My Top Books of November

As I start this blog, it is November 7th. I just finished my October blog post (oops) and I SWEAR that I'll be better about writing my posts as soon as I finish the books. November might have been my best month. I think I only had one book that really disappointed me. I've read a lot of great books this month, some of which I was REALLY excited for and some of which really surprised me. So here we go.

My top books of November:

• One Last Shot by Julia Conners

• Make Me by Summer O'Toole

• The Fastest Way to Fall by Denise Williams

• Protective Heart by Brighton Walsh

• Twisted by Renee Rocco

Aleksandr and Petra were best friends (and in love) as kids. But 14 years ago, for reasons she's unaware of, Petra is left hanging by Aleksandr (who Petra calls Sasha and the public calls Alex) and has her heart broken. This starts a long line of men who aren't worthy of Petra - she decides to put her career first and only use men for sex. She doesn't need a husband and kids (though secretly she craves it and still loves Sasha). Cut to today: Petra and Sasha learn that 14 years ago when Sasha's dad paid for Petra to go to a nice school and train to be a skier, they were actually married, and now NHL player Sasha needs Petra's help to make sure that he can become an American citizen and formally adopt his niece, Stella.

With Dual POVs, we learn early on what actually happened when Sasha forcefully let Petra down, and naturally, he doesn't tell her the truth (because drama), but just kind of hopes that she'll fall (back?) in love with him and they can be together forever. But workaholic Petra really doesn't want to be forced to move from California to New York City to marry and live with Sasha and Stella - she likes her even organizing job and is set to host a really impactful TV series focusing on powerful women. But she meets Stella and is basically sold from minute one. Petra refuses to give in to Sasha's every demand and makes sure that they try to come up with any other solution to help Stella stay with Sasha.

Stella falls in love with Petra immediately, Petra makes sure that Stella realizes that even though she's a child, she's her own person, and her feelings and comfort matter. Petra sticks up for Stella in ways that she never had as a child herself; which ends up meaning that Petra has to extend her stay in NYC and babysit Stella while a new nanny is hired and Alex travels to compete in the NHL finals. Sasha tries his hardest to make her fall in love with him and stay in NYC as a family, but Petra really struggles with accepting her feelings, falling in love, and giving up what she's been working for her whole life. Sasha learns that even though he hurt her to protect her, he can't just assume she'll accept his reasoning and forgive him. They both really come to terms with their mistakes and their past, they fall in love and it's so exciting to see how much they've cared about each other for their entire lives.

Harlow's best friend, Beth, is murdered by a serial killer while Harlow is left behind. She quickly realizes that local businessman and hot-as-sin mafioso, Cash Fox is the man she saw stabbing Beth repeatedly because of the tattoo of a fox holding a snack on the back of his hand. The police can't (or won't?) do anything about Cash because of his alibi so Harlow stalks Cash (poorly) and goes undercover at his restaurant to bring him to justice.

Cash is definitely a fucked up guy. He's not your typical morally grey dark romance male lead; he's fully evil. We spend the first half of the book with Harlow stalking Cash while Cash admires her obsession with him and tries to get his hooks in her - he is typical in the sense that as soon as he sees her, she's "his" and he doesn't care about her being against that idea. Harlow feels guilty for being attracted to her best friend's murderer but the detectives in charge of the serial killer investigation aren't helping her so she naturally thinks she can successfully tail a LITERAL MAFIA KINGPIN like...girl I admire your dedication but in no way are your massive glasses and sitting directly across from his business and spilling coffee on yourself helping you get proof of this murder.

There's a really great push and pull here - she gives in and gets off, she immediately regrets it and pushes him away, he gives her more of what she wants, and then is immediately pissed off and yelling at her or ignoring her. It's also a really great mix of their love story and sex while also trying to solve a crime with a ton of twists and turns, some of which are incredibly contrived but some that are really creative and interesting to process.

Britta works for a lifestyle website and wants to move from editing and background work to actually writing so she and another hopeful writer decide to compare two fitness apps and track their progress. Britta is fun and passionate and the dreaded fat but she's not on this app to lose weight. She wants to be healthy and more active and just feel good in her skin.

