If summertime is designated for romance reading, I have clearly missed the memo. Not only have I been indulging in romance novels, but psychological thrillers and murder mysteries, too. It's been a wild ride!
Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry by Joya Goffney was an enemies-to-friends trope that I didn't expect to get too heavy in topics of race and the socioeconomical climate surrounding Black teens preparing for adulthood. It was a really good one, made even more sensational if you listen to the audio version. Our female MC finds herself being black mailed when her diary goes missing and her personal thoughts and lists are posted online for the whole school to see and scrutinize! How tragic, right?! Along the way she finds love and friendship in the most unlikely people.
Bride by Ali Hazelwood is mythical romance between werewolf kind and vampire. I honestly didn't think I'd touch this with a fifty-foot pole, after dealing with the craze of Twilight many years ago, but here I am. The hype sucked me in and I must say it was worth it! Our vampire female MC is married off to a werewolf husband in a pact of species alliances. Her only motive is to find her missing friend but along the way she discovers much more. This one definitely has some passionate spicy sex scenes, but nothing too wild. Lots of interesting plot twists in this one. I enjoyed the character voices in the audiobook.
Never Lie by Freida McFadden This is my first psychological thriller from this author, and it did not disappoint. A young newlywed couple get stuck in a snowstorm while visiting a potential home during their house-hunting journey. The home turns out to formerly belong to a missing (and supposed dead) psychiatrist and famous author. The story flips back and forth between the experience of the couple being snowed-in and the life of the author, until the two paths meet. This story was so damn wild, and I had no idea of the twists that lay ahead. I must admit, this is the one that put me on to the genre of psychological thriller and murder mysteries. I'm hooked now!
The House In The Pines by Ana Reyes I'd been eyeing this book in Target for a while and couldn't get the synopsis out of my head. A girl and her friend meet a guy one summer and suddenly her friend drops dead?! Years later the experience haunts her again as she witnesses a viral video of the same man, with a woman who mysteriously drops dead in his presence. Our female MC is determined to go back to her hometown and figure out a way to prove this man is guilty. This one was crazy! A very easy and fast read, to say for it was 300+ pages but I could not put it down! I'm honestly still left with my mouth hanging open at how the story unfolded.
You have to take the good with the bad
I don't think it'd be a fair wrap up, if I didn't mention at least one title that completely sucked. Ok, maybe that was harsh. In all fairness I was so deeply disappointed by the ending that it completely negated all the positive aspects. I was literally 3/4 of the way into this novel before I realized,
This book ain't shit.
The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris This one was odd to say the least. It began off on such a relatable note. Our female MC is navigating corporate America in the book publishing world as an editor's assistant in hopes to climb the ranks to editor. In her work place she makes an effort to expand on the company's "diversity and inclusion" mission without much luck...until another black female assistant joins the team. Things are off to a good start until the ally turns to an enemy with a threatening end for the MC. Sounds good right? Wrong! The end felt so rushed it completely fell flat and I honestly don't know where the fuck this resolution came from. Just, bizarre! If a book was a catfish date, this would be it. I'm keeping it since I have the physical copy and I love the cover art.
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