This month was the month of a series. I got hooked and just couldn’t stop. I ended up reading 7 books. A total of 2,338 pages. An average of 75 pages a day (which is not quite up to snuff with my regular monthly averages). But let’s get to the books, shall we?
Hooked by Emily McIntire (300 pages). The first of the Never After Series. James “Hook” Barrie is part of a crime syndicate (The Lost Boys) that sells pixie dust (clearly drugs) and runs Boston. Wendy is the daughter of Peter Michaels, owner of NevAirLand Planes. When Hook sees Wendy at his bar, the Jolly Roger, he decides he must have her. Because Hook has some unfinished business with Peter. But Hook has never let anyone in before. Until Wendy. This was not a reimagining of a fairytale. This was a full on naughty reinvention. And I loved it! The character names (the twins, Curly, Smee) and location names (the Lagoon, the Jolly Roger) were such a creative way to keep the magic of the original but also completely recreate it. I finished in 3 days.
Scarred by Emily McIntire (337 pages). Book 2 in the series. Lady Sara Beatreaux has spent her adult life knowing one thing- that she will avenge her father’s death by destroying the Faasa line of royalty in the kingdom of Gloria Terra. Her betrothal to the king will allow her to do just that. But what Sara didn’t anticipate was the king’s brother Tristan, the scarred prince. Tristan, doesn’t want to destroy his family’s line; he just wants to destroy his brother. As they begin to fall wildly (and quite dirtily) in love and lust, they realize that their goals aren’t that dissimilar. A little Hamlet and a lot of 50 Shades. Again, the characters were great. Even though this wasn’t inspired by a fairy tale (at least not one I know), I might have liked it more than Hooked! I finished in 4 days.
Wretched by Emily McIntire (268 pages). Book 3 in the series. Woo hoo- the jolly old land of Oz! Evelina is the youngest of three sisters- oldest sister Nessa died when Evie was 17 and middle sister Dorothy is the reason she’s dead. And her father is the head of an Irish crime family. Seven years later, Nicholas is the DEA agent assigned to go undercover and bust the drug ring. A drug ring that Evie is intimately involved in. And when Nick and Evie become intimately involved, everything shifts. For both of them. So many shoutouts to Oz. A bar called Winkies. A drug called Flying Monkey. A hacker named Oz. A strip club called Yellow Brick. A yacht named My Toto. A mother named Glinda. And another naughty naughty reinvention. I finished in 3 days.
Twisted by Emily McIntire (366 pages). Book 4 in the series. A twisted Aladdin. Yasmin is the only child of Ali, owner of the worldwide diamond company Sultans. His right hand man is Julian. And Yasmin’s first love is Aiden, the boy who grew up on her father’s estate as the son of one of the staff. But when Ali learns that he has very little time left, he lets Yasmin know that only her husband will be inheriting Sultans. And Yasmin isn’t married. But Julian is bitter that HE isn’t the one who will inherit. So he tricks Yasmin into marrying him. All while sending Aiden off to find a legendary lamp. I’m not sure how I felt about this one. Part of me liked it, part of me was super bothered by the Stockholm Syndrome that clearly occurred with Yasmin and Julian. I finished in 4 days.
Crossed by Emily McIntire (403 pages). The 5th and final book in the series. I’d say this was a reimagining of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, but honestly it was just a modernization of it in a lot of ways. The small town of Festivale, Vermont, is a little bit of Paris in America. Amaya works at the Chapel, a strip club, as Esmeralda in order to provide for herself and her younger brother Quinten (when their mother left, she left them indebted to Parker, the local criminal in charge). But when Father Cade arrives at Notre Dame to bring renewed religion to the town, his obsession with Amaya becomes overwhelming. Nothing different than Victor Hugo imagined with that one. The biggest difference? Amaya feels the same draw to Cade. Honestly, I think this one was my favorite of the whole series. I finished in 6 days.
The Girl Beyond the Gate by Becca Day (326 pages). Jodie Madison needs a fresh start. And the exclusive gated community of Kensington Grove seems like just the spot. But you can never escape the ghosts of your past. And try as Jodie might, she can’t shake the feeling that something is wrong with her next-door neighbor, Norah Williams, and Norah’s terminally ill daughter Lacey. As the months go by, Jodie becomes even more suspicious. When the safe little community is rocked by a murder, Jodie becomes even more convinced that she needs to save Lacey. But are her suspicions merited? Or is it her own guilt, coming back to mess with her head? I finished in 2 days.
The Perfect Marriage by Jeneva Rose (338 pages). OMG! This book! Sarah and Adam Morgan seem to be the perfect couple. She is a super successful defense attorney in DC. He is a struggling author who spends most of his time at their lake house in Virginia. But there are always secrets. And Adam’s is that he’s been carrying on an affair with Kelly Summers, a local woman near their lake house. One night, after an encounter with Kelly, Adam heads home to Sarah. But when the housekeeper arrives at the lake house, she finds Kelly’s lifeless body, stabbed 37 times. Adam is immediately charged with her murder. And Sarah puts away her heartbreak at the affair by agreeing to represent him. And that’s all I’m going to say. The investigation. The trial and outcome. So, so good. I finished in 3 days.
This month’s favorite is…….The Perfect Marriage.
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