Happy Friday, friends! Today is BOOK REVIEW DAY! Woohoo! Such a perfect excuse for me to read!

Huge news, y’all! I have branched out. You know that I LOVE holding my books and dogearing the pages . . . HOWEVER . . . I decided to try a two-month trial with Amazon Kindle Unlimited. I can basically download a book for free or at a heavily discounted price, and read it on my phone. While I have enjoyed the ease of this, it has made me wildly unproductive. Ha! Do you like reading on your device or out of an actual book? I still think I am a book girl!

So, this month, I somehow read SIX books. Four chick-lit books that made me smile and feel all warm inside, one suspense/thriller that kept me up at night just to figure out what the heck was happening, and then one deep novel with all the meat, all the beauty, and all the feels.

Here we go . . .

The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller

Wow. Ok. Wow.

I read Mix and Match Mama’s review on this book a few months ago, and she had one word to describe it. Haunting. I would agree.

Full disclosure that I disagree with about every decision that most of the characters make in this book. However, I also know that you can’t judge someone in their pain and grief until you have lived it. So, I think this is why I was able to love these characters. As flawed as they are.

The Paper Palace follows a Elle, fifty year old woman, on her summer vacation with her family at her happy place, their family camp on the Cape. This book jumps around with telling the story in present tense, the story when Elle was a child, and then the story when her mother was a child.

This story is about finding yourself in the weeds of love, loss, abuse, pain, and hope.

This book is heavy. I loved it. I’m mad at it. I’m confused by it. I cried at parts in it. Just all of the feelings. Please note that this book is rated R due to subject matter. I could not put this book down. And, although I’m currently mad at the author for certain things in the book, I know that I will think about this story for a long time.

Have you read this? UGH . . . all the feelings. The author, Miranda Cowley Heller, was kind enough to message with me about the ending. LOVE that my book reviews let me get an inside scoop into the author’s thoughts. Needless to say that I’m not mad at her anymore. Ha!

Confess by Colleen Hoover

This month, I continued on my quest to be President of the Colleen Hoover Fan Club. She really never disappoints.

Confess had me wrapped up in all the feelings from the first chapter. Here are the reasons I fell in love . . . The book is based in Dallas, so clearly that is a win for me. Owen, a local artist, has based his life’s work on confessions. People drop their confessions in a box outside of his studio, and he creates a painting based upon the confession. An author’s note states that these confessions are actual confessions from her fans, which makes some of them so beautiful and some so heartbreaking.

Auburn, a woman struggling to find her place in life after losing someone very close to her, moves to Dallas and finds work in Owen’s studio. Through the confessions, they each learn more about each other and find ways to help each other grieve and grow.

Trigger warning here . . . if anyone in your life has had cancer, I am so sorry. Please know that this book may be a rough one for you. Just FYI.

This book is all about finding yourself when you thought that you have lost everything. It is rated R, a bit. Love this book. So sweet.

Dear Enemy by Kristen Callihan

Two summers ago, I reviewed Kristen Callihan’s Make It Sweet, and you may remember me saying that it MADE ME BLUSH! Wowza! It takes me a lot to blush, and I was basically reading this bad boy while hiding behind a pillow.

I saw this book on a crazy Kindle deal, so decided to try it. Let me say that while it is rated R, it is NOTHING has severe as Make It Sweet. But, just know that going in.

Dear Enemy was PRECIOUS!!!!!! I truly loved every second of it, and actually read the last two chapters a few times. I didn’t want it to end! Macon and Delilah are childhood acquaintances that truly couldn’t stand each other. Think about that person you knew in high school that was so rude to you and made moments of your experience the worst . . . that was what Macon and Delilah were to each other. Ten years later, Macon is a shining star in Hollywood (think Jason Mamoa) and Delilah is a well known chef. When Delilah’s sister steals a valuable piece of jewelry from Macon, Delilah is called in to handle the situation and they are forced to work together after all of these years.

Oh my goodness did I love this book. Such a testament that what we burdened ourselves with when we were younger truly isn’t always truth. LOVE all of the characters in this story . . . well, maybe not Delilah’s mess of a sister. Happy, sweet, romantic, and saucy. The perfect chick lit book.

When Sparks Fly by Helena Hunting

So, I love Helena Hunting. She is always great for an easy read that makes you smile.

When Sparks Fly follows best friends, Avery and Declan. They have lived together since college, and have seen each other through family drama, divorce, and death. When Avery is injured in a car accident, Declan blames himself and vows to nurse her back to health on her long road to recovery. Their friendship is tested and grows in new ways as her healing process puts them in compromising positions. This book is a HUGE advertisement for the need for therapy. If you need it, get it people!

This was an easy, sweet read . . . BUT, I have to say that I needed therapy to take place earlier on in the book. It would have saved us a lot of time, and chapters of heartbreak.

The characters in this book are just precious. You want to snuggle them. And, please know this is VERY rated R. A couple of scenes were WOWZA! Maybe I am too old to understand how these scenes come to fruition?!?! Ha!

Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier

Oh y’all! This book! I spent a few days in Vail this month, and spent the airplane rides and any down time with this book right here. If anyone is listening out there . . . PLEASE make this into a movie!

Let me say this . . . the first chapter of this book describes a crazy Christmas shopping scene with a bored and antsy child. As a mom, I have been there. What I haven’t experienced is my child disappearing from my side during this holiday hustle and bustle and my not being able to find him. If I was not stuck on an airplane, I am not sure that I would have been able to make it past the first chapter. As a mom, it was hard. The feelings of losing my child and having him kidnapped ramped up some pretty rough anxiety for me, and the author was able to write the scene perfectly. Now . . saying that . . . I AM SO GLAD THAT I WAS STUCK ON A PLANE! This book was SOOOOOO worth the first chapter.

Little Secrets follows Marin and Derek now over a year after their sweet Sebastian was kidnapped. Marin refuses to give up and has now hired a private investigator to take over the case that the police and FBI have put down. Unfortunately, while Sebastian isn’t discovered, Marin does find out that Derek is having an affair. The anger renews Marin and she goes from living in knee-walking grief to living with fire in her belly to fix her life.

Y’all. THIS BOOK! I was so emotional when this book ended, I actually had tears streaming down my face on an airplane while I told the story to my friend. It is probably one of the best suspenseful books that I have read in a long time. Please go read this so that we can discuss!

Outmatched by Kristen Callihan and Samantha Young

It is clearly Hallmark Movie season now that we are nearing the end of October, and this book is the perfect (rated R) book version of this chick-lit genre. I read the last chapter three separate times. Don’t judge me. I am a romantic that likes mushy cheesiness. Yes please!

Outmatched is about Parker, a wealthy and determined woman that is trying to grow her career in a male-dominated industry. The main investor in her company feels that all employees should all be in relationships or else they are not mature and invested enough to stay. A wonky view point to have, but one that she has to deal with. She ends up hiring Rhys Morgan, a former boxing hero in town, to pretend to be her boyfriend during work functions. The start out oil and water, quickly realize that their business arrangement get be beneficial to both of them, and then discover that maybe they were went to be together all along.

Oh y’all. Love the cheesiness, the romance, the sweetness. I usually sell or donate my books when I am finished with them, but a select few are kept so that I can read again at a later date. This may be one that I keep. Easy to read and made me smile throughout the entire thing. Please read and be happy! Ha!

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That is it y’all! Love these books that I read this month! Let me know if you have read any of these books and what your thoughts are on them. And, as always, please send me your recommendations on what I need to read. Next month, my plan is to read some amazing books that I can recommend for stocking stuffers!! Yeah! Love this time of year! Have a great weekend! XO