’m remembering all the amazing things about this book, so I’ll stop here and make a review post only for this book)
Adjectives and general thoughts: Different, interesting, lovely, innovative, and it gives us (or at least me) a lot of places to analyze a lot of things (so, just my kind of book!)
Recommend this to Anyone who loves a second chance, anyone who is interested in analyzing the book, themselves, society, this might be awesome without all the analyzing too, but I loved it in every aspect
Pause
(Larsen Bros #2)
by Kylie Scott
When Anna wakes up from a coma after a car crash, she discovers life has gone on without her. Her husband has been unfaithful—with her best friend—and she’s been long since replaced at work. While her old life is a distant memory, her new life feels like an empty shell. Then she meets the stranger who saved her life during the crash, and he changes everything.
Leif Larsen—tattooist, joker, and player—has his own scars thanks to the crash that put Anna in a coma. Helping her move on from her failed marriage, and create a new life, sounds like a perfect distraction. So when he needs a new roommate, he invites Anna to begin her new life with him.
Although their lives may have been put on pause, together they just might find a way to heal.
When I started “Repeat” I didn’t know it was a duology, but when I discovered… I had to read this book, and this completely derailed my month’s hopefuls, but it was worth it!
Genre: Romance
Publisher: Indie
Year: 2021
Nº of pages: 194
Goodreads rate: 3,90
Tropes: Cheating Ex, Coma Romance, Divorced, Friends to Lovers, Mental Health, Roommates, Tattoo Artist, Tattooed hero
Smut factor: 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 4/5 (steamy)
TRIGGER WARNINGS (Based on StoryGraphs): Car accident, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Violence
Main characters: Anna and Leif
Main conflict: After a car accident, Anna’s in a coma for months, her husband cheats on her and she meets Leif, the guy who was in the accident with her, and he helps her move on with her life.
Pacing: Medium
Mood: Hot and complicated
Hero: Beta Hero
Plot or character-driven: Mix
P.O.V.: Single P.O.V.
Character development: Good
Diverse Cast: Nope
Read in: 2021
My Rate: 4/5
Feminist rate: 5/5 This book had a very appealing premise, the fact that Anna woke up to her husband having moved on with his life was a very real and very understandable trauma, beyond all the rest of the trauma of being in a car accident and a coma for months. All her life plans go to space and she has to figure EVERYTHING out. So I love that this book talks about her, taking control of her own life, moving on, finding new things, seeing her old life in a new way and deciding to do things differently, and also giving value to things that seemed meaningless before. I also love to see Leif’s trauma. (It sounds horrible but) I love to see a hero who has some mental health issues, and he deals with them. I love how honest Leif is and how he just say “let’s hug it out” and it makes everything better. He apologizes for interrupting her! That’s a win in my book. I also love their feminist analysis of Twilight. And last, but definitely not least, one of my favorite parts of this book was the “I’m not going to suffer in polite silence anymore”, I just adore that!
Adjectives and general thoughts: Again, the premise was amazing and this book had incredible points, as I just mentioned on my very long rant on the feminist rate, but it also disappointed me. I expected more of the book, something more like Repeat, relationship-wise. I think that Clem and Ed had a lot more conflict in their relationship and Lief and Anna, even though separately they have great stories, there’s nothing that separates them, so their relationship was a lot less interesting to read, even though their situation, as people, had incredible potential.
Recommend this to Who loves a cute and sarcastic hero, and a heroine who is taking control over her life, and also, if the trope of post coma story interested you, go for it, you’ll probably love it!
Love Under Quarantine
by Kylie Scott and Audrey Carlan
While the world is ravaged by a global pandemic, hotshot NFL running back Evan Sparks is locked in his own personal hell. With a career-ending scandal on his back, Evan hides out in his best friend’s empty San Francisco home, the full city shutdown locking him in a lonely twenty-story apartment in the sky.
