September has been a hard month. A new job, and lots of sickness. I read five books, and have decided to stop beating myself up over falling 10 books behind on my yearly reading goal. Too many other things happening to worry about that. But the books I have read have been smashing fun.

I hope you Stay by Courtney Peppernell
A friend loaned me her paperback copy of this book and it couldn’t have come at a more perfect time.
I enjoyed this collection. I love the way the poems are broken into sections. I felt strong pulls to several of the poems which is always nice.
I got overwhelmed by the formatting. I fell into the mindset of novel reading several times with the larger blocks of text and then suddenly there is rhyming and it pulled me out of the message of the poem.
I enjoyed the change from first person to third person, even a few poems written in second person. It was a nice way to break up the book while giving it a gentle flowing feeling.
Perfect timing for me to read some more poetry, to help reset emotions and remind me to breathe.

Tangled Vows by Anna Stone
My first Anna Stone and my first BDSM.
I enjoyed many things about this book. The story was entertaining and the characters intriguing. I loved icy Yvonne, and I related to Ruby’s struggle to find herself again having been turned into a shell by her ex.
I listened to the audio version narrated by Lexy Rebe. I loved her drawl and especially loved Yvonne’s sexy voice. I wasn’t so fond of Ruby’s voice.
I want to say the book shocked me with the bdsm scenes, but not at all. Which might have a little more to do with me as the writing was exquisite and the scenes well done in all aspects.
I appreciated the angst and tension build up wasn’t drawn out and the resolution was extremely satisfying.
I like Anna Stones use of words and look forward to reading more of her books.

Strange Attractors by Ana K Wrenn
An amazingly beautiful and haunting look into dark academia and trauma.
Ana K Wrenn writes in the most poetic and beautiful way, her choice of words taking us into the twisted and tormented life and struggles of Dr Sonya Storey.
An ice queen and how she’s been made, and destroyed. A love interest who refuses to be silenced or used as a life saver. Unexpected amusement in the middle of chaos.
There are so many levels in this book I could easily see myself rereading and finding more depth within depth.
The scenery is delicious and the characters are so wonderfully flawed.

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
I really had to stop and think about how to discuss this book, how to review it. I don’t want to spoil it for anyone because everyone who likes sci-fi or well written characters and exciting adventures should absolutely read this book.
An ensemble cast of tunnellers who get a big arse paying job that will push them up in their goals and start allowing them to get on top of things.
But of course, nothing comes without a price, even if none of them expected the prices they paid.
The audio was narrated by Patricia Rodriguez and damn it if she didn’t do a truly fantastic job. So many different characters and voices and she absolutely nailed them.
The different races are fantastic and the characters are so well rounded and realistic. I was on every punch with them, every unexpected twist and turn.
I adored all the crew, and cannot wait to get to read more of this series.

The Little Morsel by Rachel Rener and Alora Carter
This is the most adorable one sitting fantasy story about a dragon and a girl who find an unlikely family in each other. Found family is one of my favourite tropes of all time. And this mixed with the beautiful writing and the fantastic humour had me smiling during the entire read.
I was blown away by how the authors handled the dark reality of little morsels life previously. Children’s books can handle such things, and it was handled perfectly here.
I think my favourite of Ferals names for the food deliveries was definitely tarts in carts, but there were so many great ones to choose from lol

CURRENT READS:

I’m in the middle of three amazing books at the moment. I can’t wait to finish and review them:
Purposefully Accidental by G Benson
Crush by S R Silcox
Nona the Ninth (The Locked Tomb #3) by Tamsyn Muir

Be Safe
Be Brave
Be Kind

Neen x