After serving five years in prison for a tragic mistake, Kenna Rowan returns to the town where it all went wrong, hoping to reunite with her four-year-old daughter. But the bridges Kenna burned are proving impossible to rebuild. Everyone in her daughter’s life is determined to shut Kenna out, no matter how hard she works to prove herself.

The only person who hasn’t closed the door on her completely is Ledger Ward, a local bar owner and one of the few remaining links to Kenna’s daughter. But if anyone were to discover how Ledger is slowly becoming an important part of Kenna’s life, both would risk losing the trust of everyone important to them.

The two form a connection despite the pressure surrounding them, but as their romance grows, so does the risk. Kenna must find a way to absolve the mistakes of her past in order to build a future out of hope and healing.

Genre: Contemporary Romance Fiction

Tropes:

• Strong heroine 
• Single parent 
• Found family 
• Second chances 

My Thoughts:

*Contains spoilers*

Ugly Love, It Ends With Us, Verity, Too Late, It Starts With Us and now, Reminders of Him can be added to the list of books I’ve read and thoroughly enjoyed by Colleen Hoover. 

Unpopular opinion (in the eyes of BookTok), but I LOVE Colleen Hoover’s books and writing style. I’ve never come across an author who has me coming back for more and is able to write across many genres successfully. Most of the time, authors stick to the same genre and can sometimes tire it out by having the same repetitive writing style and storyline. With Colleen Hoover, she’s able to create story’s across different genres whilst maintaining her writing style, in a way that is refreshing and engaging. 

I don’t understand the hate towards her and her writing style. I always find myself coming back to her books because they’re so easy to read and have me engaged throughout. I haven’t found myself wanting to DNF so far and can rely on her books to pull me out of a reading slump. 

Reminders of Him was no exception to the expectations I have for Colleen and it’s safe to say, it fully met and exceeded them. Reminders of Him had me in awe (and tears) of Colleen’s amazing storytelling of how she’s able to tug on the heartstrings. 

I’m a big reader and lover of romance fiction, with the tendency of enjoyment for spice. With Colleen Hoover, I fully know when reading that I’m not going to experience huge amounts of spice, but I still enjoy her books regardless. 

Reminders of Him follows Kenna Rowen, a young woman who has endured so much, lived through so much and despite it, has come back on the other side as a resilient and inspiring individual. In Reminders of Him we learn that Kenna did not grow up with her mother’s love and was constantly in and out of foster care for neglect during her childhood. However, she ends up finding love with boyfriend Scotty, who had experienced the opposite of Kenna’s childhood. Her time with Scotty is cut short due to an tragic accident with Scotty paying the ultimate price. However Kenna didn’t fare much better off as she suffered five years in prison, resulting in her devastating absence in her daughter’s life. 

Kenna’s story follows her after her release, as she attempts to rebuild her life in the town she lost Scotty and in the same town that her daughter lives in, whom she is yet to meet or even see a picture of as she is taken care of by her paternal grandparents. Despite her lack of parental rights, she is devoted to her daughter and will do anything to see her; even if that means leaving town. 

In this town, Kenna’s reputation of that tragic night precedes her; leaving her struggling to keep a roof over her head and to meet her daughter. Then she meets Ledger, Scotty’s best friend unbeknownst to Kenna. Unaware of who she is, Ledger becomes intrigued by the new woman in town, but quickly realises exactly who she is. Ledger is Kenna’s only connection to her daughter Diem, but upon realising who she is, he develops instant hatred towards her. Yet, he can’t stay away from her and so the story follows their growing relationship and rebuilding of Kenna’s life. 

When reading Reminders of Him, I enjoyed the constant uncertainty that Ledger went through, where he had the instant connection with Kenna but also feelings of hatred and betrayal. I can imagine it being extremely difficult to navigate feelings for someone who brought instant and initial strong feelings, only for them to quickly turn into hatred when learning that they are the very person who took away your best friend. The same is said for the Landry’s (Scotty’s parents), I can’t even imagine having to navigate life loosing a child in the circumstances they lost Scotty, then to be blessed with a grandchild from him and then to have the person who took Scotty away from them reappear wanting their grandchild. 

I always think Colleen does a great job at building the characters in a book in a way that leads you to feel what they feel, understand how they feel and wish everything for them. The letters Kenna wrote to Scotty very much helped build Kenna’s character and in my opinion, helped readers to feel for her when reading about her feelings and past. I thought I was able to get a view of her state of mind through the letters, which helped me understand her. 