Romance writer Sadie Walsh is having the worst case of writer’s block ever…until the incredible, muscular stranger staying next door gets her muse going strong. The pair of loners, never expecting to find a friend in all the madness, meet each day out on their balconies like a modern-day Romeo and Juliet.
Each new day brings unique challenges for the pair as they navigate the unknown and find solace together. They quickly figure out that as long as they have one another, they can handle anything.
Even falling in love under quarantine.
When I saw Repeat on Goodreads I saw this one too and I got so excited to read a book in pandemic reality! Unfortunately it didn’t reach my expectations…
Genre: Romance
Publisher: Indie
Year: 2020
Nº of pages: 275
Goodreads rate: 3,64
Tropes: COVID Quarantine Romance, Football Romance, Instalove, Neighbor, Sports Romance, Writers in Romance
Smut factor: 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 4/5 (steamy)
TRIGGER WARNINGS (Based on StoryGraphs): No content Warnings According to StoryGraph
Main characters: Evan and Sadie
Main conflict: They are neighbors in the middle of the COVID 19 lockdown
Pacing: Fast
Mood: Too fast for my taste
Hero: Alpha Hero
Plot or character-driven: Character Driven
P.O.V.: Double P.O.V.
Character development: Shallow
Diverse Cast: Nope
Read in: 2021
My Rate: 3/5
Feminist rate: 3/5 The hero grates my nerves, he is one of the winiest people I’ve ever read, and the insta love part really disappointed me, like I know, they are in Quarantine, but come on! And also, they are neighbors, who see each other on the window, it’s not exactly a forced proximity trope, they don’t need to see each other at all. I guess I was expecting a lot more and I just didn’t receive it. I liked the heroine but didn’t love her. I didn’t read anything remarkable.
Adjectives and general thoughts: Again, this premise had a lot of potentials, I just think it was executed poorly. I think the coolest part for me was reading this story, knowing how the world is 2 years after their time frame, but that’s all. If this book didn’t have COVID in it, I would honestly not like it much, there would be no story at all.
Recommend this to people who love insta love, don’t really care about character development, and enjoy a douchy hero who gets better way too fast to be believable.
Lick
(Stage Dive #1)
by Kylie Scott
Waking up in Vegas was never meant to be like this.
Evelyn Thomas’s plans for celebrating her twenty-first birthday in Las Vegas were big. Huge. But she sure never meant to wake up on the bathroom floor with a hangover to rival the black plague, a very attractive half-naked tattooed man in her room, and a diamond on her finger large enough to scare King Kong. Now if she could just remember how it all happened.
One thing is certain, being married to one of the hottest rock stars on the planet is sure to be a wild ride.
I first heard about this book in a Fated Mates podcast episode, and then it appeared on a photo challenge I was participating in on Instagram, so when I saw that Kylie Scott wrote some good books I decided to leave my hopefuls list behind and read this series.
Genre: Romance
Publisher: Momentum
Year: 2013
Nº of pages: 286
Goodreads rate: 4,09
Tropes: Celebrity Romance, Drunk in Vegas Romance, Instalove, Married in Vegas Romance, Rock Star Romance
Smut factor: 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 4/5 (steamy)
TRIGGER WARNINGS (Based on StoryGraphs): Addiction, Drug Abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Sexual Content
Main characters: David and Evelyn
Main conflict: After waking up in Vegas, married to a man she doesn’t remember, Ev needs to decide if they get a divorce or not, only he is a rock star and he is hot and she instantly falls for him, so….. (Oh and he has a past with his ex…. so)
Pacing: Medium
Mood: Hot and complicated
Hero: Alpha Hero
Plot or character-driven: Character Driven
P.O.V.: Single P.O.V.
