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I just finished Diamonds, Deception and Destiny by Pia Mia and here are my musings. The latest single is a hit and Princess is floating on cloud 9. Her relationship with Win is going well but she has other things to deal with. Her ex can’t keep it professional and fulfilling her contract is becoming problematic… The single her record label wants to release could be her downfall…. I am loving this series. I like the fact the book is a quest for identity which is something we all go through when we are young adults. It's relatable and humanizes celebrities. I love it. I got sucked right back into Princess’ world. The writing style is so subversive and engaging. The narrative has such depth that it was a brilliantly unique coming of age story. I love the characters, I love how they interact and I felt invested in what they were doing and how they were. I felt rather protective of Princess and what she was going through. I often find that the next installment of books tend to not be quite as good as the first but this wasn’t the case here. The pace was on point and I really enjoyed the storyline. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I think if you are looking for a YA with some razzle dazzle, you should grab this series. 4 stars Thank you to @wattpadbooks and @piamia for my gifted copy. #diamondsdeceptionanddestiny #piamia #comingofage #yanovel #bookishreview #booklover #bookalorian #bookblog #readervlog #booktokbooks #bookstagramreader #readersofig #igbooks #wattpad #readreadread #litdulterous #bookishpodcaster

I just finished A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna and here are my thoughts. Sera used to be one of the most powerful witches in England. That is until she cast a forbidden spell and her magic all but disappeared. The Guild… refuses to give her powers back and exiles her. She finds herself running a magical inn. When Luke and his little sister arrive with a need at the inn, the keys to unlocking her powers lie within his knowledge but trying to reverse the spell is almost easier than thawing Luke out but something more is blooming and they both can’t seem to fight it. THIS BOOK WAS TOO CUTEEEEEEE. I have a real love for the way Sangu Mandanna writes.. I felt like I was in the inn. I felt like I was wrapped up in the coziness of the friendship and love that came from the mismatch of people under the same roof. Sera is amazing. She is one of those people who comes across as hostile and moody but really.. She feels it all. She loves deeply. She reminds me of my mum. She is all hard edges but really, she's a gooey teddy bear! I loved the magic in this book. It was a really great story. I enjoyed how all the characters were so different but they all had such great chemistry together. I really loved how Luke's sister is on the spectrum. As a mother with 2 sad kids… I love how well the author incorporated it into the story. I cannot sing the praises of this book more. Beautifully written, wonderfully paced and so so beautiful. 5 stars. I don’t give those out often but this book…. MY JAM!! Thank you @berkleypub and @netgalley for my gifted copy #awitchsguidetomagicalinnkeeping #berkleybooks #berkleypublishing #betgalley #bookreview #bookishblog #bookloversofig #romance #fantasybook #booksbooksbooks #bookalorian #litdulterous #cuteread #romancereader

I just finished Confessions of a Grammar Queen by Eliza Knight and here are my thoughts! Bernadette has a dream. To be the first female CEO of a publishing house but it's the 60s and even getting fair wages is a struggle. Navigating a chauvinistic world where being a female copy editor means making the coffee and looking pretty is all the men in the office want. Finding support from a clandestine book club and knowing at least one man in the office sees the real her, has Bernadette crashing through that glass ceiling with panache. OK the best part of the whole book was the POV of the dog! I did the audiobook and he was absolutely hilarious! Frank is my favorite book character. The book was light while it covered some tough topics, fun, quirky and thoroughly entertaining. What did I love? That women came together even after tearing others down. It was a really solid audiobook. I loved the flow, the pace was a bit slow but I think it did a great job of story building. I liked the ending too but it felt a tad farfetched. A woman who only held a position for a moment gets to run the whole place? I don’t think so but if you can suspend your disbelief, this book has real charm. I didn’t connect with Bernadette. I don’t know why, I should have but I felt she was a tad underdeveloped and that was my biggest issue with the book. She felt a tad unrealistic I guess. All in all a solid book and I gave it 4 stars! Thank you to @netgalley and Tantor Audio for my gifted copy! #confessionsofagrammarqueen #elizaknight #womensfiction #historicalfiction #bookreview #readerreview #bookalorian #litdulterous #igbooks #igrecs #bookrecs #bookrecommendations #bookinfluencer #readersofinstagram #bookpodcast #bookishsmallbusiness