I absolutely loved this book, I rated it 5 stars. I loved everything about it and don’t have anything I would change. When I began reading this book, I had just finished King of Pride the previous day and had really struggled to be motivated to read, so I was apprehensive about how much I would enjoy this book. However, I was intrigued from the start and was eager to follow Kenna’s story as I wanted to know how it ended. It had me wanting to scream at Ledger in the moments he blamed her and said she fled the scene. I initially thought she left the scene to get help and quickly became confused due to the accident – but as I read, it became clear she left because she thought Scotty was dead; I’m still confused if she was still trying to get help though. 

I instantly liked Roman as he was the one person who was on Kenna’s side and gave her the benefit of the doubt, encouraging Ledger to see Kenna. The same for Lady Diana and her funny comments that she made about Ledger.

Throughout the book and the development of Ledger and Kenna exploring their feelings, I had constantly thoughts of “this is going to blow up” and “someone is going to see them”, which had my heart racing in anticipation on when the shit would hit the fan. Every time there was a build up I thought “they’re going to be caught” but even when the build up came through, I still was shocked. I’ve not read a book that had my heart racing, since Verity. 

As I read the book, my heart ached for Kenna and how all she wanted was to be reunited with her daughter and to be forgiven. I honestly admire her strength and perseverance so much and can honestly say, I don’t think I could get back up after facing the challenges that she faced in Reminders of Him.

After Ledger and Kenna’s relationship is revealed and Ledger arrives at Kenna’s apartment, I was expecting Diem to be stood waiting to meet her mother, but I was so glad it was Grace who was there to forgive Kenna. 

I loved how we got to read the moment Kenna finally met her daughter. I thought it was bittersweet and heartbreaking at the same time. I really had so many emotions for her and felt as though I fully understood how she felt at each moment. I have never cried at a book, but this is the only exception. The emotions she went through towards the end when she didn’t think she’d ever meet Diem, had me sobbing. I felt like after I’d finished crying, there was another scene that started me off again because I just had such strong feelings for the emotions that Kenna experienced at those parts of the story. I will say, I thought the ending was sort of abrupt, but equally I loved it and loved the entire storyline. It was heartbreakingly beautiful, and I loved that Kenna finally got to be happy and forgiven.

I wanted to include some memorable quotes that I highlighted from the book and my thoughts at the time: 

“There was before you and there was during you. For some reason, I never thought there would be an after you. But there was, and I was in it. I’ll be in it forever.” – Kenna, in her letter to Scotty the day he died. This quote stopped me in my tracks, not because its popularity on TikTok, but because of its meaning. 

“I have a daughter who smells like strawberries” – Kenna 

“You’re forgiven, Kenna” – Kenna, to herself after she finally accepted she can move on. This had me crying. 

“I’ll be damned,” I say quietly. “Is that . . . is that a fucking pigeon?” – Ledger, having a moment with Patrick (Scotty’s dad) and then experiencing their inside joke.

“Hi, Scotty” – Kenna, meeting her and Ledger’s son. This made me loose it, I started bawling. 

My Rating:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Georgia

♥

She’s his opposite in every way…and the greatest temptation he’s ever known.

Reserved, controlled, and proper to a fault, Kai Young has neither the time nor inclination for chaos—and Isabella, with her purple hair and inappropriate jokes, is chaos personified.

With a crucial CEO vote looming and a media empire at stake, the billionaire heir can’t afford the distraction she brings.

Isabella is everything he shouldn’t want, but with every look and every touch, he’s tempted to break all his rules…and claim her as his own.

***

Bold, impulsive, and full of life, Isabella Valencia has never met a party she doesn’t like or a man she couldn’t charm…except for Kai Young.

It shouldn’t matter. He’s not her type—the man translates classics into Latin for fun, and his membership at the exclusive club where she bartends means he’s strictly off limits.

But she can’t deny that, beneath his cool exterior, is a man who could make her melt with just a touch.

No matter how hard they try, they can’t resist giving into their forbidden desires.

Even if it costs them everything.

Genre: Romance Fiction

Tropes:

• Billionaire 

• Forbidden Romance 

• Opposites Attract 

My Thoughts:

King of Pride is the second book of the King of Sin Series by Ana Huang and also the second series I have read by Ana. 