Character development: Shallow
Diverse Cast: Nope
Read in: 2021
My Rate: 3/5
Feminist rate: 3/5 this girl has no one she really trusts, there is assault when a friend of the hero kisses her, without consent, there is instalove and I just hate that, the hero doesn’t know how to deal with his feeling and baggage and he is not honest with her, until he f*** up and he comes back crawling. I can’t even count in one hand how many times I wrote: “You’ve known him for TWO F****ING DAYS” in the notes of this book. And last, but definitely not least, when she is mad at him, they bang. That for me is just stupid.
Adjectives and general thoughts: Disappointed really, and annoyed at the instalove.
Recommend this to People who like instalove, rock star romance, and people who bang instead of having a conversation
Play
(Stage Dive #2)
by Kylie Scott
Mal Ericson, drummer for the world famous rock band Stage Dive, needs to clean up his image fast—at least for a little while. Having a good girl on his arm should do the job just fine. Mal doesn’t plan on this temporary fix becoming permanent, but he didn’t count on finding the one right girl.
Anne Rollins never thought she’d ever meet the rock god who plastered her teenage bedroom walls—especially not under these circumstances. Anne has money problems. Big ones. But being paid to play the pretend girlfriend to a wild life-of-the-party drummer couldn’t end well. No matter how hot he is. Or could it?
Despite not having loved Lick, it was a cool book and I knew what Kylie could write, so I never lost hope in her books, and my perseverance was rewarded.
Genre: Romance
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Year: 2014
Nº of pages: 294
Goodreads rate: 4,27
Tropes: Celebrity Romance, Fake dating, Fake relationship, Rock Star Romance, Roommates
Smut factor: 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 4/5 (steamy)
TRIGGER WARNINGS (Based on StoryGraphs): Sexual Content
Main characters: Anne and Mal
Main conflict: Anne and Mal move in together to solve their problems, but they obviously fall for each other, but Mal has some problem he needs to learn how to deal with.
Pacing: Medium
Mood: Hot and complicated
Hero: Alpha Hero, Sarcastic Hero
Plot or character-driven: Character Driven
P.O.V.: Single P.O.V.
Character development: Good
Diverse Cast: Nope
Read in: 2021
My Rate: 5/5
Feminist rate: 5/5 I love Mal, I love his boundaries talk (even though he oversteps boundaries all the time), I love that they have a sex scene where she doesn’t climax (which is much more realistic than the multiples most books portrait) but Mal fixes that after the sex. I love how Mal asks her for help when he is not in a good place mentally and again (it sounds bad) but I love a hero who is struggling mentally.
Adjectives and general thoughts: Sweet, extremely funny, sexy, and it is an almost insta love story, but compared to the other stories in this series, it is completely okay.
Recommend this to People who love a sarcastic, sexy, funny hero, with a heart of gold and a very filthy mouth
Lead
(Stage Dive #3)
by Kylie Scott
As the lead singer of Stage Dive, Jimmy is used to getting whatever he wants, whenever he wants it, whether it’s booze, drugs, or women. However, when a PR disaster serves as a wake-up call about his life and lands him in rehab, he finds himself with Lena, a new assistant to keep him out of trouble.
Lena’s not willing to take any crap from the sexy rocker and is determined to keep their relationship completely professional, despite their sizzling chemistry. But when Jimmy pushes her too far and Lena leaves, he realizes that he may just have lost the best thing that ever happened to him.
I was not so patiently waiting for this book, ever since I met Jimmy in the first book, and it was worth the wait.
Genre: Romance
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Year: 2014
Nº of pages: 305
Goodreads rate: 4,28
Tropes: Alcoholic, Celebrity Romance, Mental Health, Redemption story, Rock Star Romance, Roommates, Sober companion
Smut factor: 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 4/5 (steamy)
TRIGGER WARNINGS (Based on StoryGraphs): Ableism, Addiction, Drug Abuse, Emotional Abuse, Sexual Content
Main characters: Jimmy and Lena
Main conflict: Jimmy doesn’t believe he can love or feel anything at all, but Lena falls for him over their professional relationship.