Wes owns and works on the fitness app that Britta starts with and matches himself to coach her. FitMi Fitness isn't about losing weight. It's about being healthy, starting new habits, and enjoying the process of getting there. A rival fitness app, HottrYou (terrible name, IMO) that just so happens to be run by Wes' ex-girlfriend, is all about the scale, losing weight, and (obviously) looking traditionally "hot".

There's a decent amount of slow burn here - it takes 117 pages for them to meet in person - but god, the friendship they form is so perfect. I really connected with Britta and how desperately she loves herself and her body and what she looks like even when people ask her how the weight loss is going and how hard that is for her to hear. But Wes supports her so much from the beginning and when she texts "Help", he's there immediately. I was sitting in my classroom crying at how much he cared for her. Throughout the story, there is a little bit of communication breakdown and there IS a third act break-up. BUT I really enjoyed how both characters were upset about what happened but they didn't let the pain overtake them. Britta continued to do her workouts and try to run a marathon and Wes supports her from afar and tries to do everything to get her back and make her life easier. They were definitely one of the most lovable couples of the month.

I read the first Starlight Cove book (Defiant Heart) last month, I think, and I fell in love with this town and these characters. This is an interconnected standalone - so you can read it on its own but characters from past and future books DO make an appearance so I suggest reading the first book!

Beck is the grumpy diner owner and Everly is the chaotic vet who moved to town a few years ago and wormed her way into Beck's heart (DEFINITELY got Luke and Lorelai vibes from them at times). Beck's tried to fight his feelings for Everly and even though he knows what she's into in bed from their spicy book club, thinks she deserves more. But when Everly's house catches on fire, she moves into Beck's cottage and sparks fly. Will they accept the fact that they're in love, or will Everly move home across the country because she feels like she doesn't fit in with the town?

Y'all...Beck is THE MAN. These two are the epitome of grumpy/sunshine but from the beginning, we see Beck shine around Everly - I mean he literally calls her sunshine...come on. He definitely gives Daddy Dom vibes - he yells at her for keeping her house unlocked, makes sure she eats every day, and knows exactly what she wants in bed. And BOY are the sex scenes hot. Beck's mouth is FILTHY and I'm honestly so here for it. I really love the "he hates everyone but her" vibes and Beck really embodies that. The drama doesn't feel too convoluted or over the top; there's a really good balance of happy, sex, and sad scenes but I didn't feel like one scene really overpowered any others. Walsh is REALLY good at balancing the fun/hot and drama scenes. I cannot WAIT for the rest of this series!

Twisted is a why choose Rapunzel retelling and I am OBSESSED. This was one of the last books I read this month but I demolished it. It's such a perfect mix of stressful drama and incredible heat - all of the people in this relationship (Rapunzel, Wren; the man who's loved her since they were teenagers who's turned dark and angry and "hates" Rapunzel when they reunite as adults, Dax; the goofy, sexy man who's unabashedly into Rapunzel from the jump, and Quinn; the demon(?) who tries so hard not to give into Rapunzel but is so grumbly and dark until he lets her in) work so well together.

Wren worked for the king, who's a massive dick, until he decided to turn into a kind of Robin Hood character and go against his king with his band of merry men. He learns about Rapunzel's "gift" and decides to kidnap her to torture her when he finds out the king is looking for her. Most of the book is Wren trying to convince everyone that he actually hates Rapunzel and doesn't want to fuck her within an inch of her life. Jax and Quinn have no such compunctions and give her her first time with a man together while Wren tortures himself watching. Wren really wants to hate her, but the more time they spend together, the more he accepts the fact that Rapunzel is the kind and loving woman that he always thought she was.

As the foursome tries to hide from the king, we find out more about Rapunzel's history, the witch who kept her in the tower, the king and his insanity, and how the men came together and decided to bring others who hate the king into their protection of an abandonded castle to live togehter to stand up against the king. It takes a lot of what we knew about Rapunzel - the hair, the powers, the tower - and adds darker backgrounds to make it feel more modern but still give you that "fairy tale" vibe you might go for. I'm REALLY excited for book two.

Great books this month - and I'm really proud of myself for getting this posted ON December 1st! Follow me on Instagram to see what I'm reading day-to-day!