My first venture into reading books by Ana Huang was the Twisted Series, which I liked reading. The twisted series followed a group of 4 college girls in the same friendship circle, navigating their careers and love life. The twisted series consists of:

Twisted Love – A romance between the brothers billionaire best friend with forced proximity between a grumpy and sunshine character. 

Twisted Games – An age gap, forbidden romance between a princess and her bodyguard with forced proximity. 

Twisted Hate – An enemies to lovers romance between best friend’s brother with forced proximity. 

Twisted Lies – A forced proximity and fake dating romance between a billionaire and influencer.

The King of Sin series is themed around the 7 deadly sins, following billionaires and providing steamy romances. 

King of Wrath – A forced proximity, arranged marriage romance between a billionaire and heiress where their relationship progresses from dislike to like. 

King of Pride – A forbidden romance of opposites attract between a billionaire and employee.

When it came to reading book number two of the King of Sins series; King of Pride, I was very unmotivated due to many reasons. The main reason was being that this was potentially my last physical book. Normally, I love reading a physical book – there’s nothing quite like it, but I really struggled with motivation to read this one. I’m unsure whether it was because it was my last time experiencing a physical book and I wanted to savour it, preference to reading on a device and being able to read in any position, or if it was just down to being in a slight book slump.

King of Pride follows female protagonist Isabella, an employee of a members only club called Valhalla, who is also writing her first manuscript. It also follows male protagonist Kai, a British-Asian billionaire who’s awaiting the upcoming vote for CEO of his family’s business. With Isabella being an employee of Valhalla and Kai being a frequent visitor of the club, the two are forbidden from forming a relationship as it is forbidden for employees and members to mix. As Isabella works for Valhalla and Kai being a frequent customer, the two unintentionally explore each other through innocent conversations, which leads to them developing feelings and subsequently forming a relationship in secret.

I thought the storyline was extremely slow and not in a slow burn type of slow. It just felt like nothing was happening through the book and most chapters felt like fillers. I found this very hard to follow and to be motivated to continue; especially with my added lack of motivation and uninterest to read. I found that in the beginning, I was only reading between 3-5 chapters before I was really struggling to continue. I don't mean that in a *struggling to reads so will DNF* type of struggling. I just found my attention span was lacking because the storyline was lacking - I wasn't hooked! However, I did feel that the middle started to pick up in terms of their relationship and the activities they did togetehr. This part of the book, I found I was reading more than the average 3-5 chapters I'd previously been reading - but still not enough chapters to be considered hooked. This didn't last long, as I found that after the middle part of the story, it began to resume the slow pace. Don't get me wrong, there were some twists I didn't see coming. Like the revelation of Isabelle's family background or the story of her previous relationship. I feel like the ending was slightly rushed and just in general, was missing something.

I really wanted to enjoy this book, seeing as I enjoyed the first story of the King of Sins series, but it just wasn't there. I've been reading reviews from GoodReads to see whether my feelings for the book are mutual to others and I was surprised to see that people had the same thoughts as me - not many, but there were some!

I did enjoy reading Isabelle and Kai's story and at times, was enjoying the happy and cute moments they shared. I think my lack of enjoyment for their story probably being that they had a healthy relationship and the male protagonist wasn't a grumpy billionaire. I think in terms of the billionaire genre, I much prefer grumpy ones who initially don't like the female protagonist, but grow to have the "touch her and you die" mindset.

One thing I do like about Ana's Work, is how her two series (Twisted and King of Sins) are interconnected and feature the appearance or mention of characters from other series. I also like that there's hints and not-so-subtle nods to whose character will be next in the series. My predictions for the next books are that:

Ale and Dominic will be next and will have a storyline that consists of a broken marriage that transforms following a scare that the male protagonist experiences, which makes him realise his love for the female protagonist.

Sloane will have a book that focuses on her falling for her moody client, Xavier Castillo whilst she tries to transform his image. I'm suspected a fake dating romance between the pair, where they fall in love along the way.

aaand finally, I think grumpy ol' Vuk Markovic who is a grumpy closed off billionaire, will have a book where he finds his sunshine female protagonist who he denies liking, but will have a "touch her and you die" mindest.