Pacing: Medium
Mood: Hot and complicated
Hero: Alpha Hero
Plot or character-driven: Character Driven
P.O.V.: Single P.O.V.
Character development: Deep
Diverse Cast: Nope
Read in: 2021
My Rate: 4/5
Feminist rate: 4/5 I believe that my rate here is just 4/5 because Jimmy is mean at some points, he is so convinced that he is unlovable he is mean to her. But if you understand his point of view (we won’t forgive, and we won’t forget) but his story, and his struggles, they make this entire book, and they are amazing to read! I think that substance abuse is a very serious topic, and Kylie handled it (in my very humble option) very well, and it made me want to read more books with this trope.
Adjectives and general thoughts: Heavy, incredibly interesting, deep, and in the end sweet.
Recommend this to people who like a suffering hero, who like heavy and deep stories, who are okay with hard topics and are willing to overlook some emotional abuse and some workplace harassment
Deep
(Stage Dive #4)
by Kylie Scott
Positive. With two little lines on a pregnancy test, everything in Lizzy Rollins’ ordinary life is about to change forever. And all because of one big mistake in Vegas with Ben Nicholson, the irresistibly sexy bass player for Stage Dive. So what if Ben’s the only man she’s ever met who can make her feel completely safe, cherished, and out of control with desire at the same time? Lizzy knows the gorgeous rock star isn’t looking for anything more permanent than a good time, no matter how much she wishes differently.
Ben knows Lizzy is off limits. Completely and utterly. She’s his best friend’s little sister now, and no matter how hot the chemistry is between them, no matter how sweet and sexy she is, he’s not going to go there. But when Ben is forced to keep the one girl he’s always had a weakness for out of trouble in Sin City, he quickly learns that what happens in Vegas, doesn’t always stay there. Now he and Lizzie are connected in the deepest way possible… but will it lead to a connection of the heart?
This was also a book that I was super excited about and it started on a trope I love, but I couldn’t be more disapointed
Genre: Romance
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Year: 2015
Nº of pages: 271
Goodreads rate: 4,05
Tropes: Celebrity Romance, Drunk in Vegas Romance, Pregnant, Rock Star Romance, Surprise Baby, Surprise pregnancy
Smut factor: 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 4/5 (steamy)
TRIGGER WARNINGS (Based on StoryGraphs): Pregnancy, Sexual Content
Main characters: Ben and Lizzy
Main conflict: Surprise pregnancy with an asshole who never wanted to settle down
Pacing: Medium
Mood: Hot and complicated, I didn’t like it
Hero: Alpha Hero, Asshole hero
Plot or character-driven: Character Driven
P.O.V.: Single P.O.V.
Character development: Shallow
Diverse Cast: Nope
Read in: 2021
My Rate: 2/5
Feminist rate: SPOILERS AND A VERY ANGRY RANT (I’M SORRY) 1/5 This is a book about a girl who sleeps with a very immature man, and gets pregnant. This girl gives up all her dreams and goals and pursuits an asshole who through the whole book, never cleans up his act (not even at the end) and fixes things by making a very half-assed public declaration.
Adjectives and general thoughts: I was deeply disappointed in this book and Ben is one of the very few heroes that I HATE.
Recommend this to (I have very strong, negative feelings over this whole story, but I know a lot of people who loved it so…..) give it a try if you like surprise pregnancy (which I love, the trope was not my problem with the story), rock bands and I can’t think of anything else cool, but read the tropes, it might be your kind of book.
These were all the books I read in September! There were some great books this month and some not-so-great, so it was an interesting month! Have you read any of these? 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.
Find Me In
Meet Me
Brazilian architecture student and book lover
One of my goals in analysing my readings was to talk about important topics, like feminist and consent, because literature, art and culture influence us, and I believe we should always encorage authors who talk about this topics.
Come check out my Goodreads Reading Challenge!
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2020
I read 148 books in 2020, come see them!