I just finished Jill Is Not Happy by Kaira Rouda @kairarouda and here are my musings. Jill thinks her marriage can be fixed with a road trip with her husband.. Her husband knows nothing will fix it and cannot wait to get away from her. Trouble is she knows things about him and at this point… If she can’t have him… No one can… Oh man Jill is a wacko!!! She is absolutely terrifying. I am seeing a lot more books with crazed women and they are always intelligent and calculating. The trouble is I didn’t like anyone in this book and it's a necessary evil for me… Needing to care about at least one person. I hated Jill, her husband and I wasn’t a fan of their daughter but I was sucked right in anyway. The audiobook was great. It brought the underlying creep factor in spades. It was like a bus crash you couldn’t stop watching. Rubber necking haha Oh and the fact they are Jack and Jill… THUMBS DOWNNNNNNNN. We get the story from Jack and Jill’s perspective and I didn’t trust either of them. They are both as bad as each other and they were made for each other. It had a lot of dark humor which I did really enjoy. I really did enjoy it. It was well done, well paced and as someone who isn’t a massive fan of unreliable narrators, this one was still entertaining. The ending bothered me a bit. I wouldn’t have ended it that way and that’s why it only got 4 stars. Thank you to @netgalley and @highbridgeaudio for my gifted copy #jillosnothappy #unreliablenarrator #kairarouda #thriller #thrillerreader #thrillerreads #netgalley #audiobook #audiobookreview #audiobook #audiobooksofig #bookalorian #litdulterous

I just finished The Baker of Lost Memories by Shirley Russak Wachtel and here are my thoughts. Lena has a dream.. Of being a baker like her parents before world war II. Living in Brooklyn in the 60s, anything is possible but her parents are distant. The loss of a sister she never knew lingers. The only comfort she had was her best friend Pearl, who disappeared when she was a child. Lena’s dreams are coming true but the past is still in her present and there are things she doesn’t even know about herself. I didn’t read the synopsis so this wasn’t what I was expecting. While this book is a historical fiction, I was hoping it was all based during the war and I thought the baker… lost memories, that she would bake to help people grieve losses during the war with baking…. That would have been great… The story may have been different than expected but it was still very enjoyable. The audiobook was a lot better than I was expecting too. The narration was solid. You get the story of the parents at first. How they survived the war and the loss of their pride and joy Ruby. They make it to the USA and have Lena. You get to see the differences in their parenting and it makes Lena, who is a tad unlikeable, more understood. They keep her at a distance. The lack of affection and you cannot help feeling angry on Lena’s behalf but the ending really rounds out the why at the end and I loved that. I went through every emotion with this one. Definitely a 4.5 star book. I think the pacing was a tad slow but all in all entertaining book. Thank you @netgalley and @brillianceaudio for my gifted copy #thebakeroflostmemories #shirleyrussakwachtel #historicalfiction #wwII #audiobookreader #audiobooksofig #igaudiobooks #bookalorian #litdulterous #reading #bookrecommendations #readreadread #booksbooksbooks

I just finished Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove and here are my musings. Demeter just wants to do her job… she is a shuttle taking humans from Earth to Alpha Centauri… Her programming doesn’t have a revenge setting but when an ancient evil infiltrates her ship and kills all her passengers, Demeter must work without paranormal creatures to avoid being decommissioned for a crime she didn’t commit. This is not a book I ever expected to read so 10 out of 10 for uniqueness. An AI working with a werewolf to hunt a vampire? Brilliant! Firstly… because I did the audiobook… all of the 000111010101 binary stuff…. ANNOYING AF. I get that they were making a point but I skipped every time that started. I think this is one of those moments when this works better as a hardcover than audio. I liked the side characters a lot. It was pretty humorous and the side characters added some extra layers to the story that it definitely needed. It’s hard to connect with AI because hello… It’s AI so having other characters rounded the story better for sure. I like how the author changed the lore of the mythical creatures too so that added a new dimension to a tale as old as time. I definitely enjoyed it. The found family stuff was awesome. 4 stars Thank you @netgalley and @dreamscapemedia for my gifted copy #scifi #monsters #ofmonstersandmainframes #barbaratruelove #audiobookreader #audiobooklover #netgalley #bookishreview #bookalorian #litdulterous #readerpodcast #bookbusiness #bookinfluencer #bookrecs #bookishrecs

I just finished The Gray Anarchist An Intriguing Political Thriller by Jeffrey Marcus Oshins and here are my musings. Senator Allen Hansen, a principled politician, is fighting for reelection… There is a bill. A controversial bill granting powers to the FBI that will allow them to breach the privacy of USA citizens without cause. He stands against the corrupt president and the battle is on between them. I don’t read many political thrillers because I find that authors tend to politically lean one way or the other and it shows in the writing and that irritates me no end but this book really caught my attention and I had to read it. The audiobook was excellent!! I really enjoyed the narrator! They did an excellent job of bringing the excitement to life. The book covers multiple POV with intersecting timelines… I think if I was reading the book, I may have gotten lost but the audio helped keep what was what straight in my head. The character development was probably the only part that fell a little flat! I don’t think anyone was as defined as I like but honestly there was enough of a plot and it moved at a consistent pace that it wasn’t a deal breaker in how much I enjoyed the book. It would make a great movie! 4 stars Thank you to @netgalley and Deep six publishers for my gifted ALC #politicalthriller #thegrayanarchrist #jefferymarcusoshins #thrillerreader #4starbook #audiobookreader #audiobooksofig #readersofig #bookreview #bookish #bookalorian #bookblog #bookishpodcast #litdulterous #netgalley #literaryinfluencer