I only read five books this month but all of them were pretty good so let’s jump right into my thoughts on them!

the heart principle

The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang was our PPG Book Club pick for November and my first read this month! Normally I’d wait to read my podcast book club book until a little closer to our recording date but this book was due back at the library really soon so I wanted to make sure I read it before it was automatically removed from my Kindle. This is the third book in a loose “series” (all are individual stories but the main characters in each book are related somehow) and what makes this book and its predecessors special to me is the fact that all the main characters are autistic! If you want to hear what my thoughts on this book and my rating, though, you’ll need to go check out this month’s podcast episode 😉

the last thing he told me

The second book I read this month was The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave. Similar to Meet Me In Another Life from last month, I don’t remember how or why I had this book from the library but my Kindle was telling me I only had it for another few days so I decided to hurry up and try to read it. I LOVED IT. This book is about a wife named Hannah who one day gets a mysterious note from her husband who has disappeared that same day. The note simply says, “Protect her.” Together with her stepdaughter, Bailey, Hannah works to try and figure out why her husband ran off and left the two people he loved the most in the world. I was riveted from the first page even though, like I said, I didn’t even remember what it was initially about or why I had checked it out. I LOVED IT SO MUCH that I stayed up way past my bedtime to finish it. I think this book would make a FANTASTIC movie … but all that said, I do sort of wish the ending was a bit more … conclusive. It is a slightly open ending that left a few loose ends; not so much that it took away from the story as a whole but if I had one critique, it would be that. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and a half.

the bromance book club

Next up was The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams. I needed something easy and fluffy to read as this was the book I read the weekend we went to pick up our puppy, Daisy, and I just wanted a fun distraction. This book came at the recommendation of my podcast cohost; she said she read the entire series and it was a super fun and light read. SHE WAS RIGHT! This book felt like a nod to some of my favorite Kristan Higgins or Christina Lauren reads … a typical rom com with a predictable happy ending but thoroughly enjoyable, regardless. I literally guffawed out loud so many times as I was reading this book. The basic premise is a book club comprised of some of the biggest movers & shakers of Nashville society – professional athletes, businessmen, etc. Each book (I think) centers around a different member of the book club and is basically a story of how the book club helps them in their love life. AND THEIR BOOK CLUB IS ALL ABOUT READING ROMANCE NOVELS (think: Bridgerton) HAAHHAHA. This first one is about an MLB player named Gavin whose wife, Thea, has just declared she wants a divorce. He is absolutely heartbroken and so the Bromance Book Club steps in to help him save his marriage. Definite ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️!

undercover bromance

After loving The Bromance Book Club so much, I decided to immediately move to book 2 of the series, Undercover Bromance, for my next read. This one centers around Thea’s sister (the wife in the first book) and, of course, another member of the Bromance Book Club named Braden Mack. Liv, Thea’s sister, is a much more fiery and stubborn character than Thea so there was definitely an enemies-to-lovers trope going on in this book which you KNOW I LOVE. Oh, and I don’t think I mentioned this but what makes these books so fun is that there are little excerpts of the romance novel that the book club is reading and the book they’re reading typically mirrors the real-life problem/situation that the characters are having. This book was also super light-hearted and fun to read buuuut it also felt like it fell ever so slightly flatter than the first book. I think maybe because the novelty of the concept was wearing off a bit? And also, the “issues” that Braden & Liv faced, in terms of the speed bumps their relationships hit, didn’t feel as relatable or believable as the issues Gavin & Thea had in Book 1. My PPG cohost had told me that the first book of this series was the best and after reading & agreeing that this second one was not AS fun as the first, I decided not to finish the rest of the series. But this book itself was ⭐️⭐️⭐️! Not terrible 🙂

the inheritance games

I think I saved the best for last this month 🤩 I finally got my hands on The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes which was MUCH hyped up about by my dear bookish friends. This book is YA but not fantasy and it honestly felt like a much needed breath of fresh air. It also made me THINK but not in a deep, profound way, but more like the way The Last Thing He Told Me made me think. I was trying to figure out the plot twist the whole time! This book is about a teenaged girl named Avery who is whip smart but dirt poor; at the beginning of the book she’s living out of her car and waitressing for money. She finds out that a random billionaire philanthropist (Hawthorne) has named her as the main beneficiary of his inheritance in his will and basically disowned the rest of his family in the process. This old man LOVED puzzles, riddles, and games too and the reader is basically taken on an adventure through the book that feels a lot like a trip with Alice through Wonderland. Why was Avery, a seeming stranger, chosen to inherit all of Hawthorne’s billions? READ TO FIND OUT 😏 This book was SO FUN and SO GOOD. If I had one dislike, it would be that I feel like the end of the book … could have answered a few questions better? I can tell the author wanted to leave a few strings untied so that the story could carry over into Book 2 (which I already have in my hands and will be reading next month!) so I don’t blame her for leaving a few unanswered questions but it’s just not my favorite when authors do that. For that reason, this book gets ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (instead of 5) from me!

And that’s it this month! I definitely took a slower reading month because I was super tired/distracted from bringing home Daisy on the 14th and then being with extended family through Thanksgiving week. Next month I think I’ll be back to my normal reading speed and I have some REALLY cute holiday/winter themed books I want to read so make sure to check back for my December reading recap!