Overall, I think my lack of interest was mainly due to personal factors. The day I finished the book I was battling a headache and impending flu, so it felt more like a chore than a hobby. I was also behind my reading schedule - I like to set out which books to read each month and King of Pride was a book I was supposed to read in September, but I procrastinated it until now. This has now put me in stress mode for the books I was supposed to read in October - a domino effect.

I think that had the circumstances had been different, I would've enjoyed it - so maybe I'll revisit it in the future and give it a fairer try.

My Rating:.5 

He always said she was just a friend… What if she’d kill for more?

Sophie is perfect. She has blonde hair and blue eyes and when she smiles her wide, open, caring smile, her teeth sparkle. Everybody loves her. So would I, except she’s my husband Mike’s best friend, and sometimes they seem a little too close for comfort. This summer, Sophie is renting the grand house next door, bringing over fancy wine, offering to babysit our beautiful three-year-old daughter. It’s nice, actually.. Maybe the way she is with Mike – squeezing his arm, tilting her head when she laughs at his jokes – is just how she is with everybody. But then she says something that sends a shiver down my spine – does she know something about me she shouldn’t?

And when her new husband arrives, looking slightly too familiar, I realise my time is running out. My baby girl and I are in terrible danger. Sophie really is perfect. She has me perfectly trapped. And as my world begins to crumble, I start to wonder: does Sophie just want to steal my husband, or has she planned the perfect murder?

Genre: A Psychological thriller 

My Thoughts:

The Perfect Girl was my first read by Kelly Golden. I can’t remember where I’d seen this advertised, but I was intrigued to read. 

The Perfect Girl follows a wealthy family consisting of Emma, Mike and their daughter Arla, as they are visited by Mike’s childhood best friend, Sophie. Sophie has not visited the family in a few years, which leaves Emma apprehensive about her intentions, seeing as it was an unexpected visit and timed following Emma’s mums unexpected death. 

Throughout the book, Sophie makes huge effort to become friends with Emma, as she felt she neglected getting to know her best friends wife in the beginning of their relationship. Sophie’s visit was an unexpected and planned trip, a trip she planned to take with her new husband for her best friend to finally meet, but unexpected for Emma and Mike. 

Questions are raised at the beginning of the book on whether Sophie actually has a husband, as Sophie arrives on her own and has several excuses for the late arrival of her husband. Further suspicions are raised when Sophie starts acting strange on the approaching arrival of her husband. 

When Sophie’s husband finally arrives, Emma is faced with confusion when she recognises Sophie’s husband JB, as an old university classmate and lover. Emma immediately brings up that she recognises JB (Johnnie), only to be told she’s been mistaken. After this, questions are continuously raised in a ‘is he/isn’t he’ situation as to whether JB is actually Emma’s old classmate and lover, as JB continuously denies having any connection to Emma that she claims. This lead me to several conclusions: 

1. Is JB lying about knowing Emma and were Mike and Sophie in on it? 
2. Was Emma having a mental breakdown following her mum’s death?
3. Or was JB genuinely not who Emma thought he was?

Sloan will go through hell and back for those she loves. And she does so, every single day. Caught up with the alluring Asa Jackson, a notorious drug trafficker, Sloan has finally found a lifeline to cling to, even if it’s meant compromising her morals. She was in dire straits trying to pay for her brother’s care until she met Asa. But as Sloan became emotionally and economically reliant on him, he in turn developed a disturbing obsession with her – one that becomes increasingly dangerous every day.

When undercover DEA agent Carter enters the picture, Sloan’s surprised to feel an immediate attraction between them, despite knowing that if Asa finds out, he will kill him. And Asa has always been a step ahead of everyone in his life, including Sloan. No one has ever gotten in his way.

No one except Carter.

Together, Sloan and Carter must find a way out before it’s too late . . .

Genre: Psychological thriller

My Thoughts:

With Colleen Hoover being one of my favourite authors, I decided to hop on the trend of Too Late by her, as it had gained popularity on BookTok and I was intrigued. Verity is one of my favourite books ever, so when I saw that Too Late fell into the same genre, I knew I had to read it even more. 

Starting off, I had VERY high hopes and standards following Verity and I’m not sure anything can ever beat it (I’m yet to find out).

I was able to read Too Late in 3 days (probably in 2 if I hadn’t of stretched it out), but that’s nothing new with Colleen’s books as I find then so easy to follow and read.  

