This week, I read These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly and Walk Through Fire by Kristen Ashley, and re-read November 9 by Colleen Hoover. I also finished the Audible version of Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith (aka JK Rowling). All SOOOO AWESOME. Highly recommend all four novels!!! I’m halfway through Soundless by Richelle Mead and really enjoying it!!! It’s such a unique concept—a girl grows up in a soundless village… everyone is deaf, and now, people are starting to lose their sight unexplainably. Can’t wait to finish and tell you guys all about it!
Also, up on the blog this morning, I’ve got an exclusive interview with Colleen Hoover, where we talk about November 9 and her inspiration behind this amazing story. Don’t miss it—read here!
Otherwise, things are marching forward and I’ve put together my reading list for November already! I’m also starting to re-read, well listen to this time, to the Premonition series by Amy Bartol, so that I can get ready for Iniquity!!! So excited! Plus, the holidays are coming, and that means lots of reading time!!! Make sure you follow me on Instagram to stay up to date on what I’m reading, loving and receiving!
Have a great week and happy reading! ♥
✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
(Click cover to order)
✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
Pucked Up by Helena Hunting (Available Now)
Miller “Buck” Butterson has been banging his way through life ever since a puck to the face fixed his messed up front teeth. After five years in the NHL, deflecting goals on the ice and scoring them with puck bunnies, Miller has decided he’s ready for a girlfriend. A real, non-bunny girlfriend to take on dates, and not jump into bed with after five seconds of conversation.
Miller thinks he’s found that woman in his teammate’s sister. Except, unlike team captain and all-around nice guy Alex Waters—who happens to date his stepsister, Miller’s media reputation as a manwhore is well earned. Beyond that minor detail, Miller doesn’t know the first thing about relationships or the time and effort they require.
Miller learns—eventually—that if he wants to make Sunshine “Sunny” Waters fall for him, he’s going to have to do a whole lot more than show her his stick skills in the bedroom.
✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
The Fall Up by Aly Martinez (Available Now)
I wanted to jump.
He made me fall.
As a celebrity, I lived in the public eye, but somewhere along the way, I’d lost myself in the spotlight.
Until he found me.
Sam Rivers was a gorgeous, tattooed stranger who saved my life with nothing more than a simple conversation.
But we were both standing on that bridge for a reason the night we met. The secrets of our pasts brought us together—and then tore us apart.
Could we find a reason to hold on as life constantly pulled us down?
Or maybe there’s only one direction to go when two people fall in love at rock bottom—up.
✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
Until I Met You by S.L. Scott (Available Now)
Their love burned bright, white hot, and strikingly blue around the edges.
Some thought them careless.
Some thought them crazy.
No one approved.
Taylor Barrett was looking for answers in a universe that had abandoned him.
Jude Boehler flooded her dark world with charisma and mystery, drawing everyone into her hurricane.
It was a most captivating of love affairs. They were shooting stars, meteors in the sky, colliding to create a spectacularly wonderful reckless romance, leaving them breathless and tethered.
Their souls were exposed to the chaos, bare and vulnerable. Can these two star-crossed lovers survive the madness that is life?
✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
Need to Love You by Megan Smith (Available Now)
Just when you thought you had it all.
Chloe Cahill’s dreams changed after becoming pregnant in high school. She married her high school sweetheart just after graduation and together they welcomed a handsome son into the world. Now that Alex, her son, is in school she sets her eyes on finding the perfect job. Chloe feels the need to grow dependent upon herself instead of always relying on her husband.
But what happens when her husband goes out for a night of drinking and he doesn’t remember what happens?
Jackson Cahill thought he did the right thing by marrying his pregnant girlfriend just out of high school. Lately he’s been feeling restless in his marriage. One late night of drinking turns his life upside down but it just doesn’t end there. Jackson’s got himself in a real mess. The dilemma may just be too big of a disarray for him to get out of.
Can Chloe and Jackson keep their marriage from falling apart? Or will they decide to veer down different paths?
✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (Oct 27)
Top Recommendation
Commemorating the 150th anniversary of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland with a deluxe hardcover edition, completely reillustrated by Anna Bond of Rifle Paper Co.
