My Top Books of October

Some REALLY great books this month and not a lot of duds, thankfully! I'm back teaching so I got to do some reading over my school's fall break which was definitely needed after the chaos of the last few months. I'm trying really hard to plan ahead for this monthly post as I go through my books because it seems like the first of the month just shows up earlier and earlier. This month I got ahead by at least having the list of books I wanted going but I REALLY need to start writing the recaps and my thoughts as soon as I finish a book because I'm one of those people who always says, "of course I'll remember the plot and my thoughts when I start writing the post" when in reality I forget basically everything about each book as soon as I'm done with it. Check my Instagram highlights to see everything I read in August and September!

Here are October's top books featuring an honorable mention series:

• Play With Me by Becka Mack (obviously)

• We're Made of Moments by Molly McLain

• In a Jam by Kate Canterbary

• King of Wrath by Ana Huang (obviously)

• Honorable Mention: The Clifton Forge series by Devney Perry because the series was IMPECCABLE but I couldn't have picked my favorite and including a series just felt like too much for me to handle.

TW: There are some intense conversations about sexual assault in this book so keep that in mind if you're jumping in but here we go!

We all knew it was coming. Consider Me was one of my top books of August and I was SO excited for book two. It did NOT disappoint. This follows Carter's little sister, Jennie, and his teammate and Garrett. She's had a crush on him forever but he stays away from her because she's his teammate and best friend's little sister. We fell in love with both of them in Consider Me, but getting to see their realtionship blossom really warms your heart.

I mean, come on, one of their first major interactions is when he's helping find a stuffed animal from her dad, checks a box in her newly moved into apartment labelled "Toys" and one of her massive dildos brains him. He calls her sunshine. He helps her, defends her against a douchey classmate, and supports her. Garrett is SUCH a simp. Jennie is strong-willed, tough as nails, and scared to give Garrett her heart. This books is just so fucking sweet and warm and cozy. The plot is mainly focused on them trying to deny their feelings and hide their hooking up but the important moments are so important. The sex in incredible. They're so in love and I am here for it.

This book ripped my heart out like eighty times. Hayden is with her long-term boyfriend and he cheats on her. She takes a few weeks at her family's cabin by herself where she and Jesse, a friend from the town who's been into her for years, hookup for those few weeks and obviously she ends up pregnant. She goes back to the boyfriend turned fiance and she and Jesse co-parent for several YEARS. Obviously the fiance is trash and Jesse wants her so much but refuses to fight for someone who doesn't want him. Drama ensues, secrets are revealed, and they live happily ever after eventually.

They're such a perfect couple and they love their son SO MUCH. Jesse is so obviously head over heels for Hayden and hides is so terribly, but bless Hayden, she's so oblivious. She's trying to make her (very very long) engagement work, but her fiance doesn't connect with her son much, he works a lot, and is just generally an ass. You can tell that Hayden really loves Jesse and wishes she could be with him but she feels some sense of obligation to her finace that she refuses to leave him for so many years.

I really loved the connection between Hayden and Jesse as parents as much as a couple - you can tell that they genuinely have their son's best interest at heart and all they want is him happy and healthy. I really appreciated that the book didn't feel too formulaic; the drama was expected (he loves her, she's engaged, she leaves the finace) but it had really important twists and individualistic sides. She didn't leave her fiance for him, he didn't try to "win her" so obviously that it became a love triangle, and the finace wasn't just your typical "jilted lover". You get a feel for them as individuals, a couple, and parents and all parts of them just work so well together. The secondary characters add so much heart and comedy that even when I felt like my heart was being ripped out of my chest, someone made me laugh.

Shay's grandmother dies and leaves her family's tulip farm to Shay under two conditions - she has to move to the farm and live in Friendship, RI, and (obviously) she has to be married. Which is a problem because she was just left at the alter. So, the elementary school teacher who's life is in total upheaval says "fuck it" and moves to the farm she hasn't visited since high school. Enter: her high school best friend, Noah, his energetic 6-year-old niece, Gennie, who curses like a sailor (she says she's "bored as a motherfucker" about two minutes into her first meeting with Shay). Of course Noah - the nerd in high school - was madly in love with the angsty, misunderstood, insanely hot Shay in high school. So what does he do? Offers to marry her, OBVIOUSLY.

This book is just full of rot your teeth sweet, laugh out loud comedy, and hot as sin sex. Shay is dealing with a broken engagement, feeling like she's totally lost with her future, and slowly falls in love with Gennie, who she offers to tutor during the summer so she doesn't get held back. Noah tries desperately to not give in to his high school love but, come on, it's so obvious that he can't keep his eyes or attention off her. Shay really develops as a person and you can see how much she cares about kids when she offers to spend her summer off, tutoring a kid she barely knows. Noah wants so desperately to help Shay figure out everything with the farm, and he plays the aloof but caring and loving fake husband so well that I had so many dramatic feet kicking, squealing moments. There's some drama but overwhelmingly it's just such a nice, comforting read. You fall in love with the characters (honestly, Gennie is my favorite kid ever) pretty much immediately but then you just keep falling til the very end.

AS IF I'd miss a new Ana Huang novel? I loved the Twisted series so I was salivating for the Kings of Sin series and it did NOT disappoint. As per her usual, Huang mixed a dark, aggressive, sexy as hell man with a sweet, take no shit woman for explosive sex and so much denial of feelings.

Dante is blackmailed by Vivian's father to marry the jewelry heiress and only accepts to save his brother's ass. Dante is such an asshole who thinks that his impressive wealth allows him to do no wrong, but Vivian puts him straight REAL FAST. She's sweet and considerate and loves her job and her life but struggles to connect with her family who continually puts her down. She agrees to marry Dante out of obligation to her parents and she's not afraid to give him shit - like spending hundreds of thousands of his dollars when he moves her into his house and leaves her there while he travels for work.

Obviously they start having explosive sex - the limo scene alone is just....jesus, I needed a cold shower after that - and quickly fall in love though they try to deny their feelings for each other. Vivian tries so hard to accept that Dante cares for her but is also an asshole who struggles to openly share his feelings. Much like Twisted's Alex, he shows her that he cares in the best way he knows how - subtle moments when they're alone, claiming aggression when they're in public, and spending his money on her.

While they're together, Dante's main priority is finding all the evidence Vivian's father has to blackmail him with, get rid of it, and then destroy her family and their business. Of course it finally happens when he and Vivian are being more open about their feelings and it feels like everything is Going Well. The third act break-up isn't as painful as I'd expect - it feels like Dante recognizes that he fucked up and he wants to get her back, and Vivian is upset but is open to listening to him and hearing him out. It felt genuine and realistic and I didn't feel like it was too "over the top".

Honestly, one of my favorite, Ana Huang books - this series might top Twisted...

HONORABLE MENTION:

The Clifton Forge series by Devney Perry - if you like reformed motorcycle gangs, murder mystery, passionate tough guys and loving, take not shit women, this series is IT. I can't believe it took me so long to read them and now I'm obsessed.

Great books this month - I'll try to post my November books sooner than a week into December... Follow me on Instagram to see what I'm reading day-to-day!