Too Late was a book that I was able to follow easily and did not find myself dreading or checking the time constantly. Although I semi enjoyed this book, there were parts that I felt did not make this on the same level as Verity. Throughout the book, it is made more and more apparent that Asa has serious mental health problems, starting with being delusional. I was expecting more twists and turns to happen and I feel like parts were anticlimactic. I didn’t feel like I was on edge throughout the book and that my heart was racing. I really do think this book has been mis advertised as being on the same level as Verity, which could be why I was disappointed. Perhaps my thoughts would’ve been different had I read this before Verity. 
At the end, I just felt like something was missing. I thought Asa dying was very anticlimactic and could have had some sort of stand off / fight between Asa, Sloan or Carter where you didn’t know who would win. If that had of happened, I think ending the chapter on a gunshot would’ve gave some tension as you would’ve been left on the cliffhanger, not knowing who had been shot. I also think it was very unrealistic that Asa was out on house arrest again, when he had already breached his conditions. 

However, I was rooting for Sloan and Carter throughout, but I do wish there had been more development in their relationship. I felt like it was rushed and there wasn’t a great deal of detail that made me want to root for them hardcore. 

Rumour has it that this version was a republish and previously had a different ending. According to the internet, the original ending saw Asa kidnap Sloan to a remote cabin where he had plans to kill her. Carter realised he had feelings for Sloan and attempted to rescue her, but was faced with a confrontation with Asa that resulted in his death, where Asa was then arrested. 
I think this ending would have more anxiety provoking moments and made the story more heart racing, but it was obviously changed for a reason. 

I wouldn’t say this has deterred me from reading more Colleen Hoover, I just probably wouldn’t go in with such high expectations as I did 

My Rating: 

Georgia 

♥

Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of bestselling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish. 

Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity’s notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn’t expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read. Page after page of bone-chilling admissions, including Verity’s recollection of the night their family was forever altered. 

Lowen decides to keep the manuscript hidden from Jeremy, knowing its contents would devastate the already-grieving father. But as Lowen’s feelings for Jeremy begin to intensify, she recognizes all the ways she could benefit if he were to read his wife’s words. After all, no matter how devoted Jeremy is to his injured wife, a truth this horrifying would make it impossible for him to continue loving her . . .

Genre: A psychological thriller

My Thoughts:

Colleen Hoover is easily one of my favourite authors, as I find her books so easy to follow and don’t find myself wanting to DNF halfway through because I’m bored. 

I first came across Colleen when I read Ugly Love which was recommended to me by an aunt. Instantly, I fell in love with Colleen’s writing style and storytelling which continued as I read It Ends With Us, It Starts With Us and Verity.

Verity was my first venture into the psychological thriller genre and as my first read I was not disappointed. I hold every psychological thriller to the same standard and so far, nothing has exceeded Verity. 

Throughout the book, I had no idea where the storyline would go and was therefore on the edge of my seat throughout. I’ve never experienced a book to make my heart pound in my chest with anticipation as this one. I think about Verity daily and the way it concluded.

Team manuscript or letter? 

I’m honestly not sure which team I am. I think Verity was very twisted with the way in detail she was able to write about her children, which makes me believe I’d be team manuscript. However, in the extra chapter, I find Jeremy to be extremely suspicious when he killed the other women and I think Lowen began to question him too. The additional chapters really do make you question whether Verity really was a psychopath or just unfortunate. Had the additional chapter not have been made, I think it would lead people to be 100% team manuscript, but the additional chapter adds to the twist and cliffhanger ending. 
I do wonder, if Verity was as innocent as she pleaded to be, why did she pretend to be in a coma? Was it because she was scared of Jeremy? If she was, it would explain his behaviour and his possible true self of killing those other women. 

Verity concluded with a lot of unanswered questions, which is maybe why I can’t decide on a team, but I do think the lack of answers was intentional as it causes a divide between the two teams. Part of me wishes there was a chapter from Jeremy’s POV to determine what his thoughts were at the end, or for there to be a sequel to Verity where we finally get the answers we deserved, but only if it were to be done in a way that doesn’t drag it out. 

Verity is the sort of book I hope become a film. I would’ve wanted Blake Lively to play Verity, as she did a great job in A Simple Favour, but I feel like the chances of that are slim since she’s casted in It Ends With Us and that it would potentially be too similar to A Simple Favour.

To conclude, this is my favourite book ever and I will forever be searching and chasing after a book that can give me the same heart pounding experience. 

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Georgia 

♥