It’s been 150 years since Lewis Carroll introduced Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the story which has become a favorite of children and adults the world over. Now, in a deluxe hardcover edition from Puffin, Alice’s story comes to life for a whole new generation of readers through the colorful, whimsical artwork of Anna Bond, best known as the creative director and artistic inspiration behind the worldwide stationery and gift brand Rifle Paper Co. Lose yourself in Alice’s story as she tumbles down the rabbit hole, swims through her own pool of tears, and finds herself in a rather curious place called Wonderland. There, she’ll encounter the frantic White Rabbit, have a frustrating conversation with an eccentric caterpillar, and play croquet with the hot-headed Queen of Hearts. Follow Alice on her wild adventure through the eyes of the artist in this definitive gift edition.
✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
Walk Through Fire (#4, Chaos) by Kristen Ashley (Oct 27)
Top Recommendation
The flame never dies . . .
Millie Cross knows what it’s like to burn for someone. She was young and wild and he was fierce and even wilder-a Chaos biker who made her heart pound. They fell in love at first sight and life was good, until she learned she couldn’t be the woman he needed and made it so he had no choice but to walk away. Twenty years later, Millie’s chance run-in with her old flame sparks a desire she just can’t ignore. And this time, she won’t let him ride off . . .
Bad boy Logan “High” Judd has seen his share of troubles with the law. Yet it was a beautiful woman who broke him. After ending a loveless marriage, High is shocked when his true love walks back into his life. Millie is still gorgeous, but she’s just a ghost of her former self. High’s intrigued at the change, but her betrayal cut him deep-and he doesn’t want to get burned again. As High sinks into meting out vengeance for Millie’s betrayal, he’ll break all over again when he realizes just how Millie walked through fire for her man . . .
Reading Order: Own The Wind | Fire Inside 99¢ | Ride Steady (Review) | Walk Through Fire
See all Kristen Ashley reading orders
✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
The Queen (Original Series, White Years) by Tiffany Reisz (Oct 27)
Series Recommendation
Once upon a time, Nora and Søren made a fateful deal—if he gave her everything, she would give him forever.
The time has finally come to keep their promises.
Out of money and out of options after her yearlong exile, Eleanor Schreiber agrees to join forces with Kingsley Edge, the king of kink. After her first taste of power as a Dominant, Eleanor buries her old submissive self and transforms into Mistress Nora, the Red Queen. With the help of a mysterious young man with a job even more illicit than her own, Nora squares off against a cunning rival in her quest to become the most respected, the most feared Dominatrix in the Underground.
While new lovers and the sweet taste of freedom intoxicate Nora, she is tempted time and time again by Søren, her only love and the one man who refuses to bow to her. But when Søren accepts a new church assignment in a dangerous country, she must make an agonizing choice—will the queen keep her throne and let her lover go, or trade in her crown for Søren’s collar?
With a shattering final confession, the last link in the chain is forged in The Original Sinners saga. It’s the closing chapter in a story of salvation, sacrifice and the multitude of scars we collect in the name of ecstasy—and love.
Reading Order: The Siren $1.99 | The Angel | The Prince | The Mistress | The Saint | The King | The Virgin | The Queen
✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
Darkest Before Dawn by Maya Banks (Oct 27)
The Kelly Group International (KGI): A super-elite, top secret, family-run business.
Qualifications: High intelligence, rock-hard body, military background.
Mission: Hostage/kidnap victim recovery. Intelligence gathering. Handling jobs the U.S. government can’t…
The enigmatic Hancock has been both opponent and ally to the KGI teams for as long as they’ve known him. Always working a deep game, Hancock’s true allegiance has never been apparent, but one thing is for certain—he never lets anything get in the way of duty.
But now, his absolute belief in the primacy of his ultimate goal is challenged by a captive he’s been ordered to guard, no matter how much she suffers in her prison. She’s the only woman who’s ever managed to penetrate the rigid walls surrounding his icy heart, but will he allow his perplexing feelings for the beautiful victim to destroy a mission he’s spent years working to complete or will he be forced to sacrifice her for “the greater good.”
✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
Persuasion (#2, Heirs of Watson Island) by Martina Boone (Oct 27) – (YA)
Romeo and Juliet meets The Raven Boys and Beautiful Creatures in the spellbinding second novel in the Heirs of Watson Island trilogy that “skillfully blends rich magic and folklore with adventure, sweeping romance, and hidden treasure” (Publishers Weekly, on Compulsion).
