Weekly Reading Update | July 17 Currently Reading -

I’m still not doing great with my reading for July but I did manage to make some progress with a couple books over the past week.

*links are Amazon affiliate links and I may get a small commission*

just finished:

Power
Cassandra Robbins

Amazon | Goodreads

From USA Today bestselling author Cassandra Robbins comes her most forbidden romance to date. An explosive age-gap, complete stand-alone love story about infamous attorney Jett Powers and the woman who brings him to his knees.

Jett Powers is brilliant, nasty, and forbidden.

He takes what he wants, has no regrets, and makes no excuses.

Not to mention he’s tall, dark, and irresistible.

From our first secret encounter, I’m addicted.

He’s the last man that should be making my stomach flip, and heart pound.

Unfortunately, my mind and body are not in sync.

Because Mr. Powers is not mine.

He can’t be.

He’s my mother’s fiancé.

I have to admit, I went into this one with the wrong expectations. This was pure smut which I don’t have a problem with but I was looking for something with a little more plot. I enjoyed this once I realized I needed to change my expectations but it was not quite what I was hoping for. If you’re looking for forbidden romance with a lot of spice, pick this one up. It’s quick and it’s entertaining.

Lover Enshrined
J.R. Ward

Amazon | Goodreads

In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there’s a deadly war raging between vampires and their slayers. And there exists a secret band of brothers like no other—six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. And now, a dutiful twin must choose between two lives…

Fiercely loyal to the Black Dagger Brotherhood, Phury has sacrificed himself for the good of the race, becoming the male responsible for keeping the Brotherhood’s bloodlines alive. As Primale of the Chosen, he is to father the sons and daughters who will ensure that the traditions of the race survive and that there are warriors to fight those who want all vampires extinguished.

As his first mate, the Chosen Cormia wants to win not only his body but his heart for herself- she sees the emotionally scarred male behind all his noble responsibility. But while the war with the Lessening Society grows more grim, and tragedy looms over the Brotherhood’s mansion, Phury must decide between duty and love.

I just finished re-reading Lover Enshrined as part of my re-read of the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. This was one of my least favorites the first time around and might be one of my favorites this time. I can appreciate Phury and Cormia’s story so much more now. If you have not read this series, I highly recommend it.

current read:

The Only One Left
Riley Sager

Amazon | Goodreads

Bestselling author Riley Sager returns with a Gothic chiller about a young caregiver assigned to work for a woman accused of a Lizzie Borden-like massacre decades earlier.

At seventeen, Lenora Hope
Hung her sister with a rope

Now reduced to a schoolyard chant, the Hope family murders shocked the Maine coast one bloody night in 1929. While most people assume seventeen-year-old Lenora was responsible, the police were never able to prove it. Other than her denial after the killings, she has never spoken publicly about that night, nor has she set foot outside Hope’s End, the cliffside mansion where the massacre occurred.

Stabbed her father with a knife
Took her mother’s happy life

It’s now 1983, and home-health aide Kit McDeere arrives at a decaying Hope’s End to care for Lenora after her previous nurse fled in the middle of the night. In her seventies and confined to a wheelchair, Lenora was rendered mute by a series of strokes and can only communicate with Kit by tapping out sentences on an old typewriter. One night, Lenora uses it to make a tantalizing offer—I want to tell you everything.

“It wasn’t me,” Lenora said
But she’s the only one not dead

As Kit helps Lenora write about the events leading to the Hope family massacre, it becomes clear there’s more to the tale than people know. But when new details about her predecessor’s departure come to light, Kit starts to suspect Lenora might not be telling the complete truth—and that the seemingly harmless woman in her care could be far more dangerous than she first thought.

I have not made as much progress with The Only One Left as I had hoped I would. I’m loving it so far, I have just not had time to sit down and really binge it like I’d hoped I would. I do hope to finish it this week though and have a full review to post. So far, it’s typical Riley Sager which means I’m loving it.

reading next:

Happy Place
Emily Henry

Amazon | Goodreads

Harriet and Wyn have been the perfect couple since they met in college—they go together like salt and pepper, honey and tea, lobster and rolls. Except, now—for reasons they’re still not discussing—they don’t.

They broke up six months ago. And still haven’t told their best friends.

Which is how they find themselves sharing the largest bedroom at the Maine cottage that has been their friend group’s yearly getaway for the last decade. Their annual respite from the world, where for one vibrant, blue week they leave behind their daily lives; have copious amounts of cheese, wine, and seafood; and soak up the salty coastal air with the people who understand them most.

Only this year, Harriet and Wyn are lying through their teeth while trying not to notice how desperately they still want each other. Because the cottage is for sale and this is the last week they’ll all have together in this place. They can’t stand to break their friends’ hearts, and so they’ll play their parts. Harriet will be the driven surgical resident who never starts a fight, and Wyn will be the laid-back charmer who never lets the cracks show. It’s a flawless plan (if you look at it from a great distance and through a pair of sunscreen-smeared sunglasses). After years of being in love, how hard can it be to fake it for one week… in front of those who know you best?

My plan is still to read Happy Place next. I need more Emily Henry in my life.