My reading momentum in the month of August definitely slowed down. August is this really awkward in between’ish transition month for me. I feel it every year. It’s the last month of summer and being a mood reader, I am in this weird space where I want to binge the last bit of my summer reads but am also *over* the heat and ready to dive head first into my fall reads.

So faithfully every year, it’s like I go super hard in July then August comes around and I’m at this fork in the road..like what do I go with? I did read a few things though that I really enjoyed, so let’s chat about them.

First up is Cowboy to the Core by Maisey Yates.

Maisey Yates’s writing abilities always stir up all kinds of emotions in me that I don’t expect to see coming. This is book six in her Gold Valley series, which I highly recommend losing yourself in if you’re looking for a new series. At this point, we are seeing two very prominent families start to blend, but in this one we follow Jamie Dodge and Gabe Dalton. Both of these characters are so complex and so complicated. Maisey Yates writes some of the best internal conflict I’ve ever read. It adds so much depth to the romance itself. It was perfection. I could go on and on about Cowboy to the Core, but seriously, just go read it!

Yes, your girl has already started reading my favorites, the holiday romances. Next up is Christmas With the Marine by Candace Havens.

Christmas With the Marine is Ben and Ainsley’s romance. The two meet in the shopping mall where Ben has been tasked with buying toys on behalf of his unit for the local Toys for Tots drive. While there, he runs into Ainsley who is this rich girl, who has started her own business as a professional shopper..out here trying to make money of her own and get out of the shadow of her rich parents. This romance takes place in Texas which is always fun to read being that I live here. I love seeing the military camaraderie, but we also see the flip side, where Ainsley’s Dad doesn’t think Ben is good enough for his daughter. I thought that a very interesting perspective to add to the story. It definitely presented some conflict. I really enjoyed it. It hooked me right from the beginning, but I won’t say anything further! In December, you’ll be able to see more of my thoughts.

My next two..

First up is Grading Curves by Naima Simone.

Naima Simone serves us a wonderfully served, interracial, older woman younger man, professor/student novella and I loved every minute of it. Long story short: lady professor goes to get a tattoo and gets way more than that. Goes to work a few days later and tattoo boo is one of her new students. Simone’s writing is magical and I am so obsessed with her. I need to own everything she’s written.

My last favorite was literally less than 30 pages, but trust me on this: Sierra Simone wrote it, so it’s the right mixture of dark, sexy as hell and twisted.

The Seduction of Molly O’Flaherty is a historical, is erotic. I loved the hell out of this book. The story kicks off with something really messed up to Molly. We don’t witness the act, but we see how Molly is struggling with it. Enters Silas who Molly has been friends with for a very long time.

“Somehow along the way, somewhere in our decade of friendship, I’d fallen in love with Silas. And I had no way to process that revelation.”

In true Sierra Simone fashion, it feels so wrong, but is so damn right, it’s irresistible. You get hooked. Despite what has happened to Molly, she makes the choice to sit still, and allow Silas to take care of her, to take what’s happened away and make her feel good.  I’ll leave you with this:

“Whose little doll are you?” Silas asked. “Yours,” I whispered, still malarial from my incredible orgasm. “Only yours.” “And who takes care of you?” “You do.” He nudged in a little deeper, so I could feel exactly how much he stretched me. “And what are you going to do right now?” “Not move.” I moaned as he slid in farther. “Let you make me feel good.”

 

Let me know your reading favorites from August and until next time, take care of yourselves.

xo.