Grieving the death of her godfather and haunted by her cousin Cassie’s betrayal, Barrie returns from a trip to San Francisco to find the Watson plantation under siege. Ghost-hunters hope to glimpse the ancient spirit who sets the river on fire each night, and reporters chase rumors of a stolen shipment of Civil War gold that may be hidden at Colesworth Place. The chaos turns dangerous as Cassie hires a team of archeologists to excavate beneath the mansion ruins. Because more is buried there than treasure.
A stranger filled with magic arrives at Watson’s Landing claiming that the key to the Watson and Beaufort gifts–and the Colesworth curse–also lies beneath the mansion. With a mix of threats and promises, the man convinces Barrie and Cassie to cast a spell there at midnight. But what he conjures may have deadly consequences.
While Barrie struggles to make sense of the escalating peril and her growing and forbidden feelings for Eight Beaufort, it’s impossible to know whom to trust and what to fight for–Eight or herself. Millions of dollars and the fate of the founding families is at stake. Now Barrie must choose between what she feels deep in her heart and what will keep Watson’s Landing safe in this stunning addition to a series filled with “decadent settings, mysterious magic, and family histories rife with debauchery” (Kirkus Reviews, on Compulsion).
Second in a series.
Reading Order: Compulsion | Persuasion
✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly (Oct 27) – Read my review – (YA)
Top Recommendation
From Jennifer Donnelly, the critically acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of A Northern Lightand Revolution, comes a mystery about dark secrets, dirty truths, and the lengths to which people will go for love and revenge. For fans of Elizabeth George and Libba Bray, These Shallow Graves is the story of how much a young woman is willing to risk and lose in order to find the truth.
Jo Montfort is beautiful and rich, and soon—like all the girls in her class—she’ll graduate from finishing school and be married off to a wealthy bachelor. Which is the last thing she wants. Jo dreams of becoming a writer—a newspaper reporter like the trailblazing Nellie Bly.
Wild aspirations aside, Jo’s life seems perfect until tragedy strikes: her father is found dead. Charles Montfort shot himself while cleaning his pistol. One of New York City’s wealthiest men, he owned a newspaper and was a partner in a massive shipping firm, and Jo knows he was far too smart to clean a loaded gun.
The more Jo hears about her father’s death, the more something feels wrong. Suicide is the only logical explanation, and of course people have started talking, but Jo’s father would never have resorted to that. And then she meets Eddie—a young, smart, infuriatingly handsome reporter at her father’s newspaper—and it becomes all too clear how much she stands to lose if she keeps searching for the truth. But now it might be too late to stop.
The past never stays buried forever. Life is dirtier than Jo Montfort could ever have imagined, and this time the truth is the dirtiest part of all.
✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
Food Whore by Jessica Tom (Oct 27)
Full of wit and mouth-watering cuisines, Jessica Tom’s debut novel offers a clever insider take on the rarefied world of New York City’s dining scene in the tradition of The Devil Wears Prada meets Kitchen Confidential.
Food whore (n.) A person who will do anything for food.
When Tia Monroe moves to New York City, she plans to put herself on the culinary map in no time. But after a coveted internship goes up in smoke, Tia’s suddenly just another young food lover in the big city.
But when Michael Saltz, a legendary New York Times restaurant critic, lets Tia in on a career-ending secret—that he’s lost his sense of taste—everything changes. Now he wants Tia to serve as his palate, ghostwriting his reviews. In return he promises her lavish meals, a bottomless cache of designer clothing, and the opportunity of a lifetime. Out of prospects and determined to make it, Tia agrees.
Within weeks, Tia’s world transforms into one of luxury: four-star dinners, sexy celebrity chefs, and an unlimited expense account at Bergdorf Goodman. Tia loves every minute of it…until she sees her words in print and Michael Saltz taking all the credit. As her secret identity begins to crumble and the veneer of extravagance wears thin, Tia is forced to confront what it means to truly succeed—and how far she’s willing to go to get there.
✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
Missing Dixie by Casey Quinn (Oct 27)
I’ve lived most of my life in darkness, beneath the shadows of secrets and addictions. The last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt the only girl I’d ever loved—the one who brought me into the light. In my entire life I’d made one promise—a promise I’d intended to keep. I’ve broken that promise and now I have to live with the fallout. Dixie Lark hates me, and I have to tell her that I love her. I also have to tell her a truth that might destroy us forever.
