September 2021 Wrap Up

 I know I only shared my July and August wrap up a few days ago but it is already time to wrap up September. I can't believe how fast this year is flying in! September was a really busy month for me, and on top of that I was ill for basically all of it, so I didn't get a lot of reading done at all. I only read 3 books in the month, which is more than August but still not enough for me to be happy with. None of my September reads were really stand-outs for me but let's talk about them

Hate Notes by Vi Keeland & Penelope Ward -

When I'm feeling slumpy, I tend to pick things up on a whim in the hope it can keep my attention long enough for me to finish it. That is what happened with this book. It is a hate to love workplace romance, which I seem to be reading a lot recently, following a woman who finds a note inside a wedding dress and ends up becoming the assistant to the writer of the note. The premise of this didn't actually excite me all that much so I'm not sure why I thought the book itself would. It was an average book for me, with a decent hate to love romance between two kind of dull characters. I didn't gel with the main characters, but I did enjoy their banter and the romance was pretty sweet. I thought the whole letter storyline was a bit odd and made our heroine seem a bit creepy, and it didn't really add a whole lot to the story. I also wasn't a huge fan of chronic illness being thrown in as a twist or a plot device, I felt as though that could have been incorporated a bit better. Overall, it wasn't anything special or exciting but I would read from this author duo again.

Rating: 3/5

Lessons In Corruption by Giana Darling -

I was in the mood to pick up something totally different so I went with a MC romance. This is the first book in Giana Darling's Fallen Men series, which is raved about within the romance community. The first book is a forbidden romance between the 18-year-old son of the MC club president and his young teacher. I'm not into age gap and I'm not into student/teacher romances, but I didn't hate this. I really enjoyed both King and Cress as characters and loved getting introduced to the world of the Fallen Men. I am definitely invested in this series and the Fallen Men already. However, I don't think this was ever going to be my favourite in the series. While I really did enjoy the relationship between King and Cress, that was mostly because a lot of the time I could ignore the student/teacher part. It did cross a bit of a line for me at times in terms of that aspect, though, which did make me uncomfortable but that is totally a me thing. I also found myself getting a bit bored in the middle and feeling as though it could have been shorter. Other than that, I enjoyed the relationship, the bit of action at the end, and getting an introduction to the Fallen Men MC.

Rating: 3.5/5

Dark by Penelope Bloom -

This is another book that is totally different from what I usually read and I only picked it up as I am trying to complete BooksAndLala's Buzzword challenge this year and the buzzword for September was 'Dark'. This is the third book in a mafia romance series that I have never read before. It follows a therapist who ends up sleeping with one of her patients, who happens to be involved in some bad stuff, and of course she gets pregnant and he disappears before she can tell him. I enjoyed this more than I was expecting to. I know a lot of people hate the secret baby trope but I don't mind it and actually enjoyed it in this book. I wasn't really invested in these characters because the book was so short and full of action that we didn't really get to know them. This also meant that their romantic connection wasn't really developed much, so I wasn't that invested in their relationship. I did find the action fun and gripping, it kept me reading to know how their story would end. Overall, this was better than I expected and I had fun with it, but it definitely wasn't the best book I've ever read.

Rating: 2.5/5

Those are the three books I read in September. Thankfully, I seem to be getting out of my reading slump and I'm now in the mood to read again. I'm hoping I can make up for my lack of reading in the coming months.

What was the best book you read in September?

Sophie :)