My Top Books of August

I read 31 books in August. No need to talk to me about the lack of my social life, my loved ones have made me more than aware.

Here I want to talk about my top five books of August. This is in no particular order (because I'm terrible at ranking and rating books because I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings).

• Consider Me by Becka Mack

• Does It Hurt? by H.D. Carlton

• Walking Red Flag by Morgan Elizabeth

• Flawless by Elsie Silver

• Saint View Prison series by Elle Thorpe (I tried to avoid adding a series to this list but I couldn't help myself).

Spoilers ahead and if you know me...no you don't. We cannot talk about the kinds of books I like to read. I will die.

In Becka Mack's Consider Me, high school P.E. teacher Olivia falls for the NHL's not-so-bad boy, Carter. From the jump, we know that Olivia will struggle with letting Carter in because he lets the world think that his bad boy persona is who he really is. Still, Carter falls for Olivia from the moment he meets her - even though he thinks he just wants to hook up with her, anyone with eyes can see that man is GONE for her. This man...if I could rip my heart out and give it to a book boyfriend, it would be Carter. He sticks up for her when her teenage students say inappropriate things to and about her (and as a kind of still, kind of former high school teacher, that made me MELT), he buys her a new furnace so she's not living in a cold house in a Canadian winter, he stands up to her family to defend her and their relationship, and he is willing to make himself vulnerable and open because of his love for her. I relate to Olivia - aside from the whole high school teacher thing - because as much as she craves love and companionship, she's still scared to open herself to love because she doesn't want to get hurt. Their highs were high and their lows were low, but they fought through the pain and, of course, got their happily ever after. This was one of the first books I read this month and I keep thinking about how much I love them. If you want scream into a pillow cute, mixed with really good sex scenes and a little bit of heartache, this is for you.

H.D. Carlton is one of my favorite booktok authors. Haunting Adeline and Hunting Adeline are just...chef's kiss perfection. But, today I'm talking about Does It Hurt? another book that fundamentally changed me (and opened up some fun new kinks to come to terms with, tbh). Sawyer is on the run from page one. We don't know why, but we learn very quickly that she steals identities frequently to get away from what - or whom - ever she's running. Cue Enzo: a hot Italian man, living in Australia, who swims with and researches sharks for a living. He doesn't want anything serious - just holy hell, I need to take a breather and process before I keep reading sex. Until that is, Sawyer steals his identity. As soon as he finds her again, he takes her out to the open sea, makes her bleed, then fucks her while keeping her head underwater where sharks are ready to eat her. I mean...not a totally sane man but BOY WAS IT SHOCKINGLY HOT. As if their lives weren't hard enough, they get stranded on a deserted island with a creepy lighthouse caretaker who lets them stay in his haunted (because of course it is???) lighthouse. They learn to trust and love each other, but their time on this island isn't without its plot twists. Is the lighthouse haunted? Is the caretaker creepy or just deprived of human contact? Will they ever get home? This book is NOT for the faint of heart - this should not be your first foray into dark romance - but if you're into other dark romances, I would completely recommend this.

I need you all to know that I will always and forever recommend ANYTHING by Morgan Elizabeth. I've read and loved all of her Springbook Hills series, and the Ocean View series continues to live up to the hype. This is a series of interconnected standalone - you don't need to read book one (The Ex Files) to read Walking Red Flag because she does a great job at getting characters and their relationships with each other woven into the exposition seamlessly so you don't feel like you're slogging through it if you've already read the books. Gabi is a 28-year-old virgin who's never had an orgasm (self-induced or otherwise) and isn't waiting for "Mister Right" but is waiting for a man who will completely satisfy and get her off in bed (and honestly, it's what we all deserve). She finds that man in Vic who is her ER doctor when she breaks her wrist trying to...arrive... in the shower. We've got that insta-love, so OF COURSE Vic offers to help Gabi out in exchange for him being able to tell his (loving but "when are you going to get married and give me grandchildren?") mother that they're dating. Vic helps her accept how wonderful she is, Gabi helps Vic enjoy and appreciate his life outside of the ER. With Gabi's friends teasing "Hot Doctor Vic", incredible sex scenes, and really heartwrenching scenes of Gabi's vulnerability to resonate with the most confident of readers, Walking Red Flag was easily one of the cutest and steamiest reads of August for me.

Now, though I live in the midwest US, I pride myself on being 0% "country". He's the cocky, sexy as sin in his Levi's, verging on retirement bull rider. She's his agent's assistant (and daughter) brought in to save his reputation. It's a really good mix of both of them wanting to avoid temptation and small moments of them giving in and showing that they care about and pay attention to the other person. My biggest (only???) gripe with this book is that the reason Rhett needs to fix his reputation is that he publicly talked about how he hates milk and lots of people were pissed because he's sponsored by dairy farmers and comes from a really big dairy community. They kept acting as if he said that dairy farmers are useless members of society when really all he said was that he didn't want to sit around drinking glasses of milk all rawdog style which same. I digress... Summer wants to please her dad so much because of her terrible relationship with her stepmother and half-sister and her own health issues growing up, and Rhett doesn't want to piss off his agent by sleeping with his daughter. Sparks fly pretty quickly with these two. Rhett is a flirty cowboy who doesn't want other men touching her but refuses to give in for a long while. Summer just wants to help Rhett and his family so that Rhett can safely retire and rest his very broken body. I've never been one for the whole "save a horse, ride a cowboy" idea but for Rhett, I just might.

I really tried to avoid including a series because it kind of feels like cheating but I read a lot of series this month. The Saint View Prison series has been on my TBR list for well over a year and I'm not sure why it took me so long to read it cause I LOVE a reverse harem. I read the Prison series and started the Saint View Psychos but with full transparency, will not read the Saint View High series. I cannot read spicy books set in high school, it's way too cringe as a high school teacher. This series is all about Mae trying to solve her sister's murder and get her sister's ex, Heath, (the man she's been in love with for years) out of prison for confessing to the murder he didn't commit. In book one, Heath tries to avoid Mae to keep her safe and out of the prison and basically accepts his fate. He knows he's going down for this murder, even if it was a false confession, because Mae's sister was a cop. Liam is the lawyer who agrees to represent Heath in exchange for a date with Mae, and in book one gets most of the page/screen time in regards to romance. Rowe is the standard grump, he's a guard at the prison and absolutely refuses to acknowledge any attraction to Mae. Mae knows that Heath is innocent, but there are so many false starts and times spent running after leads that don't pan out. Throw in the family issues that all of them have, the fact that no one else believes in Heath's innocence, and constantly getting new pieces of information that make Mae question everything about what she thought she knew about her sister and her life, you will NEVER see some of these plot twists coming.

Overall, this month was really strong. I read some of my favorite books EVER in August. I'm really looking forward to my September books. I have several continuations of series to get started on, and a few really good mafia romances currently on my Kindle to read. Follow me on Instagram for updates on what books I read along with very basic ratings as I go through the month.

Happy reading!