Lessons For Broke Georgia

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was eye opening to how we can get ourselves into sticky situations surrounding money. Our MC Georgia is left with a massive debt when her cheating ex-fiancé racks up thousands of charges on her credit card. Her trust was abused and after finding out all these secrets her ex Basil kept from her, Georgia’s left with figuring her life out. The story covers her navigating life, love and relationships whilst she comes up with creative ways to clear this debt.

I found this read funny but also relatable. It does make you think about how you can be wiser with money and how we can easily mismanage our finances. Georgia really stuck to her guns in not borrowing from others and took responsibility to figure it out. I know when I've been in situations like this, I start to figure out how I should manage my money better.

I really enjoyed the subplot with Georgia's mother who seemed sketchy and randomly disappeared. When she was always asking to borrow money from Georgia or her brother and never seeing that money returned, this led to my assumptions. I thought maybe the mum was a con artist or she owed money to loan sharks, but honestly didn't guess the twist at the end. No one could have seen that coming.

I enjoyed the interactions Georgia had with her brothers and friends. Had quite a few laughs through their conversations. Georgia's dating encounters were also hilarious moments - the poop scene especially! Her ex Basil was a complete mooch and he just felt like he was totally not her type to begin with. I also enjoyed her supportive friends throughout the read.

Overall I had fun whilst reading this and it felt like a friend telling me about their life with all the mishaps and triumphs.

Sweethand

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Read this as part of a tandem collective and collective voices readalong. I did enjoy this read and felt engaged from the start.

I thought the whole ensemble of characters were a great set of people. They all had a fun dynamic but also all have each other’s backs. I really had a sense of family within this book and I love how the author brought her culture into it all. I actually learned what soca was because before that, I had no idea! There’s not only BIPOC representation but LGBTQ+! And not just one character, but multiple characters.

I love the enemy to lovers trope, though with this read, I was laughing a lot at what the two main characters Kieran and Cherisse would do to each other, because it was so petty. I was there for it! There was no real reason why they disliked one another since childhood, but with Cherisse’s sister Ava getting married, they were forced together due to being best man and maid of honour. I liked how it all unravelled and how their forced duties to plan a joint hen and bucks night, was either going to end in disaster or reveal sides that the characters didn’t know about one another.

I had lots of fun reading this book. There were so many moments where I laughed or smile. Liked how bossy Cherisse was especially when it came to the bedroom. I find that with so many romances, the men take the lead but Cherisse was just empowered and took control. It was awesome to read that! Also, reading about all the baked good Cherisse made, made me wish I had them in my possession. Sounded so good!

Would recommend to any fan of rom coms.

The Serpent & the Wings of Night

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book really is a slow burn, so if you’re not up for the intricate world building and blood fest through some vampire trials, then this book ain’t for you!

I’ll just saw wow! That ending OMG. Luckily there’s another book to read as it’s basically a shit show from this point. And I mean that in a nice way!

When Oraya was taken/picked/captured as a child by vampire king Vincent, you immediately ask why. What is so special about this human? Throughout the book, you’re really wondering what Vincent’s motives are. Does he really have a soft spot for her? Why would he train a human to enter a vampire trial? At one point, I actually thought he was waiting for her to come of age so he could make her his wife and they rule the kingdom together. How wrong I was on that!

So a good 75% of this book is Oraya entering the Kejari which is a tournament where the vampire goddess Nyaxia grants you a wish. It's gory, ruthless and relentless. Having a human enter is unheard of but Vincent has trained Oraya her whole life for this moment. He's very secretive of why exactly. Cue in hot vampire Raihn who we find out was once human and he is fully intrigued by Oraya. With his best friend Mische, they form an alliance with Oraya to get through to various stages of the trial.

There's a few twists at the end. I knew what Oraya's actions would be, but I wasn't expecting the actions from Raihn after that. Throughout the whole book Oraya and Raihn have a love hate relationship, and I actually enjoy the interactions they have with one another. It's going to be interesting with how the kingdom's are going to be ruled. I want to dig into the next book as I am now captivated by this story.

Secretly Yours

⭐️⭐️⭐️🌟

I read this book as part of a tandem readalong and it’s my first Tessa Bailey book. It’s a 3.5-3.75 for me.

The whole concept of secret admirer letters is a bit childish to me, but I didn’t mind what was written by Hallie. It was obvious she had built up a picture of Julian from high school but didn’t really know him.

I was trying to figure out if Julian had OCD or autism. Some of his traits do fit, but when it was mentioned that he had anxiety, which was catapulted by the fire, it made sense. He had built his routine all around time, that he got so lost in it and wasn’t really living.

Hallie was fun and bright, though if she were a real life friend, her tardiness would get to me. I thought she opened Julian in ways that he didn’t know he needed. Early on in the book, I did notice her mentioning (ever so slightly) that she hadn’t had sex and for whatever reason, I thought it was a typo, only to find out it was correct. I wouldn’t have minded Julian being my first.

The big conflict just seemed like a miscommunication / misunderstanding and that is a trope I do not like. Then again, I didn’t really know where the story was heading, so it needed some form of conflict before the end scene resolution.

It was a good read. I do want to check Tessa’s other work to see if I like any of those reads better.

Verity

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Wow! This book had me engaged the whole time! I read it in a few hours because I just wanted to know how this disturbing tale would end. This is my very first read of Colleen Hoover’s work. I hope this hasn’t set the bar too high because I really enjoyed it.

The whole time I thought “wow verity is so manipulative”, thinking that was the twist and how would Lowen deal with it, only to be surprised that another twist was coming. Despite the letter at the end, Lowen must be a morally low character because she encouraged Jeremy to kill Verity. She is basically turning a blind eye to the fact that Jeremy could be a psycho, but maybe like meets like. Lowen was okay with murder, so maybe they are suited to one another. I guess the truth doesn’t really matter as she has blood on her hands regardless.

Haven’t read the bonus chapter that was recently released and unsure if it would add any beneficial story. I liked how this book ended as it is. I’ve seen how this is unlike colleen’s other books, so might be a shock for me as I venture into her other reads. Thought that this was a great mystery thriller.