Can she love me, even if she can’t forgive me?
Learning to move on . . .
Gavin Garrison broke his promise to my brother and he broke my heart in the process.I may never love anyone the way I’ve loved him, but at least I won’t spend my life wondering “what if.” We had our one night and he walked away. I’m beginning to move on, but my brother’s wedding and a battle of the bands are about to throw us together again.
Our band is getting a second chance, but I don’t know if I can give him one. How do you hand your heart back to the person who set it on fire once already?
Reading Order: Leaving Amarillo | Loving Dallas | Missing Dixie
✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
Friction by Sawyer Bennett (Oct 27)
At the powerhouse law firm of Knight & Payne, winning comes first and ethics a distant second. Leary Michaels uses her female charms to daze opponents, and it’s always worked well—until now. On her most personal case yet, she finds herself going up against a defense attorney just as skilled, shameless, and seductive as she is.
Reeve Holloway has never met a woman as sure of her own sexuality, or as ruthless in wielding it, as Leary is. But he won’t be toyed with. What Leary starts, he’ll finish—in the courtroom, the bedroom, or any-damn-place he wants. The sex is uninhibited, electrifying, and absolutely against the rules. Reeve’s job is to ruin Leary’s case…even if it destroys her in the process and costs him the woman he’s come to love.
✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
The Iron Warrior (Iron Fey) by Julie Kagawa (Oct 27) – (YA)
The Iron Prince—my nephew—betrayed us all.
He killed me.
Then, I woke up.
Waking after a month on the brink of death, Ethan Chase is stunned to learn that the Veil that conceals the fey from human sight was temporarily torn away. Although humankind’s glimpse of the world of Faery lasted just a brief moment, the human world was cast into chaos, and the emotion and glamour produced by fear and wonder has renewed the tremendous power of the Forgotten Queen. Now she is at the forefront of an uprising against the courts of Faery—a reckoning that will have cataclysmic effects on the Nevernever.
Leading the Lady’s Forgotten Army is Keirran himself: Ethan’s nephew, and the traitor son of the Iron Queen, Meghan Chase.To stop Keirran, Ethan must disobey his sister once again as he and his girlfriend, Kenzie, search for answers long forgotten. In the face of unprecedented evil and unfathomable power, Ethan’s enemies must become his allies, and the fey and human worlds will be changed forevermore.
Reading Order: Iron Fey Series Bundle Vol 1 | Iron Fey Series Bundle Vol 2
✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
Shopaholic to the Rescue by Sophie Kinsella (Oct 27)
Series Recommendation
#1 New York Times bestselling author Sophie Kinsella returns with another laugh-out-loud Becky Brandon (née Bloomwood) adventure: a hilarious road trip through the American West to Las Vegas.
Becky is on a major rescue mission! Her father has vanished from Los Angeles on a mysterious quest with her best friend’s husband. Becky’s mum is hysterical; her best friend, Suze, is desperate. Worse, Becky must tolerate an enemy along for the ride, who she’s convinced is up to no good.
Determined to get to the bottom of why her dad has disappeared, help Suze, contain Alicia, and reunite her fractured family, Becky knows she must marshal all her trademark ingenuity. The result: her most outrageous and daring plan yet!
But just when her family needs her more than ever, can Becky pull it off?
✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
The Road That Leads To Us by Micalea Smeltzer (Oct 27)
Special preorder price. Price will increase after release.
Things are about to get rocky for Dean Wentworth and Willow Wade.
Willow Wade is used to living in the spotlight, with her father a famous drummer in the band Willow Creek—her namesake—it’s been a lot to live up to and oftentimes she doesn’t feel she’s enough. But there has always been one person she could turn to.
Dean Wentworth knows a thing or two about how crippling a name can be. His family is worth billions after all. But Dean’s always been content to do his own thing. Play his guitar. Work on cars. And geek out to his various “nerdoms”.
But when Willow turns up unexpectedly, he realizes maybe there is more in life he wants.
Her.
One trip will change their lives forever.
✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
Surviving Ice (Burying Water) by K.A. Tucker (Oct 27)
Series Recommendation
The USA TODAY bestselling author of the Ten Tiny Breaths series and Burying Water—which Kirkus Reviews called “a sexy, romantic, gangster-tinged page-turner”—returns with a new novel packed with romance, plot twists, and psychological suspense.
Ivy Lee, a talented tattoo artist who spent the early part of her twenties on the move, is looking for a place to call home. She thinks she might have finally found it working in her uncle’s tattoo shop in San Francisco. But all that changes when a robbery turns deadly, compelling her to pack up her things yet again.
When they need the best, they call him. That’s why Sebastian Riker is back in California, cleaning up the mess made after a tattoo shop owner with a penchant for blackmail got himself shot. But it’s impossible to get the answers he needs from a dead body, leaving him to look elsewhere. Namely, to the twenty-something-year-old niece who believes this was a random attack. Who needs to keep believing that until Sebastian finds what he’s searching for.
Ivy has one foot out of San Francisco when a chance encounter with a stranger stalls her departure. She’s always been drawn to intense men, so it’s no wonder that she now finds a reason to stay after all, quickly intoxicated by his dark smile, his intimidating strength, and his quiet control.
That is, until Ivy discovers that their encounter was no accident—and that their attraction could be her undoing.
Can be read as standalone.
Reading Order: Burying Water | Becoming Rain | Chasing River | Surviving Ice
✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
Lux (Nocte) by Courtney Cole (Oct 28)
LET THERE BE LIGHT.
My name is Calla Price and I’m broken.
My pieces are all around me, floating on the wind, even as I desperately try to grasp them.
Who is dead? Alive? Insane?
What is the truth?
I don’t know.
I do know this: The darkness is strangling me. With every breath, I choke on another lie.
My mind has protected me, but that shield will soon be lowered.
All will be revealed.
Every answer to every question.
It’s all been leading to this.
Don’t be afraid.
Be terrified.
Reading Order: Nocte 99¢ | Initial (novella) | Verum | Lux
✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
Take the Storm: Episode 6 (Rising Storm) by Rebecca Zanetti (Oct 29)
Secrets, Sex and Scandals …
Welcome to Storm, Texas, where passion runs hot, desire runs deep, and secrets have the power to destroy… Get ready. The storm is coming.
Marisol Moreno has spent her youth taking care of her younger siblings. Now, with her sister, Ginny, in crisis, and her brother in the throes of his first real relationship, she doesn’t have time for anything else. Especially not the overtures of the incredibly compelling Patrick Murphy.
Reading Order: Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 | Episode 5 | Episode 6 | Episode 7 | Episode 8
✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
Baking & Babies (#3 Chocoholics) by Tara Sivec (Oct 30)
“I’m pregnant.”
Molly Gilmore had a good life before she uttered those two stupid words. While preparing to graduate from culinary school and building up the courage to make a move on her hot, sugar-cookie-smelling pastry instructor Marco, she can’t wait to finally have the GREAT life she’s always dreamed about, instead of just the good one she’s been living.
Always known as the quiet ninja, she fully intends to stay hidden in the shadows with her nut-job family, so they have no chance to embarrass her around the man she’s crushed on for two years. Unfortunately, her family has other plans. When they yank her straight out of her comfort zone, she finds herself starring in the craziest train wreck she’s ever witnessed.
Molly ultimately gets a more exciting life that doesn’t revolve around school, but she’s pretty sure the man of her dreams won’t be sticking around long after her family gets ahold of him. There aren’t too many guys who can handle smelling like pee, having the whole world know how he masturbates, and being forced to eat an entire bag of dicks.
Join the Chocolate Lovers and Chocoholics gang for one final story about love, baked goods, making poor life choices, and remembering how important family is—even if they drive you insane.
Mostly because it’s illegal to kill them.
Reading Order: Love & Lists | Passion & Ponies | Baking & Babies
✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
(Click images to buy or for more info)
★ Visit THIS PAGE for the full list of releases ★
✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
Current sales list for Amazon U.S. Click on image to purchase; click here to search my reviews.
✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram | Goodreads | Subscribe by Email
On Instagram
vilmairisblog
💻: marketing director at @dell
☁️: books + beauty + style + life
🍬: Sugar Rush charms - 🎄 Drop 11/9 @ 9am CST
👇🏻: Read my blog + shop my IG + charms